Will drinking my coffee very quickly reduce its desired effects?
July 3, 2013 9:17 PM Subscribe
I like my coffee hot, so I tend to drink it quickly - especially professionally-made stuff which tends to be not as hot as the coffee I drink at home. But is it important to drink it slowly to increase its effectiveness as a stimulant?
Wikipedia describes coffee's 'method of action' thus:
"The primary psychoactive chemical in coffee is caffeine, an adenosine antagonist that is known for its stimulant effects. Coffee also contains the monoamine oxidase inhibitors β-carboline and harmane, which may contribute to its psychoactivity.
"In a healthy liver, caffeine is mostly broken down by the hepatic microsomal enzymatic system. The excreted metabolites are mostly paraxanthines—theobromine and theophylline—and a small amount of unchanged caffeine. Therefore, the metabolism of caffeine depends on the state of this enzymatic system of the liver."
Once the coffee is made, does it make any difference how fast I drink it? If I drink it in two minutes or linger over it for ten, does that change its 'method of action'?
Wikipedia describes coffee's 'method of action' thus:
"The primary psychoactive chemical in coffee is caffeine, an adenosine antagonist that is known for its stimulant effects. Coffee also contains the monoamine oxidase inhibitors β-carboline and harmane, which may contribute to its psychoactivity.
"In a healthy liver, caffeine is mostly broken down by the hepatic microsomal enzymatic system. The excreted metabolites are mostly paraxanthines—theobromine and theophylline—and a small amount of unchanged caffeine. Therefore, the metabolism of caffeine depends on the state of this enzymatic system of the liver."
Once the coffee is made, does it make any difference how fast I drink it? If I drink it in two minutes or linger over it for ten, does that change its 'method of action'?
God I feel like such a junky...
There's been studies that suggest that if you nurse your cuppa, or cuppas, you'll have less of a crash during the day. Coffee is too far away for me to have the energy to find the link to this study.
posted by alex_skazat at 9:33 PM on July 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
There's been studies that suggest that if you nurse your cuppa, or cuppas, you'll have less of a crash during the day. Coffee is too far away for me to have the energy to find the link to this study.
posted by alex_skazat at 9:33 PM on July 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
My understanding is that caffeine binds to certain receptors in your brain, and is gradually flushed out. The half-life of caffeine is, if I recall correctly, about three hours. Which is to say, if you drink a cup now, in three hours you will have half a cup's worth in your system. In six hours, you will have a quarter-cup's. Now, if you drink half a cup now and half a cup in half an hour, in three hours you'll have somewhat more than half a cup's worth in your system.
tl;dr: because caffeine takes a long time to get processed, spreading out your intake will definitely spread out the effect. But two minutes to ten is probably not going to make a difference by that mechanism. There might be another, I suppose.
posted by restless_nomad at 9:52 PM on July 3, 2013
tl;dr: because caffeine takes a long time to get processed, spreading out your intake will definitely spread out the effect. But two minutes to ten is probably not going to make a difference by that mechanism. There might be another, I suppose.
posted by restless_nomad at 9:52 PM on July 3, 2013
I work at a coffee roaster and have done so for several years, i also used to be a barista before that.
In my experience no matter how slowly or quickly you drink it, you get the same amount of "high". However, just like with liquor(and it wouldn't surprise me if this was a function of how it is processed in the liver just like that) if you chug it really quickly you'll get more erm, "stimulated" for a little while.
It's exactly the same as shotgunning/chugging a beer Vs just sitting down and sipping on it. The crashing thing kinda works the same way honestly.
Personally, i'll always drink my coffee fairly quickly because hot coffee is just better. And there's also my bosses saying repeatedly that a straight shot of espresso is only good for less than 30 seconds if you really want the best flavor(which, in pulling and tasting/testing shots as a barista seemed totally true) but then again, that's neither here nor there...
posted by emptythought at 12:06 AM on July 4, 2013
In my experience no matter how slowly or quickly you drink it, you get the same amount of "high". However, just like with liquor(and it wouldn't surprise me if this was a function of how it is processed in the liver just like that) if you chug it really quickly you'll get more erm, "stimulated" for a little while.
It's exactly the same as shotgunning/chugging a beer Vs just sitting down and sipping on it. The crashing thing kinda works the same way honestly.
Personally, i'll always drink my coffee fairly quickly because hot coffee is just better. And there's also my bosses saying repeatedly that a straight shot of espresso is only good for less than 30 seconds if you really want the best flavor(which, in pulling and tasting/testing shots as a barista seemed totally true) but then again, that's neither here nor there...
posted by emptythought at 12:06 AM on July 4, 2013
I too find quick consumption enhances the effect, but I think that's just because it makes it possible to have a second or third cup in the same short period of time.
posted by spitbull at 6:37 AM on July 4, 2013
posted by spitbull at 6:37 AM on July 4, 2013
Best answer: How fast caffeine works and how long the effects last varies between people due to genetic polymorphisms in the enzymes responsible. For example, CYP1A2 is the gene for the enzyme mainly responsible for caffeine degradation in the liver. It has two main variants and a bunch of smaller ones, with a large difference in enzyme activity between the fast and slow versions. Which particular one you inherited will have a large influence over how long caffeine hangs around in your system doing it's thing, in the order of hours of difference between people (for example, it takes me literally 12 hours to detoxify one cup of tea enough for the effect to wear off). Then there are gene variants for all the other parts of the system, each also having greater or lesser effects on how you feel. Then the various effects and metabolisms is also greatly affected by what else you've ingested, how much caffeine you drink (tolerance is a real thing), any health or lifestyle issues which might effect your brain or your liver, etc etc etc.
All of these are going to make much more of a difference than taking two versus ten minutes to drink the cup. People who think differently are basing their impressions on the placebo effect of what they think should happen (which also effects brain function so is real, in a way) rather than on the actual science of how caffeine is metabolised.
The CYP variation thing is actually very interesting and actively researched because the health effects or detriments you get from caffeine and similar compounds depend on the intersection between your genotype and your consumption levels. Trying to understand the effects of coffee without taking genotype into account is actually pretty futile. Googling coffee + nutrigenomics will probably find more if you're interested.
posted by shelleycat at 7:39 AM on July 4, 2013 [4 favorites]
All of these are going to make much more of a difference than taking two versus ten minutes to drink the cup. People who think differently are basing their impressions on the placebo effect of what they think should happen (which also effects brain function so is real, in a way) rather than on the actual science of how caffeine is metabolised.
The CYP variation thing is actually very interesting and actively researched because the health effects or detriments you get from caffeine and similar compounds depend on the intersection between your genotype and your consumption levels. Trying to understand the effects of coffee without taking genotype into account is actually pretty futile. Googling coffee + nutrigenomics will probably find more if you're interested.
posted by shelleycat at 7:39 AM on July 4, 2013 [4 favorites]
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posted by Rainflower at 9:21 PM on July 3, 2013