14 ms·

Combining Caffeine with Sugar May Improve Concentration

24 points by notsosmart 16y ago

roadnottaken 16y ago
Hasn't this been known for, like, a million years?
- notsosmart 16y ago
  I thought there might be some value in knowing that a study confirms it.
  - burgerbrain 16y ago
    I'd be incredibly surprised if this was actually the first study that bothered to confirm it. Aren't the effects of caffeine pretty well documented scientifically?
    - notsosmart 16y ago
      Yes, but this one was related to the effects of glucose combined with caffeine.
      - barrkel 16y ago
        I smell an easy study generator: take well-established results from single factors, combine them, and then see the relationship of the results (are they additive, multiplicative, completely at odds with one another, etc.).
  - olalonde 16y ago
    I personally skip nutrition related studies. It seems that for any given study, there is another one that says exactly the opposite.
    - zerothehero 16y ago
      Absolutely... have to say Michael Pollan is onto something with "nutritionism". Food isn't a linear combination of nutrients.
troyk 16y ago
Cocoa supposed to be good for the brain as well. Think I'll pound a few mocha's and see if I can increase my kill:death ratio on call of duty.
jmtame 16y ago
anecdotally, i always struggled focusing with caffeine. look into green tea; it's not only very healthy but it's more of a calm and alert type of focused, no jitters or bursts of energy. 3-5 cups seem to work best for me.
- wwortiz 16y ago
  I'm confused as green tea can have a similar caffeine content to coffee, especially at 3-5 cups.
  - yesimahuman 16y ago
    I also notice a much lower effect from green tea. I wonder if it's the different methods of preparation? Consequently I notice a much smaller effect from every single drink with caffeine when compared with plain coffee.
  - annajohnson 16y ago
    Green tea contains caffeine... so I'm confused too.
  - foljs 16y ago
    And who said he compared 3-5 cups of tea with ONE cup of coffee? Also (from the wild intertubes): amount of caffeine in an 8oz cup of various teas and coffee: Coffee: 100 mg Black Tea: 40 to 50 mg Oolong Tea: 25 to 35 mg Green Tea: 20 to 30 mg Decaffeinated Black Tea: 4 mg Decaffeinated Green Tea: 4 mg
- reneherse 16y ago
  My anecdotal contribution: Weaning myself completely off caffeine with a "descending dose" regiment of coffee to green tea to decaf tea to herbal tea has done wonders for my ability to focus. I've been caffeine free for over 7 months and the health improvements make a good sized list: • Better digestion due to the lack of caffeine induced peristalsis • Insomnia completely gone • No feeling "hung over" every morning prior to consuming caffeine • No swings in energy level during the day except those traceable to hunger or physical fatigue • Complete disappearance of mood swings, both hypo-manic and depressive • Increased productivity due to a better ability to focus for long periods of time The one complaint that I have is that my creativity has dramatically decreased during this same period. Gone are the racing thoughts and flights of invention that had me continually coming up with new ideas. Still working on a controlled, non-chemical way of getting back to that creative state... Of course, YMMV, but if you suffer from depression or any form of bipolar or seasonal affective disorder I highly recommend getting off of everybody's favorite drug. It may be affecting your life far more than you realize.
brunoc 16y ago
Medium double-double please. Hopefully the cream helps too.
mbm 16y ago
Another small victory for the ranks of corporate America.
ayu 16y ago
Pretty cool. If you want to replicate this, please remember that they consumed only glucose!! Fructose, which is present in equal amounts in table sugar, sucrose, is definitely not good for you (unless you eat fibre with it, like in fruits). It's processed solely in the liver and in a way analogous to ethanol. You can get fatty liver from too much HFCS. If you're interested, check out this review by Dr. Robert Lustig: http://www.scribd.com/doc/36173697/Bariatrician-Fructose http://www.scribd.com/doc/36173697/Bariatrician-Fructose
- notsosmart 16y ago
  Would eating fruit along with a cup of coffee be a good way to replicate? Or would the there not be enough of a spike in sugar to get the same result?
- hugh3 16y ago
  Interesting. But how am I to distinguish this comment from any number of other random dietary opinions which may be complete bullshit?
  - foljs 16y ago
    You study it further? Crazy, I know.
softbuilder 16y ago
Plus it has what plants need.
danielson 16y ago
...and speed? Of course, one might first want to consider the depreciated effectiveness—relatively speaking—of the sugar, and of the caffeine, were they to combine all three. Related: Kumail Nanjiani on new drug called cheese http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1cvKcGVy6k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1cvKcGVy6k

24 points by notsosmart 16y ago

roadnottaken 16y ago

Hasn't this been known for, like, a million years?

notsosmart 16y ago
I thought there might be some value in knowing that a study confirms it.
- burgerbrain 16y ago
  I'd be incredibly surprised if this was actually the first study that bothered to confirm it. Aren't the effects of caffeine pretty well documented scientifically?
  - notsosmart 16y ago
    Yes, but this one was related to the effects of glucose combined with caffeine.
    - barrkel 16y ago
      I smell an easy study generator: take well-established results from single factors, combine them, and then see the relationship of the results (are they additive, multiplicative, completely at odds with one another, etc.).
- olalonde 16y ago
  I personally skip nutrition related studies. It seems that for any given study, there is another one that says exactly the opposite.
  - zerothehero 16y ago
    Absolutely... have to say Michael Pollan is onto something with "nutritionism". Food isn't a linear combination of nutrients.

troyk 16y ago

Cocoa supposed to be good for the brain as well. Think I'll pound a few mocha's and see if I can increase my kill:death ratio on call of duty.

jmtame 16y ago

anecdotally, i always struggled focusing with caffeine. look into green tea; it's not only very healthy but it's more of a calm and alert type of focused, no jitters or bursts of energy. 3-5 cups seem to work best for me.

wwortiz 16y ago
I'm confused as green tea can have a similar caffeine content to coffee, especially at 3-5 cups.
- yesimahuman 16y ago
  I also notice a much lower effect from green tea. I wonder if it's the different methods of preparation? Consequently I notice a much smaller effect from every single drink with caffeine when compared with plain coffee.
- annajohnson 16y ago
  Green tea contains caffeine... so I'm confused too.
- foljs 16y ago
  And who said he compared 3-5 cups of tea with ONE cup of coffee? Also (from the wild intertubes): amount of caffeine in an 8oz cup of various teas and coffee: Coffee: 100 mg Black Tea: 40 to 50 mg Oolong Tea: 25 to 35 mg Green Tea: 20 to 30 mg Decaffeinated Black Tea: 4 mg Decaffeinated Green Tea: 4 mg
reneherse 16y ago
My anecdotal contribution: Weaning myself completely off caffeine with a "descending dose" regiment of coffee to green tea to decaf tea to herbal tea has done wonders for my ability to focus. I've been caffeine free for over 7 months and the health improvements make a good sized list: • Better digestion due to the lack of caffeine induced peristalsis • Insomnia completely gone • No feeling "hung over" every morning prior to consuming caffeine • No swings in energy level during the day except those traceable to hunger or physical fatigue • Complete disappearance of mood swings, both hypo-manic and depressive • Increased productivity due to a better ability to focus for long periods of time The one complaint that I have is that my creativity has dramatically decreased during this same period. Gone are the racing thoughts and flights of invention that had me continually coming up with new ideas. Still working on a controlled, non-chemical way of getting back to that creative state... Of course, YMMV, but if you suffer from depression or any form of bipolar or seasonal affective disorder I highly recommend getting off of everybody's favorite drug. It may be affecting your life far more than you realize.

brunoc 16y ago

Medium double-double please. Hopefully the cream helps too.

mbm 16y ago

Another small victory for the ranks of corporate America.

ayu 16y ago

Pretty cool. If you want to replicate this, please remember that they consumed only glucose!! Fructose, which is present in equal amounts in table sugar, sucrose, is definitely not good for you (unless you eat fibre with it, like in fruits). It's processed solely in the liver and in a way analogous to ethanol. You can get fatty liver from too much HFCS. If you're interested, check out this review by Dr. Robert Lustig: http://www.scribd.com/doc/36173697/Bariatrician-Fructose http://www.scribd.com/doc/36173697/Bariatrician-Fructose

notsosmart 16y ago
Would eating fruit along with a cup of coffee be a good way to replicate? Or would the there not be enough of a spike in sugar to get the same result?
hugh3 16y ago
Interesting. But how am I to distinguish this comment from any number of other random dietary opinions which may be complete bullshit?
- foljs 16y ago
  You study it further? Crazy, I know.

softbuilder 16y ago

Plus it has what plants need.

danielson 16y ago

...and speed? Of course, one might first want to consider the depreciated effectiveness—relatively speaking—of the sugar, and of the caffeine, were they to combine all three. Related: Kumail Nanjiani on new drug called cheese http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1cvKcGVy6k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1cvKcGVy6k