An Introduction To The Health Effects of Caffeine

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An Introduction To The Health Effects of Caffeine
A Small Dose of Caffeine
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What Is This?
O
CH3
CH3
N
N
7
1
3
N
O
N
CH3
3
Caffeine 1,3,7 Trimethylxanthine
O
CH3
CH3
N
N
7
1
3
N
O
N
CH3
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History of Coffee
Date Event 850 - Coffee beans
discovered - The fable says that an Ethiopian
goat or sheepherder noticed that the goats were
more alter after eating the wild berries. He
then sampled this new delicacy. 1100 - First
coffee trees and roasting of coffee beans.
1475 - Constantinople the worlds first coffee
house. 1600s - Coffee enters Europe and moves
quickly to the Americas 1700s - Coffee house
open throughout Europe. 1723 - First coffee
plants are introduced into the Americas. 1822
- First espresso machine is created in France.
1938 - First instant coffee invented by the
Nestlé company. 1971 - Starbucks opens its
first location in Seattle, Washington's Pike
Place Market.
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Caffeine Money

• The coffee and cola industries owe their wealth
  to the physiological properties of the drug
  caffeine.
• S.G. Gilbert (2001)

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History of Tea
Date Event 3000 B.C. - Tea discovered
in China or introduced form India 350 B.C. -
First written description of Tea drinking in
China. 450 A.D. - Turkish traders bargain for
Tea and the Silk road is born. 800 - Tea
introduced to Japan. 1450 - Japanese Tea
ceremony created and popularized 1610 -
Dutch bring Tea to Europe 1773 - Boston
Tea party, rebellion against Englands tea tax
1776 - England sends first Opium to China to
help pay for tea. 1835 - First
experimental tea plantations in Assam, India.
1908 - Tea bags invented in New York.
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History of Chocolate
Date Event 400 B.C. - Olmec people of
Mexico made chocolate drinks 250 A.D. - Mayans
of Mexico were cultivating cocoa crops 1528
- Cocoa was brought to Spain by Hernando
Cortés 1600s - Chocolate drinks introduced
into Europe 1657 - First English
chocolate houses open 1828 - Screw press
that extracted the cocoa butter from the beans
invented in Holland 1840s - Chocolate as
solid developed
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Quote Lovers of Coffee

• Coffee
• Black as hell, strong as death, sweet as love.
• Turkish proverb.

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Quote Fear of Coffee

• "Often coffee drinkers, finding the drug to be
  unpleasant, turn to other narcotics, of which
  opium and alcohol are most common.
• Morphinism and Narcomanias from Other Drugs
  (1902) by T. D. Crothers, M.D.

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Quote Love of Tea

• Tea, though ridiculed by those who are naturally
  coarse in their nervous sensibilities will
  always be the favorite beverage of the
  intellectual.
• Thomas De Quincey (17851859), English author.
  Confessions of an English Opium-Eater,The
  Pleasures of Opium (1822).

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Quote Religion and Drugs

• If Christianity is wine, and Islam coffee,
  Buddhism is most certainly tea.
• Alan Watts, The Way of Zen, 1957

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Historical Events
Tea trade and opium Opium War of 1839-42 Great
Britain has a monopoly on the sale of opium which
it forces on China eventually gaining control of
Hong Kong. Consider our societies ongoing war
on drugs.
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Caffeine and Society

• Most widely consumed stimulant drug in the world
• Many people start consuming caffeine at an early
  age
• A great deal of money is made from caffeine why?

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Exposure

• Most widely consumed neuroactive compound

Coffee Soda Products Tea Chocolate
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Caffeine Content

• 1 Cup of coffee 65-175 mg
• 1 Cup of tea 50 mg
• Can of soda (12 oz) 40-50 mg
• Bar of chocolate (30 g) 1-35 mg

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Exposure and Effects

• Have you every drank too much caffeine?
• What are the effects?

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Aspects of Caffeine

• Desirable effects
• Stimulant, increased alertness, concentrate,
  energy, bronchial dilator
• Toxicity
• Restlessness, jitters, anxiety, insomnia,
  elevated or irregular heart rate
• No tolerance
• Most develop little or no tolerance to the
  nervous system effects
• Withdrawal effects
• Transient but persistent, headache, low energy,
  in ability to concentrate

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Absorption
Rapidly absorbed following oral consumption Peak
blood (plasma) levels usually with 30 minutes
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Distribution
Distributes into all body compartments Pass
easily into brain, breast milk and crosses
placenta
Does not accumulate
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Metabolism/Elimination

• Metabolized in the liver
• Changed to di- and mon- methylxanthines
• Excreted in the urine

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Half-life
How long it takes to leave the body Average
adult 3-5 hrs Child less that 6 months 24
hrs Pregnant 7-8 hrs Smoker 2-3 hrs Varies
between individuals
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Theophylline 1,3 Dimethylxanthine
O
H
CH3
N
N
7
1
3
N
O
N
CH3
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Mechanism Of Action
Blocks Adenosine receptor Adenosine is a calming
neurotransmitter
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Parents Of Caffeine
PURINE
XANTHINE
Dioxypurine - Parent methylxanthines
Parent of compounds found in RNA DNA
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Normal Action of Adenosine
Adenosine Receptor
1
Adenosine
Outside Cell
Cell Membrane
2
Inside Cell
Adenosine binds to receptor
3
Signal Protein
Positive Response Calming effect
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Action of Caffeine
Caffeine
1
Adenosine Receptor
2
Caffeine inactivates receptor
3
Adenosine can not bind
Caffeine
No Response Resulting in Stimulation
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Why so many s from caffeine?

• Pleasant stimulant effects
• Short Half-life (you need to back for more)
• Cant drink too much at any one time (toxicity)
• Headache when you stop drinking it

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A Small Dose of Caffeine
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Additional Information

• Web Sites
• England Department of Health Statement on the
  reproductive effects of caffeine. Online.
  lthttp//www.doh.gov.uk/sacn/pdf/200106caffeine.pdf
  gt (accessed 2 April 2003).
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) -
  Perplexities Of Pregnancy. Online.
  lthttp//www.cfsan.fda.gov/dms/wh-preg2.htmlgt
  (accessed 9 April 2003).
• Caffeine The Vaults of Erowid. Online.
  lthttp//www.erowid.org/chemicals/caffeine/caffeine
  .shtmlgt (accessed 2 April 2003).

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Authorship Information
This presentation is supplement to A Small
Dose of Toxicology
For Additional Information Contact Steven G.
Gilbert, PhD, DABT E-mail smdose_at_asmalldoseof.org
Web www.asmalldoseof.org
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Xanthine
O
H
H
N
N
7
1
3
N
O
N
H
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Purine
H
N
N
7
1
3
N
N