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How popular is caffeine? What class of chemicals does caffeine belong to?
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- Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive drug.
- Belongs to a class of chemicals known as methylxanthines (shortened to xanthines) |
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What three plants containing xanthines have been used by humans for thousands of years?
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- Coffee (from the Middle East)
- Tea (first grown in China) - Cacao (from the Americas) |
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Where did coffee originate from? What is the legend of how coffee was discovered?
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- Coffee originated in Ethiopia.
- Legend of its discovery by an Ethiopian goat herder, Kaldi, who noticed unusually boisterous activity in his goats after they consumed the berries. - The practice then spread to Egypt and other Arabic countries by the 1400s, throughout the middle east by the 1500s and into Europe in the 1600s. |
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What are coffeehouses?
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- Coffeehouses: a location to relax, learn the news of the day, seal bargains, and listen and learn from literary and political figures.
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What happened in England in 1674?
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- "The Women's Petition Against Coffee" argued against the use of coffee on the grounds that it made men impotent.
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What is the per capita U.S. coffee consumption?
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- Current per capita consumption = about 25 gallons of coffee per year.
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What are the different varieties of the coffee shrubs?
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- caffea arabica - milder flavor, takes longer to develop after planting and require a near tropical climate to grow.
- caffea robusta: stronger and more bitter flavor and a higher caffeine content, used in less expensive blends and to make instant coffee. - They have different growing and processing conditions. |
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What happens to the caffeine removed from the coffee?
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- Caffeine removed from coffee is used in the manufacture of soft drinks and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines.
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What percentage of U.S. adults consume caffeine daily?
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- Caffeine is the most commonly used psychoactive drug in the world, consumed daily by up to 80% of U.S. adults.
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How much caffeine does the average 8 oz cup of coffee contain?
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- The average 8 oz cup of coffee contains about 100 mg of caffeine, with wide variability - some gourmet coffees have 200 mg.
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What is the daily intake of caffeine for regular caffeine users?
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- Regular caffeine users average a daily intake of 200-500 mg, equal to 2-5 cups of coffee.
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What happens when caffeine is taken orally?
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- Taken orally, caffeine is rapidly and completely absorbed. Significant blood levels are reached in 30 - 45 minutes.
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How long does it take for caffeine to be completely absorbed? How is caffeine distributed throughout the body?
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- Complete absorption occurs in 90 minutes. Plasma levels peak at about 2 hours, and decrease thereafter.
- Caffeine is freely and equally distributed throughout the brain and body. Like all psychoactive drugs, it freely crosses the placenta barriers to the fetus. |
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How much of the caffeine does the liver metabolize? What metabolites are formed?
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- The liver metabolizes about 90% of the caffeine into 3 main metabolites - theophylline, paraxanthine, and theobromine - which are then excreted by the kidneys.
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What is caffeine's half-life?
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- Caffeine's half-life of elimination varies from about 2.5 hours to 10 hours. This half-life is extended in infants, pregnant women, and the elderly.
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