that's awesome :) I want to stop drinking it too because it can make my anxiety worse, up to the point of panic attacks... I have stopped in the past with no issues but I lOVE the taste of coffee now..... will need to try similar flavour/texture alternatives...
Look into metabolic eating, Ray Peat stuff. Caffeine accelerates your metabolism so if you aren't eating nutrient dense foods then it can make you jittery.
There needs to be a video about the positive physiological and psychological affect James' voice has on people. This is content we are consuming daily, after all!
Always love it when James covers culture, botany, biology and chemistry in a single video, and gracefully at that. I only wish this was the first in a series! Next week: ecstasy in the newcastle rave scene in 1994
As an introverted individual, caffeine really helps with socializing, I tend to feel more relaxed in social interactions, feel less inhibited and generally more extroverted, some people even mistook me as extroverted individual from my behavior when caffeinated.
I actually just mentioned this to someone recently. When I drink coffee I become a lot more sociable despite being introverted. It's like it flips a switch in my brain and I start gaining energy from talking, rather than feeling drained from it.
@@aur9035 I would be a lot more talkative and social, I think it’s because caffeine helps me to concentrate on one thing and block out all the unwanted self-doubts and concerns I have in my mind on social situations like “Should I say this” “Do I look stupid walking like this” etc etc, I have taken to just drink a cup of coffee every time I have to socialize with ppl outside of my immediate family lol
A US standard large cup of coffee is 12-18 Oz (237 - 511 ml) which arguably is a double portion of a standard "cup" of coffee (6-9oz, you can do the math for metric). With those numbers you can easily hit the previous Olympic Disqualification status.
In fairness, 'cups' can translate to just 2 or 3 purchases at a local bodega or Cafe. America in particular loves the super-sized 16 or 20 ounce things. I can see someone accidentally drinking 2 of those in one morning forgetting how much coffee it really is.
@@quixotic4233 That's the amount of milk, the amount of coffee is not gonna translate so directly to that. Specially because we are talking about espresso and not filter coffee.
As someone who struggles with a personality disorder and anxiety disorder, it took me years to realize and accept any amount of caffeine is bad for MY BODY. I have really had to accept I am not the norm. It completely sets me up for a day of mood swings and irritability, at any level.
I’ve recently given up caffeine. I have anxiety and depression. Well, it has taken me three weeks to get off as the headaches of going cold turkey were horrendous. I feel great. I’m sleeping much better, have more energy, and my anxiety levels have dropped significantly. I’m much happier without caffeine. If you can, please try to cut out caffeine. Remember to do it slowly though.
Same here, but due to physical chronic illness and probably some genetics as well. It's a bit sad though, because I love the taste and warmth of black tea and coffee. I'm hoping I can find a way to make decaf coffee work for me (past experiences have been mixed).
I work as a barista and I’ve been drinking at least one cup of coffee everyday for the past couple of years. This year a friend and I are cutting out caffeine for the month of January. I’ve had headache/migraine for the entirety of these first three days😂 Love this video! Super insightful☕️
Simon Hansen, as said that is an average for peak concentration. When talking about peak concentration of any substance we are generally talking about peak blood concentration (this is what is ussually measured). Peak blood concentration does not necessarily mean peak brain concentrations or maximum subjective effects. With some drugs, particularly more benign ones, effects are perceived to be most strong during the initial onset of effects and for a short time after the initial effects; this is because you were at "baseline" (no drugs, or even withdrawal from drug) and now have the drug ramping up in your body. Think of this as the relation between speed, velocity, acceleration and "jerk" when driving a vehicle.
Oddly, this is the second video about caffeine that's popped into my feed today. Oddly, both videos have ignored the most basic biochemical function of caffeine in our bodies. It up regulates (or interferes with the down regulation of) the breakdown of glycogen in the liver into glucose, raising blood sugar levels. This is great for endurance, but can be an issue for diabetics. Tea and chocolate contain different caffeine derivatives, theophylline and theobromine respectively. Dogs, bears, and many other animals cannot break theobromine down very well so it causes their glycogen to be continually converted into glucose, blood sugar spiking, possibly leading to death. This is why not to feed your dog chocolate. Thanks for the video!
yea. because coffee, in US, usually consumed with extra sugar in it anyway. i mean 20+ grams of sugar of extra. and ofc this is only low balling estimates. caffeine itself has only minor effect on that according to study. but because everyone is basically overload with sugar/carb, everything becomes toxic. like you blame cholesterol as main enemies to heart disease, and take pills to lower it down. but now we know its not. i drink coffee combined with intermittent fasting/omad. it makes everything so great. energy level is ever the roof. doing cardio and lifting.
I’ve done several experiments with Caffeine on my body using organic coffee, green coffee, green tea…. I never use sugar and have used different creamers, oat milk, whole fat cream, half and half, almond milk and coconut milk. It does one thing. It causes me to use the bathroom/urinate at least once an hour. At times if I consume to much I get to stuttering. I have looked into this but the world likes caffeine so much there isn’t much negatives I can find about it. So I just let it go for my own well being
I was definitely watching your video on coffee Ratios as I'm having a hard time finding good research on coffee/caffeine/intake. This video is the icing.
6:24 I really appreciate you touching on the subject of mental health and caffeine sensitivity as someone that is extremely sensitive to caffeine. I have a deep appreciation for coffee and I love the way it tastes. I've found that with medication for my anxiety disorder and decaf coffee, I can finally have a taste of the good life.
Yeah I love coffee but it does make me pretty anxious unfortunately, so I tend to limit my intake. No more than 2 cups a day at minimum. I've never really been able to appreciate decaf I'm afraid, it just doesn't taste very good to me.
@@_Saracen_ Somehow Deca for me doesn't feel so different, neither taste (if u have real beans & good machine) but also the feeling it gives you, maybe it's cuz there is still some caffeine left but also your body is also used to having this effect from coffee intake. If u want good deca just use beans with an automatic espressomachine, taste is perfect on mine, couldn't really tell difference.
So glad to see this topic covered, as I find it endlessly curious how much of the speciality coffee industry tends to skirt around the subject almost entirely. Without the caffeine, it's quite likely that coffee wouldn't even exist as a beverage, and yet it tends to be all the OTHER aspects of coffee-from cultivation to preparation-that receive nearly all the attention. So, thank you.
I believe you, because one week I forgot to stop at the work coffee station and started getting headaches. When I mentioned the headaches to a coworker, she told me I was in w/d from caffeine. After than, I stopped drinking it daily, but my work performance suffered. In a few months, I no longer worked for that company. My grandmother considered coffee a drug in the negative since and so did I after that, but now I drink it once a week: Moka Mondays. The Moka pot makes the perfect dose.
@@gaslitworldf.melissab2897 completely agree, I was in a similar position until I realised I was becoming addicted to it. 3 times a week is more than enough for me. I love the taste of a good long black, just not after affects.
To all the young people who are trying to make a living with edutainment videos, this is the way it's done, pay attention. The presenter speaks cleanly and clearly and presents the subject in an easy to understand way that isn't boring. The scene is appealing and the lighting done well. More importantly the presenter does not burden the viewer with forced attempts at humor, sarcasm, non-sequitur images, shoehorned advertising, or political pontificating. Most important of all the video is not over long, clocking in under the 10 minute mark.
@@patavinity1262 You probably don’t live in North America where French words pronounced by Americans or English-speaking Canadians sound like a massacre! I think James pronounced these names very well.
When I worked in a biochemistry lab we had to keep our food/drink outside on a cart in the hall, so I got really used to drinking my coffee pretty slowly, over the course of 2-3 hours. But on Mondays we had a morning conference, which meant I finished my coffee within an hour. Every week, without fail, I'd get back in the lab to continue experiments and find that my pipetting was much less stable since my hands were so jittery!
although not really possible, but don't try to get high off of the most consumed psychoactive drug in the world. It will, at best case scenario, make you end up in a hospital bed with mild to severe injuries.
I loved the video, I only have one complaint: I thought tea was the second most consumed drink in the world behind water, which would technically make coffee the second-most popular way to get caffeine instead of first. However, the argument could be made that against that point, because many coffee drinkers drink it for the caffeine, whereas it does not seem like as many people drink tea explicitly for the chemical.
it might be because there tends to be more caffeine in a cup of coffee than in the same size cup of tea? different types of teas also have less caffeine than black teas, which also may account for the discrepency.
I am a cancer researcher with a PhD in molecular biology. You must be very proud of this video. Those molecular mechanisms are hards to describe. Also, I use caffeine in some of my experiments. I cannot go in details but looks interesting.
Exceptional video. As a chemistry student I always feel hesitant when I see a video like this. I did a lot of reading last summer about the chemistry of coffee and I am very satisfied that you've portrayed the science in an accurate and balance way. Great job!
This man decided to make a 10 minute video explaining the chemistry behind caffeine in great detail before making an Ultimate Aeropress video? COME ON, JAMES!
Coffee is a huge part of my life, but I've got to say my life has significantly improved ever since I went from four to five cups of coffee a day to just one cup in the morning (with a tea later in the afternoon). It wasn't until I cut back that I realised how tied to my coffee I was and how much withdrawl was having an affect on my day to day abilities. Everything in moderation people! Stay safe.
Great video. That’s a lot of things we still dont know about caffeine and there’s a huge industry around it. It works differently for every person, not all bodies work the same, but for me, getting rid of daily caffeine was one of the best things I did. More energy, better sleep quality, no more headaches by the end of the day. I’ve switched to swiss water decaf coffee 6 months ago, and today I can happily enjoy a coffee after dinner.
In my experience, sometime in my mid 50's, i began to become increasingly intolerant to caffeine, getting a massive, brutal headache once or twice a month that would last 24-36 hours, even though I was drinking just one cup of coffee every day, never missing a day, and this would often come just two days after having lost a few hours of sleep, which was a weekly occurrence due to activities I was then involved in. Over the next ten years the headaches became increasingly more regular, even though I began reducing my caffeine intake by making half decaff-half regular coffee, then mostly decaff coffee and eventually all decaff coffee (which still has some caffeine in it). Now I find that if I drink a hot drink with even the slightest amount of caffeine in it just once, I will get a bad headache two days later. Since pulling back on ALL products that have slight amounts of caffeine (instant decaff coffee, decaff tea, coco, any drink with chocolate in it), the headaches have gone away.
I know this is unpopular, but I don’t think drinking coffee every day should be normalized like it is, even if it’s only one cup. We should treat coffee (and even tea) like drugs, you wouldn’t take a drug everyday without prescription, so why do we allow it for caffeine?
Hi James, Just wanted to say that, as an organic chemist, it's an absolute delight seeing you nail the chemistry. The accuracy of explanations and structures (and the way they're presented) is really excellent. Thank you!
It's so very interesting coffee, tobacco and alcohol were decided to be the allowed drugs. Although wasn't church questioning coffee at some point? And alcohol has been tried to ban in many places unfruitfully. Today tobacco is actually getting rarer through social pressure. But coffee is still rather untouchable today. Pretty much everything else that has existed in human history is banned now. I love the fluent transfer between languages. The last I checked there was no official research or reports that indicate a death by caffeine per se, although indirect cases. However there's research and reports with people taking ridiculous amounts of caffeine and not suffering any permanent problems, although feeling awful for a while (grams of caffeine). It's interesting that there is now literature that caffeine can kill.
James, well done. As someone who loves science, you citing and consolidating information from papers is exactly how I want to know information. Your videos are so polished!
He's spot on here. I have a mild anxiety dissorder and I've found through the years that anymore than two cups of coffee in a day is too much for my mental health. I make a cup in the morning when I wake up, then I have a second generally just after lunch. Anymore than that can trigger my anxiety. I'm happy with my two cups per day.
Any caffeine dose over about 20mg will give me severe brain fog and irritability. And higher doses I'll break into a cold sweat, clench my fists, and sometimes my muscles contract (making it even difficult to walk). Around 100mg makes me feel like I want to die. So I have to be very careful what I consume. I developed this intolerance as an adult. When I was young I drank a lot of soda and high caffeine drinks and it never caused an issue.
Its a meth compound , and a vascular constrictor , made in china (synthetic) from chloride & urea (piss) , cooked until it glows blue, then exposed to phosphorus to absorb the glow. The “rush” is from constriction of vascular system , which your body adjusts by a lower blood volume resulting in poor circulation. One pure tablespoon can kill a person
So right, if you grow up drinking it , then the perception of the effects are out of reach , and since it’s a buffered meth compound , it is the primary gateway to other stupidity.
@@deadliftdevotion15 It varies from person to person. I am very sensitive to caffeine and I can't even consume a regular cup of coffee without feeling cold, nausea and anxiety
@@dunkeyreview9890 Yeah I’m just wondering how much of that is placebo. Why not try decaf, make someone mix them up randomly and try to see if you can drink it without issues. I like to experiment if I think something is an issue for me, figured out that I’m lactose intolerant and stuff.
It is not often that you see a TH-cam video citing and including PubMed links for supporting material and further reading. That is a sign that James is talking about things that are established and proven, not unproved hypotheses and popular "opinion". Always a pleasure to see someone talking about evidence backed data!
Just to follow-up on what you say "it might be that once the body metabolizes all of the caffeine then the adenosine is finally able to trigger those receptors and make us feel tired and drowsy". Adenosine is considered as one of the mechanisms that regulates our sleep cycles. In simple terms, when you wake up your adenosine molecule bank in your forebrain is empty. For each hour you are awake, your body slowly fills this bank. When the adenosine receptors receive enough adenosine, your body knows it is time to sleep. Your body still fills this bank even if you are drinking coffee, but as explained in the video, the excess adenosine cannot connect to the adenosine receptors due to caffeine. Hence, when the effect of caffeine washes away, your receptors are bombarded with this excess adenosine that was accumulated, and you feel down. That is also why you might have withdrawal effects when you don't drink coffee on that one single day (assuming you drink ~1 cup every day). But again, there might be individuals who don't have any of these effects. This is one of many theories that tries to explain how sleep works.
@@lokopotywa thank you for the information! :) I am curious. Can you link the study that shows increased adenosine receptor count due to regular coffee consumption? Is it a linear increase? If it is I should be always tired by now :D but maybe the increase plateaus eventually?..
This is really fascinating stuff. So what is the relationship between adenosine and melatonin, if any? (And if sleeping clears out my bank of adenosine, why do I wake up so sleepy?? :P )
@@apeacebone6499 hahah good one! Frankly, I didn't study sleep mechanisms as much to respond to that. However, NCBI's website seems to have a few articles on that topic. Again to remind you, this is one of many theories that try to explain how sleep works. Contrary to popular belief, neuroscience does not always provide clear-cut explanations of the working of brain :)
There is another thing going on there. Adenosine is there for a purpose - to preserve energy in the cells. Once caffeine blocks the receptors, the cells lose the mechanism that prevented them from spending too much energy. And the energy that the cells keep is limited. At some point, the cells start spending even the energy that is stored for emergency cases (it doesn't depend too much on your activity that day). And eventually, one ends up with the energy reserves empty. Hence, the withdrawal drowsyness. (all this may vary from person to person, but this is how it works on biochemical level)
@@lokopotywa to build on this. The tolerance of most drugs work this way. Drugs are either agonists or antagonists. Agonists activate a receptor, antagonists block a receptor from being activated. Drugs that activate receptors cause your brain to prune (get rid of) receptors in an attempt to compete with it. Drugs that block receptors cause your brain to make more to compete with it. Withdrawal is caused by this process
Tea is actually far more commonly consumed globally than coffee, and it is estimated that approximately 3 cups of tea are drunk for every 1 cup of coffee.
My experience in the netherlands it is 50/50 among the people, but the amount per person is a pint of tea vs 2 espressos No idea if the caffeine is comprable
I'd just like to point out that at Starbucks they try to say exactly how much caffeine is in each type of product. I generally went right there, when recommending things to customers, I feel like as the drug of the store, it's the best measure. In short, here's some key points: Shots of espresso have 75 mg caffeine each - Short, Tall : 1 shot, Grande, Venti: 2 shots (Iced venti have 3 shots) Regular coffee has more - Short: 160 mg, Tall: 240 mg, Grande: 320 mg, Venti: 400 mg So when a lot of people come in and get a bunch of shots they go "WOAH THAT'S A LOT OF SHOTS" but I generally explained that actually, in pure caffeine content, the most caffeine is in plain coffee, or iced coffee. This also means that Americanos (shots of espresso and water) are not stronger than regular coffee. They can TASTE stronger, but not necessarily, and they definitely don't have more caffeine. If you want the most caffeine you can get by volume, you can just get pure shots, but that's hella expensive. Iced Coffee generally has a bit more caffeine as well, it's brewed double strong, and then watered/cooled down with ice, last time I checked. Cold Brew Iced coffee is also extra strong. It's brewed extra strong as well, and then we cut it with water right when we serve it. Long ago, they didn't allow us to serve cold brew without first watering it down, but they did remove that policy. You can order pretty much anything any way you want. So you can ask for no ice, or for no water, so you can get just pure "goods" when you order your iced coffee. If you want the most caffeine for a decent price, you can get a trenta Cold brew with no water, no ice. One guy we had did order it that way. If you do this, and you want it more delicious, get some syrup in there, and add a little heavy cream. The heavy cream is high in fat, low in lactose, so it's better for you if you are trying to lose weight or whatever, often, and the syrup is sugar, so just do a little jog that day and bam, you gucci on that front too. IF you want a delicious and expensive and unhealthy and lower caffeine drink, that has espresso (better flavor imh(umble)o), go for a Java Chip frappuccino, made with heavy cream, add a shot of espresso, and add Toffee Nut if you want the salted caramel drink flavor (only non-topping difference between mocha and salted caramel). If you want it sweet, get full pumps each (how we would normally make it), if you want it a little more coffee forward (emphasis LITTLE), then get half pumps of each (should be either 1&1, or 2&2 depending on if they are hot bar pumps or cold bar pumps). Not a lot of caffeine, but a dang good drink. If you don't mind missing out on the whip cream, ask them to put it in a trenta cup. Sometimes, they will refuse, I think some policies say we shouldn't do this. Some might not mind though, as long as you're not rude or insistent about it. Here's a link to a pdf of starbucks menu. It's not perfect, and everywhere varies a little, and of course it's just one corporation, but I think it's a great starting point. They have reason to be at least relatively accurate: globalassets.starbucks.com/assets/867c147d5dcc46e9afb307093d5172e1.pdf
This Podcast Will Kill You did a great bit on caffeine back in July 2020. That is where I first learned about caffeine being a pesticide. Very interesting stuff. I absolutely love how we've taken so many bitter foods and made them delicious; I love my hoppy beers, floral and herbaceous liquors, smoky whiskeys, and of course tea and coffee.
Brilliant video James, thank you. I'm very keen to see the follow up videos on decaffeinated. As a person who would work in the city, regular coffee became part of my daily routine and I was happy about it. Now working from home, to support the industry, I bought myself a coffee machine. However, I very quickly switched to decaffeinated as the effects of too much caffeine in an isolated situation became clear quite quick and I did not like it.
I love your concise, well-researched explanations of things like these. With so much woo surrounding coffee it's really nice to see high-value content like this. I was surprised you didn't mention the diuretic effects (or lack thereof) of caffeine. I have spent my whole life believing that drinking coffee would ultimately dehydrate you, and only recently found out that caffeine only has an appreciable diuretic effect at much higher concentrations than the average coffee drinker would be exposed to. Coffee is almost as hydrating as water.
Caffeine has mostly positive and some negative effects on my body. I drink 500ml of French Press coffee basically every morning. This spring, as part of fasting, I abstained from caffeine entirely for a whole month. Never again. The withdrawal is pretty bad for the first two days, but after a week any lingering symptoms should be gone. Yet I felt hungry, powerless and slightly depressed the whole time. I couldn't concentrate at all. The only upside was that getting out of the bed in the morning got better after week three, still nothing compared to the feeling when the first coffee kicks in. (Yes, I have ADHD if you were wondering)
I really appreciate informative videos like this. Most pople don't even realize that caffein is a drug, much like alcohol, and how it can have negative inpacts on mental or physical health if consumed excesively.
Currently merrily making my way through "The World Atlas of Coffee." Not going to say that I've become more of a snob while reading it... then again... I'm not, NOT going to say it. As a foodtuber and writer, your book is fantastic on every conceivable level. Keep being you!
I've been doing Decaf December; which means no coffee, tea, chocolate, or anything that commonly has caffeine in it like cola. Socially, it has sucked. Physically I had some bad withdrawals at the beginning, but I don't know how much was just in my head or if I got sick on top of it at the same time - I actually started feeling bad the day before I stopped, as I was drinking my last cup of it on November 30th. I ended up needing to call off of work for two days in the beginning of the month. My purpose is just to "reset my body," cause I normally drank 3-4 cups a day and it wasn't really doing anything for me energy boosting wise. I feel a little less anxious now without it, I don't think I've been without regular caffeine like.. 20 or so years, because even before I started drinking coffee a lot I drank a lot of caffeinated sodas even as a small child. The constipation is atrocious though.
Such stylish animation! I'm glad you've linked to the artist's website. They did such a good job melding with your usual graphics/typography that at first I thought you'd been able to do it all yourself.
Great video. I just would like to emphasize that most of the studies you mention talk about caffeine as a isolated compound, in a real world scenario we consume caffeine mixed with a tone of other molecules that change significantly its effects
As a teenager I ‘overdosed’ on caffeine. I had a coffee drinking competition with my friend. 15 coffees later and we felt sick, had headaches, and lost all our energy despite having only just woken from a full night sleep. Slept through most of the day and only felt better by evening.
I drink a coffee once a week, never really having withdrawing relief, instead a strong boost. I feel if you drink everyday, you just feel normal, but once a week is a huge boost (largely more productive, better performance, and very active). Give it a go!
I love this paragraph from Wikipedia's article on caffeine: "Some textbooks state that caffeine is a mild euphoriant,[93][94][95] others state that it is not a euphoriant,[96][97] and one textbook states in one place that caffeine is not a euphoriant but in another place groups it among euphoriants."
@@seronymus Look, its a 'god worshiper' trying to point out a contradiction in different scientific studies where personal opinion can bias results, while being oblivious to the complete contradiction that is the Bible. One is a continuios work in progress that will become more accurate as we gain more data and learn how to better observe the universe around us, and the other pretends to already hold the source of all wisdom. If you want to go to the studies and find out why they came to the conclusions, you can click the sources cited and see why they came to those conclusions.
I took way too much caffeine once by accident. I'd guess it was around 500-600 mg. I was really tired and was trying to stay up for another few hours or so. I remember that it didn't really remove any of the negative effects of my sleep deprivation. I felt just as tired, my vision was just as unclear, I was just as sluggish, but I was just more awake for it, in the sense that I wasn't able to actually fall sleep, but I felt even more disoriented than I had before. When I finally was ready to go to sleep a few hours later, I couldn't. At best I was like in a half-dreaming half-awake kind of state. Never again.
I used to drink 4-7 cups of coffee per day.. as a hairstylist, it was a great way of staying alert, socializing, staying warm in the winter, and getting that extra boost when you had to close the salon one night, then turn right around and open it the next morning. Now that I'm older and no longer working, my poor stomach has advised me that only 2 cups of coffee in the morning are allowed, with an occasional caffeinated coffee drink or sparkling water later in the day.
As far as i'm aware, it is not known to reliably make you poop a lot. The same muscle stimulation that can cause shakiness can also cause contractions in your bowels (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18350336/) but it seems unclear if caffeine alone will cause you to poop reliably. It's also possible that the consumption of coffee just aligns well with bowel movement schedules, and the frequency and regularity of bowel movements and coffee consumption make it seem like the two are connected.
@Kaselier TMI ahead. Read at your own discretion. It doesn't matter the time of day, or how full/empty my bowels are. Whenever i take a caffeine pill ou drink some coffee, i have to go in about 15-25mins. Always works. And when not on caffeine i have a perfectly regular schedule. Once a day. 10 am. Keep in mind though that the pills i usually rake are in the 500mg to 600mg range. And coffee around here is pretty strong also. Green tea doesn't seem to affect me nearly as strongly in that regard tho.
I don't often drink coffee and I can definitely confirm that drinking it does make me poop very quickly (like 5-10 minutes after I start drinking it) almost every time. However, that doesn't really happen when I eat chocolate covered coffee beans so I dunno if maybe the effect is amplified a lot more by having a warm/hot liquid in the stomach which could ease/trigger bowel movements. That wouldn't surprise me that much since a hot water bottle is a known way to help relieve constipation.
From "How To Make Coffee" by Lani Kingston: "When [caffeine] reaches the liver, it is metabolized... a small amount becomes theobromine, which dilates blood vessels and increases the production of urine; and a tiny amount becomes theophylline, which relaxes smooth muscle (the kind found in the digestive tract)" -- this could explain the pooping?
Hi James, I figured I'd contribute a bit since I'm a fan of these videos and I did a research paper on caffeine and other nootropics (cognitive enhancement drugs). The most replicated way to get a good effect from caffeine seems to be caffeine + l-theanine, around a ratio of 1:2 respectively. The other stuff seems to have a bit more limited research. While the mechanism for caffeine fighting drowsiness is known (and discussed in your video), I'm not sure if any definitive research has been done with L-theanine's mechanism for synergizing with coffee. Although tea has less l-theanine than the 1:2 ratio, it does seem to be better for getting a "gentler" high. I suspect this is a partial synergistic effect.
That's an interesting take. I've recently started taking nootropics and the blend i use includes caffeine. But the ratio to L-theanine is not 1:2. I think the caffeine makes me irritable. It has 80mg of caffeine and 100mg of L-theanine. Is there any other supplement that i can take to make caffeine's effect milder?
I'm very happy I've been caffeine-free since August 2020. I was addicted to it and I would get the worst headaches and sickness if I miss coffee in the morning. It took me 3 days lying in bed literally going though withdrawal and since then never looked back. Although I LOVE the smell and feeling of coffee, I'm very happy that I don't have to depend on it anymore.
I had a similar experience. After about 9 years of daily consumption, and I mean heavy consumption, I stopped consuming coffee because I was desperate to stop the fatigue I was feeling daily. The irony is that it is a never ending loop... I drink coffee to get energy, but my body, after years of consuming it, was rejecting it therefore I felt fatigue and drank more coffee. A very counter productive routine I was stuck on. My body kinda felt like it was sick. I now think it was because my body was rejecting the caffeine but i kept drinking it with out knowing that caffeine was the real issue .finally I stopped the caffeine and I went through a withdrawal... It was very bad... But it was very life changing. No more fatigue, headaches, my body didn't feel hot flashes, slept better, woke up easier.. Etc
I’m nearly 60 and just started getting slight nausea after I drank 3 double shots a day for years, now I’m not tolerating it . I stopped and my nausea went away .
Bravo Professor! An EXCELLENT, CLEAR, CONCISE explanation of my favorite legal drug’s inner workings and history - packed with interesting facts and deftly delivered. I wish all learning could be this satisfying 😀
A James Hoffman video is a psychoactive drug in itself. Feelings of euphoria when you get notified one has been uploaded, followed by the ‘crash’ and withdrawal when it’s over!
I'd LOVE to learn about decaf and the different techniques and processes used to decaffinate beans. Super interesting stuff, I've had some incredible tasting decaf espresso and was actually shocked at how damn close it was to regular beans. I'm slightly sensitive to caffeine so I have to watch my intake from time to time. Unfortunately, I fucking love making pourover and drinking espresso :c
Hey James, I’d love to see you review organic coffee vs regular coffee. I’d love to hear the actual truth regarding the amount of chemicals used to grow non organic.
If I drink 3 cups of coffee within 8 hours, spread I get a panic attack, hypercardia, anxiety. For some people it works great, for others it is really bad. This might be due to genetic differences and availability of receptors. For me, coffee has been more an anxiety stimulant than psychostimulant
Caffeine definitely gives me a sense of anxiety. I started drinking doubleshot espressos and kept wondering why I felt guilty. That's how I found out that feeling guilty was the only time I get anxiety apparently.
The fact that there is a large discrepancy in caffeine (65 to 300mg) in a single cup of coffee is INSANE to me. You can go from being fine from drinking 2 cups of 1 coffee to feeling ill / anxiety-ridden from 2 cups from another coffee.
One note about "the effects that we all experience with caffeine" (i.e. wakefulness/alertness) is that not everyone actually gets that from caffeine. While AFAIK there's not a whole lot of actual research out there about it, some neurodivergences (most notably ADHD) can have really weird interactions with caffeine in some people, including for some the paradoxical effect of inducing drowsiness.
I have pretty severe ADHD (clinically diagnosed from young age) and it still gives me the normal effects. More interestingly though it mitigates my ADHD symptoms (was on adderall but it made me a zombie so I just drink lots of coffee and generally it's worked for me). Although I also have 0 trouble sleeping even after just drinking a cup of coffee which some people have told me is weird, dunno if it's related. I tried quitting it for a week to reset my tolerance and it was the worst I've ever felt, it's cool for the people that can do it but I realized it's just not for me cause my symptoms get horrible and also I feel tired all the time. When I started drinking it again I pretty much got my tolerance I had back in only a few days so it didn't even help all that much in that regard, kinda lame.
I have heard the sleeping thing too, I find that fascinating. for me (I also have adhd) caffeinated coffee just raises my heart rate and makes me feel uncomfortable, like I've taken too much of my medication (I've tested this on days I haven't taken medication!). no noticeable cognitive effects or more energy or whatever. I have some friends who successfully medicate their adhd with coffee, it really does vary
I freaking love James Hoffman’s videos. i’ve learned so much about coffee over these past 2 years since I discovered him. Made me appreciate coffee even more!
Gave up caffeine a month ago and now I’m free from insomnia, anxiety, jitters and happiness.
that's awesome :)
I want to stop drinking it too because it can make my anxiety worse, up to the point of panic attacks... I have stopped in the past with no issues but I lOVE the taste of coffee now..... will need to try similar flavour/texture alternatives...
@@MeOnionz You could give decaff a go, keeps caffeine out of your system while still having the coffee flavour. :)
Look into metabolic eating, Ray Peat stuff. Caffeine accelerates your metabolism so if you aren't eating nutrient dense foods then it can make you jittery.
Free from happiness too?
Caffeine is the shit! Makes me feel more positive
There needs to be a video about the positive physiological and psychological affect James' voice has on people. This is content we are consuming daily, after all!
Does it apply even AFTER we've had or coffee? I think yes.
Always love it when James covers culture, botany, biology and chemistry in a single video, and gracefully at that. I only wish this was the first in a series! Next week: ecstasy in the newcastle rave scene in 1994
Phwoar, would love that!
bahah! great comment
“That’s the psychoactive drug that we use daily”... maybe not the only one 😂
And history
I was 0 then but let me tell you that shit was quite pure
As an introverted individual, caffeine really helps with socializing, I tend to feel more relaxed in social interactions, feel less inhibited and generally more extroverted, some people even mistook me as extroverted individual from my behavior when caffeinated.
Hey! Might i ask what are your behaviors when caffeinated like?
I actually just mentioned this to someone recently. When I drink coffee I become a lot more sociable despite being introverted. It's like it flips a switch in my brain and I start gaining energy from talking, rather than feeling drained from it.
@@aur9035 I would be a lot more talkative and social, I think it’s because caffeine helps me to concentrate on one thing and block out all the unwanted self-doubts and concerns I have in my mind on social situations like “Should I say this” “Do I look stupid walking like this” etc etc, I have taken to just drink a cup of coffee every time I have to socialize with ppl outside of my immediate family lol
I turn from introvert to extrovert with 4 cups of coffee
Is that actually the case or is it a placebo though? It's almost impossible to tell.
"you can hit that level with just 5-8 cups of coffee"
Just
"...5-8 cups of coffee IN THE MORNING"
A US standard large cup of coffee is 12-18 Oz (237 - 511 ml) which arguably is a double portion of a standard "cup" of coffee (6-9oz, you can do the math for metric). With those numbers you can easily hit the previous Olympic Disqualification status.
In fairness, 'cups' can translate to just 2 or 3 purchases at a local bodega or Cafe. America in particular loves the super-sized 16 or 20 ounce things. I can see someone accidentally drinking 2 of those in one morning forgetting how much coffee it really is.
@@quixotic4233 That's the amount of milk, the amount of coffee is not gonna translate so directly to that. Specially because we are talking about espresso and not filter coffee.
@@_leivo nah, north americans drink batch
As someone who struggles with a personality disorder and anxiety disorder, it took me years to realize and accept any amount of caffeine is bad for MY BODY. I have really had to accept I am not the norm. It completely sets me up for a day of mood swings and irritability, at any level.
Me too! I’m glad I’m not the only one
I’ve recently given up caffeine. I have anxiety and depression. Well, it has taken me three weeks to get off as the headaches of going cold turkey were horrendous. I feel great. I’m sleeping much better, have more energy, and my anxiety levels have dropped significantly. I’m much happier without caffeine. If you can, please try to cut out caffeine. Remember to do it slowly though.
Can you have decaf or is it still too much
Yep I also quit because of anxiety
Same here, but due to physical chronic illness and probably some genetics as well.
It's a bit sad though, because I love the taste and warmth of black tea and coffee. I'm hoping I can find a way to make decaf coffee work for me (past experiences have been mixed).
History and chemistry lessons rolled into one enthralling video. Hats off James 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
And such good graphics too!!
'Rolled' lol
I work as a barista and I’ve been drinking at least one cup of coffee everyday for the past couple of years. This year a friend and I are cutting out caffeine for the month of January. I’ve had headache/migraine for the entirety of these first three days😂
Love this video! Super insightful☕️
How long did it take before the headaches were gone?
@@rshort4296 he died
Takes half an hour to work. Interesting. So immediately feeling refreshed after my first sip in the morning is purely my imagination.
Placebo effect is pretty amazing really.
@@alexvpaq The mind is a powerful thing.
No peak is within 30-60 min. That’s not the same as nothing before 30 min.
Simon Hansen, as said that is an average for peak concentration. When talking about peak concentration of any substance we are generally talking about peak blood concentration (this is what is ussually measured). Peak blood concentration does not necessarily mean peak brain concentrations or maximum subjective effects. With some drugs, particularly more benign ones, effects are perceived to be most strong during the initial onset of effects and for a short time after the initial effects; this is because you were at "baseline" (no drugs, or even withdrawal from drug) and now have the drug ramping up in your body. Think of this as the relation between speed, velocity, acceleration and "jerk" when driving a vehicle.
It's probably a pavlovian response.
Oddly, this is the second video about caffeine that's popped into my feed today. Oddly, both videos have ignored the most basic biochemical function of caffeine in our bodies. It up regulates (or interferes with the down regulation of) the breakdown of glycogen in the liver into glucose, raising blood sugar levels. This is great for endurance, but can be an issue for diabetics. Tea and chocolate contain different caffeine derivatives, theophylline and theobromine respectively. Dogs, bears, and many other animals cannot break theobromine down very well so it causes their glycogen to be continually converted into glucose, blood sugar spiking, possibly leading to death. This is why not to feed your dog chocolate. Thanks for the video!
Coffee too then :0
yea. because coffee, in US, usually consumed with extra sugar in it anyway. i mean 20+ grams of sugar of extra. and ofc this is only low balling estimates. caffeine itself has only minor effect on that according to study. but because everyone is basically overload with sugar/carb, everything becomes toxic. like you blame cholesterol as main enemies to heart disease, and take pills to lower it down. but now we know its not.
i drink coffee combined with intermittent fasting/omad. it makes everything so great. energy level is ever the roof. doing cardio and lifting.
It's not odd, it's algorithm
He should pin this for missing something so big but still putting “explained” in the title
It also raises blood pressure and can cause heart attacks at much lower dowsed than 10 grams if you’re susceptible
This is why he makes 15k on Patreaon. He actually deserves it.
also he spends a shit ton in the products he reviews i'd guess
I’ve done several experiments with Caffeine on my body using organic coffee, green coffee, green tea…. I never use sugar and have used different creamers, oat milk, whole fat cream, half and half, almond milk and coconut milk. It does one thing. It causes me to use the bathroom/urinate at least once an hour. At times if I consume to much I get to stuttering. I have looked into this but the world likes caffeine so much there isn’t much negatives I can find about it. So I just let it go for my own well being
I was definitely watching your video on coffee Ratios as I'm having a hard time finding good research on coffee/caffeine/intake. This video is the icing.
Weird that haachama brought you to my recommendations, then I see you here, where she’s quite far from lol
@@levi9682 I watch a lot of youtube. Probably an unhealthy amount.
Fancy seeing you here mate, love your vids aswell.
@@VashtheDwarf He seems to be in the comments of every youtuber I watch, James, Alex, Andong, etc..
Chicory blend (reduced caffeine) or pure Chicory (caffeine free) Coffee
6:24 I really appreciate you touching on the subject of mental health and caffeine sensitivity as someone that is extremely sensitive to caffeine. I have a deep appreciation for coffee and I love the way it tastes. I've found that with medication for my anxiety disorder and decaf coffee, I can finally have a taste of the good life.
Yeah I love coffee but it does make me pretty anxious unfortunately, so I tend to limit my intake. No more than 2 cups a day at minimum. I've never really been able to appreciate decaf I'm afraid, it just doesn't taste very good to me.
@@_Saracen_ Somehow Deca for me doesn't feel so different, neither taste (if u have real beans & good machine) but also the feeling it gives you, maybe it's cuz there is still some caffeine left but also your body is also used to having this effect from coffee intake. If u want good deca just use beans with an automatic espressomachine, taste is perfect on mine, couldn't really tell difference.
Is that the mask of the angel from Evangelion
@@seronymus it is! I had my wife draw a simplified version of it and I use it on all my profiles haha.
Wow, you really outdid yourself with the production of this video James!
So glad to see this topic covered, as I find it endlessly curious how much of the speciality coffee industry tends to skirt around the subject almost entirely. Without the caffeine, it's quite likely that coffee wouldn't even exist as a beverage, and yet it tends to be all the OTHER aspects of coffee-from cultivation to preparation-that receive nearly all the attention. So, thank you.
Caffeine: the cause of, and solution to, my productivity issues everyday
Q: "How much caffeine is good for you?" A: "Yes"
I believe you, because one week I forgot to stop at the work coffee station and started getting headaches. When I mentioned the headaches to a coworker, she told me I was in w/d from caffeine. After than, I stopped drinking it daily, but my work performance suffered. In a few months, I no longer worked for that company. My grandmother considered coffee a drug in the negative since and so did I after that, but now I drink it once a week: Moka Mondays. The Moka pot makes the perfect dose.
@@gaslitworldf.melissab2897 one a week is not enough.
@@gaslitworldf.melissab2897 completely agree, I was in a similar position until I realised I was becoming addicted to it. 3 times a week is more than enough for me. I love the taste of a good long black, just not after affects.
this is so well edited, and so easily digestible, it's inspiring
The production quality of James's videos has increased exponentially!
To all the young people who are trying to make a living with edutainment videos, this is the way it's done, pay attention. The presenter speaks cleanly and clearly and presents the subject in an easy to understand way that isn't boring. The scene is appealing and the lighting done well. More importantly the presenter does not burden the viewer with forced attempts at humor, sarcasm, non-sequitur images, shoehorned advertising, or political pontificating. Most important of all the video is not over long, clocking in under the 10 minute mark.
I like how James nailed all those Chemist's name pronunciation.
Not quite 'nailed'.
@@patavinity1262 But a solid attempt nonetheless
Yes, pretty good by TH-cam standards.
@@patavinity1262 You probably don’t live in North America where French words pronounced by Americans or English-speaking Canadians sound like a massacre! I think James pronounced these names very well.
@@CorruptedDogg material: 'jean'
youtuber: 'i won't even try to pronounce his name'
When I worked in a biochemistry lab we had to keep our food/drink outside on a cart in the hall, so I got really used to drinking my coffee pretty slowly, over the course of 2-3 hours. But on Mondays we had a morning conference, which meant I finished my coffee within an hour. Every week, without fail, I'd get back in the lab to continue experiments and find that my pipetting was much less stable since my hands were so jittery!
I am going to consume some psychoactive drug while watching a video about most consumed psychoactive drug in the world.
Whoa whoa, did that with an edible and coffee...holy smokes! 😬😬😬🤪
Wait if I get high and make espresso am I crossing? Lmao
although not really possible, but don't try to get high off of the most consumed psychoactive drug in the world. It will, at best case scenario, make you end up in a hospital bed with mild to severe injuries.
"this is a psychoactive drug that we're taking every single day. We should understand what it is and how it affects us."
“You can look up how much coffee is in a can of Coca Cola...” the first and only mistake we’ve ever heard you make...nigh on godlike good sir
I mean he's not totally wrong... Check this Coffee-Coke vid from James: th-cam.com/video/ROumwg6ML9Y/w-d-xo.html
Look it up > See none listed > you have your answer: None ;-)
I loved the video, I only have one complaint: I thought tea was the second most consumed drink in the world behind water, which would technically make coffee the second-most popular way to get caffeine instead of first. However, the argument could be made that against that point, because many coffee drinkers drink it for the caffeine, whereas it does not seem like as many people drink tea explicitly for the chemical.
Which is ironic because tea is one of the best sources of L-theanine which moderates the negative effects of stimulants like caffeine.
it might be because there tends to be more caffeine in a cup of coffee than in the same size cup of tea? different types of teas also have less caffeine than black teas, which also may account for the discrepency.
I am a cancer researcher with a PhD in molecular biology. You must be very proud of this video. Those molecular mechanisms are hards to describe. Also, I use caffeine in some of my experiments. I cannot go in details but looks interesting.
Exceptional video. As a chemistry student I always feel hesitant when I see a video like this. I did a lot of reading last summer about the chemistry of coffee and I am very satisfied that you've portrayed the science in an accurate and balance way. Great job!
This man decided to make a 10 minute video explaining the chemistry behind caffeine in great detail before making an Ultimate Aeropress video? COME ON, JAMES!
AEROPRESS FOREVER!
Still waiting for the illusive aeropress video!!
Coffee is a huge part of my life, but I've got to say my life has significantly improved ever since I went from four to five cups of coffee a day to just one cup in the morning (with a tea later in the afternoon).
It wasn't until I cut back that I realised how tied to my coffee I was and how much withdrawl was having an affect on my day to day abilities. Everything in moderation people! Stay safe.
Great video. That’s a lot of things we still dont know about caffeine and there’s a huge industry around it. It works differently for every person, not all bodies work the same, but for me, getting rid of daily caffeine was one of the best things I did. More energy, better sleep quality, no more headaches by the end of the day. I’ve switched to swiss water decaf coffee 6 months ago, and today I can happily enjoy a coffee after dinner.
In my experience, sometime in my mid 50's, i began to become increasingly intolerant to caffeine, getting a massive, brutal headache once or twice a month that would last 24-36 hours, even though I was drinking just one cup of coffee every day, never missing a day, and this would often come just two days after having lost a few hours of sleep, which was a weekly occurrence due to activities I was then involved in. Over the next ten years the headaches became increasingly more regular, even though I began reducing my caffeine intake by making half decaff-half regular coffee, then mostly decaff coffee and eventually all decaff coffee (which still has some caffeine in it). Now I find that if I drink a hot drink with even the slightest amount of caffeine in it just once, I will get a bad headache two days later. Since pulling back on ALL products that have slight amounts of caffeine (instant decaff coffee, decaff tea, coco, any drink with chocolate in it), the headaches have gone away.
I know this is unpopular, but I don’t think drinking coffee every day should be normalized like it is, even if it’s only one cup. We should treat coffee (and even tea) like drugs, you wouldn’t take a drug everyday without prescription, so why do we allow it for caffeine?
From a pharmacist. Great work! First I thought to pass it, but chose to see it through because I know how thorough you are.
Was a good video mate.
The quality of your videos is always unnecessarily high, and we all love you for it.
Hi James, Just wanted to say that, as an organic chemist, it's an absolute delight seeing you nail the chemistry. The accuracy of explanations and structures (and the way they're presented) is really excellent. Thank you!
what do you do as an organic chemist?
It's so very interesting coffee, tobacco and alcohol were decided to be the allowed drugs. Although wasn't church questioning coffee at some point? And alcohol has been tried to ban in many places unfruitfully. Today tobacco is actually getting rarer through social pressure. But coffee is still rather untouchable today. Pretty much everything else that has existed in human history is banned now.
I love the fluent transfer between languages.
The last I checked there was no official research or reports that indicate a death by caffeine per se, although indirect cases. However there's research and reports with people taking ridiculous amounts of caffeine and not suffering any permanent problems, although feeling awful for a while (grams of caffeine). It's interesting that there is now literature that caffeine can kill.
Everything can kill you its all in the dose.
James, well done. As someone who loves science, you citing and consolidating information from papers is exactly how I want to know information. Your videos are so polished!
He's spot on here.
I have a mild anxiety dissorder and I've found through the years that anymore than two cups of coffee in a day is too much for my mental health.
I make a cup in the morning when I wake up, then I have a second generally just after lunch. Anymore than that can trigger my anxiety. I'm happy with my two cups per day.
You will feel even better if you quit.
@@atobee2595 Lol, that ain't happening. 😄
Any caffeine dose over about 20mg will give me severe brain fog and irritability. And higher doses I'll break into a cold sweat, clench my fists, and sometimes my muscles contract (making it even difficult to walk). Around 100mg makes me feel like I want to die. So I have to be very careful what I consume. I developed this intolerance as an adult. When I was young I drank a lot of soda and high caffeine drinks and it never caused an issue.
Placebo effect. I seriously doubt that low of a dose causes issues
Its a meth compound , and a vascular constrictor , made in china (synthetic) from chloride & urea (piss) , cooked until it glows blue, then exposed to phosphorus to absorb the glow. The “rush” is from constriction of vascular system , which your body adjusts by a lower blood volume resulting in poor circulation. One pure tablespoon can kill a person
So right, if you grow up drinking it , then the perception of the effects are out of reach , and since it’s a buffered meth compound , it is the primary gateway to other stupidity.
@@deadliftdevotion15 It varies from person to person. I am very sensitive to caffeine and I can't even consume a regular cup of coffee without feeling cold, nausea and anxiety
@@dunkeyreview9890 Yeah I’m just wondering how much of that is placebo. Why not try decaf, make someone mix them up randomly and try to see if you can drink it without issues. I like to experiment if I think something is an issue for me, figured out that I’m lactose intolerant and stuff.
It is not often that you see a TH-cam video citing and including PubMed links for supporting material and further reading. That is a sign that James is talking about things that are established and proven, not unproved hypotheses and popular "opinion". Always a pleasure to see someone talking about evidence backed data!
Just to follow-up on what you say "it might be that once the body metabolizes all of the caffeine then the adenosine is finally able to trigger those receptors and make us feel tired and drowsy".
Adenosine is considered as one of the mechanisms that regulates our sleep cycles. In simple terms, when you wake up your adenosine molecule bank in your forebrain is empty. For each hour you are awake, your body slowly fills this bank. When the adenosine receptors receive enough adenosine, your body knows it is time to sleep. Your body still fills this bank even if you are drinking coffee, but as explained in the video, the excess adenosine cannot connect to the adenosine receptors due to caffeine. Hence, when the effect of caffeine washes away, your receptors are bombarded with this excess adenosine that was accumulated, and you feel down. That is also why you might have withdrawal effects when you don't drink coffee on that one single day (assuming you drink ~1 cup every day). But again, there might be individuals who don't have any of these effects. This is one of many theories that tries to explain how sleep works.
@@lokopotywa thank you for the information! :) I am curious. Can you link the study that shows increased adenosine receptor count due to regular coffee consumption? Is it a linear increase? If it is I should be always tired by now :D but maybe the increase plateaus eventually?..
This is really fascinating stuff. So what is the relationship between adenosine and melatonin, if any? (And if sleeping clears out my bank of adenosine, why do I wake up so sleepy?? :P )
@@apeacebone6499 hahah good one! Frankly, I didn't study sleep mechanisms as much to respond to that. However, NCBI's website seems to have a few articles on that topic. Again to remind you, this is one of many theories that try to explain how sleep works. Contrary to popular belief, neuroscience does not always provide clear-cut explanations of the working of brain :)
There is another thing going on there. Adenosine is there for a purpose - to preserve energy in the cells. Once caffeine blocks the receptors, the cells lose the mechanism that prevented them from spending too much energy. And the energy that the cells keep is limited. At some point, the cells start spending even the energy that is stored for emergency cases (it doesn't depend too much on your activity that day). And eventually, one ends up with the energy reserves empty. Hence, the withdrawal drowsyness. (all this may vary from person to person, but this is how it works on biochemical level)
@@lokopotywa to build on this. The tolerance of most drugs work this way. Drugs are either agonists or antagonists. Agonists activate a receptor, antagonists block a receptor from being activated. Drugs that activate receptors cause your brain to prune (get rid of) receptors in an attempt to compete with it. Drugs that block receptors cause your brain to make more to compete with it. Withdrawal is caused by this process
This man has the perfect voice. Could listen to him talk about anything for hours
Tea is actually far more commonly consumed globally than coffee, and it is estimated that approximately 3 cups of tea are drunk for every 1 cup of coffee.
searched far too long for this comment because I knew coffee didnt hold a candle to tea
Thank you! I couldn't believe he said that
I'm sorry but I have a hard time believing that. I think it depends on the country. I'm Italian 😂
@@alessiailas4929 For sure, it will vary by country, but if you take the whole world in the aggregate tea is far more common.
My experience in the netherlands it is 50/50 among the people, but the amount per person is a pint of tea vs 2 espressos
No idea if the caffeine is comprable
I'd just like to point out that at Starbucks they try to say exactly how much caffeine is in each type of product. I generally went right there, when recommending things to customers, I feel like as the drug of the store, it's the best measure.
In short, here's some key points:
Shots of espresso have 75 mg caffeine each - Short, Tall : 1 shot, Grande, Venti: 2 shots (Iced venti have 3 shots)
Regular coffee has more - Short: 160 mg, Tall: 240 mg, Grande: 320 mg, Venti: 400 mg
So when a lot of people come in and get a bunch of shots they go "WOAH THAT'S A LOT OF SHOTS" but I generally explained that actually, in pure caffeine content, the most caffeine is in plain coffee, or iced coffee. This also means that Americanos (shots of espresso and water) are not stronger than regular coffee. They can TASTE stronger, but not necessarily, and they definitely don't have more caffeine.
If you want the most caffeine you can get by volume, you can just get pure shots, but that's hella expensive. Iced Coffee generally has a bit more caffeine as well, it's brewed double strong, and then watered/cooled down with ice, last time I checked.
Cold Brew Iced coffee is also extra strong. It's brewed extra strong as well, and then we cut it with water right when we serve it. Long ago, they didn't allow us to serve cold brew without first watering it down, but they did remove that policy.
You can order pretty much anything any way you want. So you can ask for no ice, or for no water, so you can get just pure "goods" when you order your iced coffee. If you want the most caffeine for a decent price, you can get a trenta Cold brew with no water, no ice. One guy we had did order it that way. If you do this, and you want it more delicious, get some syrup in there, and add a little heavy cream. The heavy cream is high in fat, low in lactose, so it's better for you if you are trying to lose weight or whatever, often, and the syrup is sugar, so just do a little jog that day and bam, you gucci on that front too.
IF you want a delicious and expensive and unhealthy and lower caffeine drink, that has espresso (better flavor imh(umble)o), go for a Java Chip frappuccino, made with heavy cream, add a shot of espresso, and add Toffee Nut if you want the salted caramel drink flavor (only non-topping difference between mocha and salted caramel). If you want it sweet, get full pumps each (how we would normally make it), if you want it a little more coffee forward (emphasis LITTLE), then get half pumps of each (should be either 1&1, or 2&2 depending on if they are hot bar pumps or cold bar pumps). Not a lot of caffeine, but a dang good drink. If you don't mind missing out on the whip cream, ask them to put it in a trenta cup. Sometimes, they will refuse, I think some policies say we shouldn't do this. Some might not mind though, as long as you're not rude or insistent about it.
Here's a link to a pdf of starbucks menu. It's not perfect, and everywhere varies a little, and of course it's just one corporation, but I think it's a great starting point. They have reason to be at least relatively accurate: globalassets.starbucks.com/assets/867c147d5dcc46e9afb307093d5172e1.pdf
This Podcast Will Kill You did a great bit on caffeine back in July 2020. That is where I first learned about caffeine being a pesticide. Very interesting stuff. I absolutely love how we've taken so many bitter foods and made them delicious; I love my hoppy beers, floral and herbaceous liquors, smoky whiskeys, and of course tea and coffee.
Biologist (botany, evolution) here. Really nice explanation of the science here. Just really well done and actually accurate. :)
Your videos are always so calming, perfectly edited and informative. Thanks for putting in the effort to make such wonderful videos
Brilliant video James, thank you. I'm very keen to see the follow up videos on decaffeinated. As a person who would work in the city, regular coffee became part of my daily routine and I was happy about it. Now working from home, to support the industry, I bought myself a coffee machine. However, I very quickly switched to decaffeinated as the effects of too much caffeine in an isolated situation became clear quite quick and I did not like it.
I love your concise, well-researched explanations of things like these. With so much woo surrounding coffee it's really nice to see high-value content like this.
I was surprised you didn't mention the diuretic effects (or lack thereof) of caffeine. I have spent my whole life believing that drinking coffee would ultimately dehydrate you, and only recently found out that caffeine only has an appreciable diuretic effect at much higher concentrations than the average coffee drinker would be exposed to. Coffee is almost as hydrating as water.
I wish all TH-cam videos were this well researched, on point and interesting.
Caffeine has mostly positive and some negative effects on my body. I drink 500ml of French Press coffee basically every morning. This spring, as part of fasting, I abstained from caffeine entirely for a whole month. Never again. The withdrawal is pretty bad for the first two days, but after a week any lingering symptoms should be gone. Yet I felt hungry, powerless and slightly depressed the whole time. I couldn't concentrate at all. The only upside was that getting out of the bed in the morning got better after week three, still nothing compared to the feeling when the first coffee kicks in. (Yes, I have ADHD if you were wondering)
I really appreciate informative videos like this. Most pople don't even realize that caffein is a drug, much like alcohol, and how it can have negative inpacts on mental or physical health if consumed excesively.
Currently merrily making my way through "The World Atlas of Coffee." Not going to say that I've become more of a snob while reading it... then again... I'm not, NOT going to say it. As a foodtuber and writer, your book is fantastic on every conceivable level. Keep being you!
Exact level of detailed and specific information along with breadth. Perfect. Thank you. I wish all educational videos on TH-cam were like this.
I've been doing Decaf December; which means no coffee, tea, chocolate, or anything that commonly has caffeine in it like cola. Socially, it has sucked. Physically I had some bad withdrawals at the beginning, but I don't know how much was just in my head or if I got sick on top of it at the same time - I actually started feeling bad the day before I stopped, as I was drinking my last cup of it on November 30th. I ended up needing to call off of work for two days in the beginning of the month.
My purpose is just to "reset my body," cause I normally drank 3-4 cups a day and it wasn't really doing anything for me energy boosting wise. I feel a little less anxious now without it, I don't think I've been without regular caffeine like.. 20 or so years, because even before I started drinking coffee a lot I drank a lot of caffeinated sodas even as a small child. The constipation is atrocious though.
Such stylish animation! I'm glad you've linked to the artist's website. They did such a good job melding with your usual graphics/typography that at first I thought you'd been able to do it all yourself.
Great video. I just would like to emphasize that most of the studies you mention talk about caffeine as a isolated compound, in a real world scenario we consume caffeine mixed with a tone of other molecules that change significantly its effects
Amazing graphics! It's been so great to see how your videos have progressed so much this year in terms of production! Thanks for all you do
As a teenager I ‘overdosed’ on caffeine. I had a coffee drinking competition with my friend. 15 coffees later and we felt sick, had headaches, and lost all our energy despite having only just woken from a full night sleep. Slept through most of the day and only felt better by evening.
Every single word you said, brings us so much value and perspective, big thanks!
I drink a coffee once a week, never really having withdrawing relief, instead a strong boost. I feel if you drink everyday, you just feel normal, but once a week is a huge boost (largely more productive, better performance, and very active). Give it a go!
I have no caffeine on the weekends.
Loved his voice alone. Super soothing
The production on this is outstanding. Those graphics are a treat.
This guy goes so far beyond coffee. Such an informative channel
Futurama taught me if I drink 100 cups of a coffee in a single day, I reach a state of pure enlightenment and become the Flash.
The reality is that you would just die from a heart attack
No James, thank you so much for sharing, and you have a great day!
I love this paragraph from Wikipedia's article on caffeine:
"Some textbooks state that caffeine is a mild euphoriant,[93][94][95] others state that it is not a euphoriant,[96][97] and one textbook states in one place that caffeine is not a euphoriant but in another place groups it among euphoriants."
Did they go 🥜 s?
Gotta love science.
@@wintercook2 Science worshipers when they discover that eternal truths are only found in men in white robes when in church not a lab.
@@seronymus god is the universe
@@seronymus Look, its a 'god worshiper' trying to point out a contradiction in different scientific studies where personal opinion can bias results, while being oblivious to the complete contradiction that is the Bible. One is a continuios work in progress that will become more accurate as we gain more data and learn how to better observe the universe around us, and the other pretends to already hold the source of all wisdom. If you want to go to the studies and find out why they came to the conclusions, you can click the sources cited and see why they came to those conclusions.
The visualizations in this video are impressive! Hats off to you.
Nice job pronouncing all the chemical names and French scientist's names, I have no idea if they are right but they sounded good!
They are right.
Even the word: Coffee... Fills me with a comforting vibe...
I took way too much caffeine once by accident. I'd guess it was around 500-600 mg. I was really tired and was trying to stay up for another few hours or so. I remember that it didn't really remove any of the negative effects of my sleep deprivation. I felt just as tired, my vision was just as unclear, I was just as sluggish, but I was just more awake for it, in the sense that I wasn't able to actually fall sleep, but I felt even more disoriented than I had before. When I finally was ready to go to sleep a few hours later, I couldn't. At best I was like in a half-dreaming half-awake kind of state. Never again.
@@SirFuckhoffdamn thats crazy bro nobody asked
This kind of videos, when Mr Hoffann covers a big chunk of science, is my absolute favourite. Thank you! ❤️
I used to drink 4-7 cups of coffee per day.. as a hairstylist, it was a great way of staying alert, socializing, staying warm in the winter, and getting that extra boost when you had to close the salon one night, then turn right around and open it the next morning. Now that I'm older and no longer working, my poor stomach has advised me that only 2 cups of coffee in the morning are allowed, with an occasional caffeinated coffee drink or sparkling water later in the day.
try tea
Watching this as I am sipping on an Americano that I made with some Yirgacheffe that I roasted a week ago. Pure bliss. Great material as always.
No mention of poop. But maybe that’s just the coffee not caffeine.
As far as i'm aware, it is not known to reliably make you poop a lot. The same muscle stimulation that can cause shakiness can also cause contractions in your bowels (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18350336/) but it seems unclear if caffeine alone will cause you to poop reliably. It's also possible that the consumption of coffee just aligns well with bowel movement schedules, and the frequency and regularity of bowel movements and coffee consumption make it seem like the two are connected.
@Kaselier TMI ahead. Read at your own discretion.
It doesn't matter the time of day, or how full/empty my bowels are. Whenever i take a caffeine pill ou drink some coffee, i have to go in about 15-25mins. Always works.
And when not on caffeine i have a perfectly regular schedule. Once a day. 10 am.
Keep in mind though that the pills i usually rake are in the 500mg to 600mg range. And coffee around here is pretty strong also.
Green tea doesn't seem to affect me nearly as strongly in that regard tho.
It's never had that effect on me, not coffe or pure caffeine. And I was abusing caffeine for a while (800mg/day).
I don't often drink coffee and I can definitely confirm that drinking it does make me poop very quickly (like 5-10 minutes after I start drinking it) almost every time. However, that doesn't really happen when I eat chocolate covered coffee beans so I dunno if maybe the effect is amplified a lot more by having a warm/hot liquid in the stomach which could ease/trigger bowel movements. That wouldn't surprise me that much since a hot water bottle is a known way to help relieve constipation.
From "How To Make Coffee" by Lani Kingston:
"When [caffeine] reaches the liver, it is metabolized... a small amount becomes theobromine, which dilates blood vessels and increases the production of urine; and a tiny amount becomes theophylline, which relaxes smooth muscle (the kind found in the digestive tract)"
-- this could explain the pooping?
Well done! Concise, informative and a pleasure to listen to you talk as usual.
Can we just stop for a second and appreciate how AMAZING the animations and the overall presentation of this video were? This is some next level shit!
James this is easily one of the best coffee related videos I’ve seen yet. Brilliantly explained. Can’t wait for the next one
Hi James, I figured I'd contribute a bit since I'm a fan of these videos and I did a research paper on caffeine and other nootropics (cognitive enhancement drugs). The most replicated way to get a good effect from caffeine seems to be caffeine + l-theanine, around a ratio of 1:2 respectively. The other stuff seems to have a bit more limited research. While the mechanism for caffeine fighting drowsiness is known (and discussed in your video), I'm not sure if any definitive research has been done with L-theanine's mechanism for synergizing with coffee. Although tea has less l-theanine than the 1:2 ratio, it does seem to be better for getting a "gentler" high. I suspect this is a partial synergistic effect.
That's an interesting take. I've recently started taking nootropics and the blend i use includes caffeine. But the ratio to L-theanine is not 1:2. I think the caffeine makes me irritable. It has 80mg of caffeine and 100mg of L-theanine. Is there any other supplement that i can take to make caffeine's effect milder?
Gotta say the facts described in this video are awesome but that presentation and video editing is just top notch. Great work
I'm very happy I've been caffeine-free since August 2020. I was addicted to it and I would get the worst headaches and sickness if I miss coffee in the morning. It took me 3 days lying in bed literally going though withdrawal and since then never looked back. Although I LOVE the smell and feeling of coffee, I'm very happy that I don't have to depend on it anymore.
I had a similar experience. After about 9 years of daily consumption, and I mean heavy consumption, I stopped consuming coffee because I was desperate to stop the fatigue I was feeling daily. The irony is that it is a never ending loop... I drink coffee to get energy, but my body, after years of consuming it, was rejecting it therefore I felt fatigue and drank more coffee. A very counter productive routine I was stuck on. My body kinda felt like it was sick. I now think it was because my body was rejecting the caffeine but i kept drinking it with out knowing that caffeine was the real issue .finally I stopped the caffeine and I went through a withdrawal... It was very bad... But it was very life changing. No more fatigue, headaches, my body didn't feel hot flashes, slept better, woke up easier.. Etc
@@DiamondDogGoPewPew same thing happened to me with sugar
I see this often in my construction field glad i never took a sip
I’m nearly 60 and just started getting slight nausea after I drank 3 double shots a day for years, now I’m not tolerating it . I stopped and my nausea went away .
Bravo Professor! An EXCELLENT, CLEAR, CONCISE explanation of my favorite legal drug’s inner workings and history - packed with interesting facts and deftly delivered. I wish all learning could be this satisfying 😀
When he says " I hope you have a great day" I actually believed it
With that smirk on his face...😏 The coffee in his cup was gone and the caffeine had just started to kick in.😊
Thank you for not using useless background music, James, I was able to focus throughout the whole video
A James Hoffman video is a psychoactive drug in itself.
Feelings of euphoria when you get notified one has been uploaded, followed by the ‘crash’ and withdrawal when it’s over!
What an amazing background on my favourite beverage. Thank you so much!
I'd LOVE to learn about decaf and the different techniques and processes used to decaffinate beans. Super interesting stuff, I've had some incredible tasting decaf espresso and was actually shocked at how damn close it was to regular beans.
I'm slightly sensitive to caffeine so I have to watch my intake from time to time. Unfortunately, I fucking love making pourover and drinking espresso :c
True,Swiss Water Method is almost identical in taste I believe,but there's just not many options and it's quite pricey!
James I just want to say all the audiophiles appreciate the quality of audio in your videos
Hey James, I’d love to see you review organic coffee vs regular coffee. I’d love to hear the actual truth regarding the amount of chemicals used to grow non organic.
This is the best explanatory source of information I've found on caffeine. Amazing video!!
If I drink 3 cups of coffee within 8 hours, spread I get a panic attack, hypercardia, anxiety.
For some people it works great, for others it is really bad. This might be due to genetic differences and availability of receptors.
For me, coffee has been more an anxiety stimulant than psychostimulant
I very much enjoyed the Motion design / Explainer format. I want more. Please.
Caffeine definitely gives me a sense of anxiety. I started drinking doubleshot espressos and kept wondering why I felt guilty. That's how I found out that feeling guilty was the only time I get anxiety apparently.
Try with l theanine
You have a very calm voice and way of speaking
Wow! I had heard tea had more caffeine than coffee. Thank you for stating this!
Also can we just appreciate the animations? Like wow!
The fact that there is a large discrepancy in caffeine (65 to 300mg) in a single cup of coffee is INSANE to me. You can go from being fine from drinking 2 cups of 1 coffee to feeling ill / anxiety-ridden from 2 cups from another coffee.
Great presentation, and great graphics! Very informative, delightful to watch, yet not distracting
One note about "the effects that we all experience with caffeine" (i.e. wakefulness/alertness) is that not everyone actually gets that from caffeine. While AFAIK there's not a whole lot of actual research out there about it, some neurodivergences (most notably ADHD) can have really weird interactions with caffeine in some people, including for some the paradoxical effect of inducing drowsiness.
Caffeine makes me sleepy. I have ADHD.
I have pretty severe ADHD (clinically diagnosed from young age) and it still gives me the normal effects. More interestingly though it mitigates my ADHD symptoms (was on adderall but it made me a zombie so I just drink lots of coffee and generally it's worked for me).
Although I also have 0 trouble sleeping even after just drinking a cup of coffee which some people have told me is weird, dunno if it's related.
I tried quitting it for a week to reset my tolerance and it was the worst I've ever felt, it's cool for the people that can do it but I realized it's just not for me cause my symptoms get horrible and also I feel tired all the time. When I started drinking it again I pretty much got my tolerance I had back in only a few days so it didn't even help all that much in that regard, kinda lame.
I have heard the sleeping thing too, I find that fascinating. for me (I also have adhd) caffeinated coffee just raises my heart rate and makes me feel uncomfortable, like I've taken too much of my medication (I've tested this on days I haven't taken medication!). no noticeable cognitive effects or more energy or whatever.
I have some friends who successfully medicate their adhd with coffee, it really does vary
I freaking love James Hoffman’s videos. i’ve learned so much about coffee over these past 2 years since I discovered him. Made me appreciate coffee even more!