It’s Monday morning. You slept late last night, and now you are rushing to attend an early meeting.
But how will you be able to stay up in the meeting when you can barely open your eyes?
You pour a shot of espresso, and voila, within 15 minutes, you are some sort of superhuman bursting with high levels of energy. I wouldn’t be exaggerating by saying coffee is a god’s gift that keeps our motor running even on days when we don’t feel like leaving the bed.
But why does no other drink offer a similar effect as coffee? What happens to your body once the coffee kicks in? Moreover, what makes coffee so special, and most importantly, what does coffee do to your body? Read on to get answers to all these questions.
What is caffeine?
Before we talk about how coffee affects your body, it is essential to understand the caffeine that causes this effect. Caffeine is a natural stimulant in coffee. It gives you a burst of energy and focus. However, too much caffeine can cause headaches, insomnia, and high blood pressure.
Although these side effects can be serious, drinking coffee still has its benefits. It’s all about consuming the right amount to improve performance without having to face any side effects. The type of coffee you drink can also alter the impact you feel.
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What affects the caffeine content in your coffee?
Several factors can affect the caffeine content of coffee. These are types of coffee, portion sizes, and additives like milk and sugar. Your body can also affect when the coffee kicks in.
Different varieties of coffee and their effect on caffeine
How do you like your coffee? Do you drink espresso or filter coffee? Do you like it with milk or without milk? How much do you drink? These things change when you experience coffee and the strength of its impact.
For example, suppose you usually have a cappuccino for breakfast. One serving of espresso is 2 fl. Oz. or one-shot. Homegrounds says an espresso contains between 60 and 102.67 mg of caffeine.
So if you don’t want to drink a lot of coffee, you can have a shot of espresso and reap its benefits while drinking less.
But what about the milk in your cappuccino?
According to Invergo Coffee, adding milk to your favorite coffee doesn’t change the effect of caffeine. This is because the drink still contains the same amount of caffeine. But diluted beverages help regulate the rate of consumption.
Instead of drinking caffeine all at once as a shot, you’ll sip it slowly as it’s diluted. This can help you spread the effect over a longer period of time. It may also slightly alter how you absorb the caffeine.
Also Read: Why You Should Drink Coffee Everyday
What happens to coffee once it reaches your system?
Like everything you eat, your intestinal tract absorbs caffeine and distributes it throughout your body. According to the National Medical Library, your body absorbs about 99% of caffeine within 45 minutes of consumption.
“They say that peak plasma levels, or the amount that enters the bloodstream, occur within 15 to 120 minutes of consumption. That means after 45 minutes, your body will stop feeling caffeine.”
How to maximize the effects of caffeine on your body?
Caffeine is absorbed into our bloodstream so quickly that some people experience a drop in energy after a few hours. It is usually characterized by a burst of energy from the caffeine peak and a crash when the caffeine leaves the system after a few hours.
Espresso shots are the best option if you want to feel energetic for a short time. You can get a lot of caffeine from a small serving. In other words, it gains power in 15 minutes, peaks in about 45 minutes, and leaves the system in a few hours. However, it may crash later.
How to avoid the crash?
What if you don’t want to feel the crash? You can then dilute the coffee with milk or drink drip coffee.
The serving size for a drip coffee is usually 8 fl. Oz. Caffeine content is similar to 65-120 mg of espresso per serving. This is the key to avoiding a crash.
If you want to further dilute your drip coffee, for example, with 4 fl. Oz. of milk, you’ll only drink 5.4 to 10 mg of caffeine per fl. Oz. of your drink. Diluting the caffeine helps you pace yourself while drinking, which prolongs the duration of the peak of energy. It also reduces the chances of getting a caffeine crash.
Takeaway
Coffee can give you instant energy, but many factors affect its strength. It’s up to you how you take your coffee, depending upon how sensitive you are to caffeine, how long you want to feel energized, and what makes your coffee taste best!
