Caffeine, Wonder Drug
I came across this nifty research review article while writing a post for Harvard Health Blog. Ah, caffeine. What a fascinating little chemical!
Don’t feel like reading an eighteen-page scientific paper? Here’s the gist of it: Anything you thought your cup of coffee was doing for you, it probably is.
Yes. Coffee. It really does improve alertness, attention, mood, and reaction time, especially when we’re sleep-deprived. It may also enhance physical coordination and endurance. Temporarily, of course.
But not just coffee. I found myself studying the table below, which lists the caffeine content of common beverages, foods and medications.
Who knew: a serving of dark chocolate has the same amount of caffeine as a can of Coke! That’s just two tablespoons of dark (baking) chocolate. That may be my new go-to pick-me-up in the late afternoon.
If you’re as big a dork as I am, check it out, and enjoy!
Estimated caffeine content of beverages, foods and dietary supplements
| Item | Caffeine content (mg/100 mL) | Serving size (mL) | Caffeine content (mg/serving) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coffee | |||
| Drip method | 60–100 | 150 | 90–150 |
| Instant | 27–72 | 150 | 40–108 |
| Decaffeinated | 1–3 | 150 | 2–5 |
| Tea | |||
| 1-min brew | 6–22 | 150 | 9–33 |
| 5-min brew | 13–33 | 150 | 20–50 |
| Iced Tea | 6–10 | 350 | 22–36 |
| Chocolate Products | |||
| Hot cocoa | 1–5 | 175 | 2–8 |
| Chocolate milk | 1–3 | 235 | 2–7 |
| Milk chocolate | 3–50 | 30 | 1–15 |
| Baking chocolate | 115 | 30 | 35 |
| Cola Beverages | |||
| Coca-Cola® | 10 | 350 | 35 |
| Diet Coke® | 13 | 350 | 47 |
| Pepsi® | 11 | 350 | 38 |
| Diet Pepsi® | 10 | 350 | 36 |
| Other soft drinks | |||
| Dr. Pepper® | 11 | 350 | 40 |
| Mountain Dew® | 16 | 350 | 55 |
| Barq’s® Root Beer | 7 | 350 | 23 |
| Energy Drinks | |||
| Amp® | 30 | 235 | 71 |
| Cocaine® | 120 | 235 | 280 |
| Monster® | 34 | 235 | 80 |
| Red Bull® | 34 | 235 | 80 |
| Rockstar® | 34 | 235 | 80 |
| Energy Shots | |||
| 5-h Energy® | 333 | 60 | 200 |
| 10-h Time Release® | 740 | 57 | 422 |
| Over-the-counter Medication | |||
| Anacin (1 tablet) | – | − | 32 |
| Excedrin (1 caplet) | – | − | 65 |
| Midol (1 pill) | – | − | 60 |
| NoDoz (1 tablet) | – | − | 200 |
1 oz = 29.56 mL.
Reference:
McLellan TM, Caldwell JA, Lieberman HR A review of caffeine’s effects on cognitive, physical and occupational performance. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2016 Dec;71:294-312. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.09.001. Epub 2016 Sep 6.
Boy, sure glad to hear this. All that coffee over the years isn’t going to kill me and it’s made my mind better!
There may be antioxidant properties as well!
I would check out some studies on extended life potential and coffee consumption (both decaf and caffeinated). Interesting stuff to add if you go deeper into this subject in a later post
I think these may exist… great idea for a future post!!!