Ah, coffee: the magical morning potion that allows me to effectively masquerade as a person for the whole day (or at least, like, 60% of it). When you stop to think about it, coffee is so deeply embedded in our culture that it boggles the mind. We drink it to wake up, we drink it at work, we drink it on first dates. We drink it so much that we can collectively joke about how coffee is, at any given moment, the singular thing holding us back from doing something we may later regret.

Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive substance in the world — but how much do you actually know about what happens in your brain when you consume it? As quick as many of us are to turn to coffee when we’re struggling to get things done, what does the evidence actually say about coffee’s effects on our productivity? Read on to find out.

Until next time,
Katie and the coffee-loving team @ TDL

First, a neuroscience lesson. Neurotransmitters are the chemicals that circulate in our brains. They affect our behavior by causing our brain cells to fire (i.e. send an electrical impulse to surrounding cells), or by stopping them from doing so. Their molecules work by binding to specific receptors located on the cells around them.

Caffeine is essentially a sleep blocker. So how does coffee give us energy? Caffeine molecules block the receptors in our brains for another chemical called adenosine, which ordinarily builds up throughout the day to tell our bodies we’re getting drowsy. Caffeine also stimulates the release of adrenaline and amplifies the effects of dopamine.

As mind-altering substances go, coffee is very safe. The evidence shows that caffeine is safe to consume, and far less addictive than other commonly used substances like tobacco. If anything, coffee seems to have a protective effect against a number of diseases.

But it isn’t without its downsides. Every coffee drinker knows their favorite dark roasts have a dark side. First, there’s the dreaded caffeine crash: when caffeine leaves our system, the adenosine that’s been accumulating all day hits us all at once. Caffeine also raises our levels of cortisol (a.k.a., the “stress hormone”), which can cause anxiety and stress (especially at high doses).

Coffee does provide a bumpier boost than some alternatives. Matcha, for example, contains a number of antioxidants that are thought to slow the absorption of caffeine. This prolongs the tea's effects while also incurring less of a crash later on.