Coffee. Yes coffee. Do you really feel a difference ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter fluidistic
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Coffee Difference
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the subjective effects of coffee and caffeine on individuals, exploring whether participants feel a noticeable difference when consuming coffee. The scope includes personal experiences, varying reactions to caffeine, and anecdotal evidence regarding its impact on sleep, concentration, and overall energy levels.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants report feeling no significant effects from coffee, citing personal experiences of not being affected by caffeine in terms of sleep or concentration.
  • Others express that caffeine keeps them awake or makes them feel jittery, particularly if consumed later in the day.
  • Several participants mention that caffeine can make them feel sleepy or agitated, with varying thresholds for how much coffee affects them.
  • A few individuals note that their sensitivity to caffeine changes based on their regular consumption habits, suggesting that tolerance may play a role in their experiences.
  • Some participants share humorous anecdotes about their experiences with coffee, including negative reactions and preferences for other beverages.
  • There are mentions of specific instances where coffee had unexpected effects, such as feeling nauseous after consuming too much or being surprised by the strength of a particular brew.
  • One participant raises concerns about acrylamide in coffee, although they express minimal concern compared to other sources.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally do not reach a consensus, as multiple competing views remain regarding the effects of coffee and caffeine. Individual experiences vary widely, leading to a range of opinions on whether coffee has a noticeable impact.

Contextual Notes

Some participants mention the influence of personal tolerance levels, the timing of consumption, and individual health factors, which may affect their experiences with coffee. There are also references to the subjective nature of taste and preference, which complicates the discussion.

Do you feel a difference after drinking coffee/tea- caffeine

  • Total voters
    57
fluidistic
Gold Member
Messages
3,932
Reaction score
283
Coffee. Yes coffee. Do you really "feel a difference"?

Instead of pointlessly debating whether caffeine affects our body (which it does of course), I want to know whether you really "feel a difference" when you drink coffee.
Does it prevent you from sleeping?
Can you stay concentrated on your studies for a longer time/and or later at night?


I really love coffee for its taste, I drink 1 strong and big coffee (about 350 ml) per day at least, yet I feel absolutely nothing.
I don't feel it perturbs my sleep or make it touger to reach. It takes me generally over 2 hours of laying in my bed before I get to find sleep, no matter if I drink a coffee just before sleeping.
I don't feel it helps me to keep concentrated for a longer time when I study, etc.
I know my heart beat is very likely faster after drinking a coffee but apparently that's not something I can notice, unless of course if I'd measure it with a chronometer.

On the other hand I can feel a difference if I drink a 200 ml glass of beer at 4% alcohol.
 
Biology news on Phys.org


I avoid caffeine because it keeps me up all day. Once, when my daughter was about 10, she drank a cup of my wife's coffee. She was bouncing off the walls.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: 1 person


Caffeine makes me sleepy. Shortly after I have a couple of cups, I'll have to take a nap. I started a ritual of having a large cup of coffee right before bedtime when I was in my teens. It's a comfort thing.
 
  • Haha
Likes   Reactions: ISamson


I've drank coffee twice in my life but in a rather large amount; I didn't feel any change. What I did feel was the horrible bitter taste. I went back to Welch's grape juice immediately =D.
 


Jimmy Snyder said:
I avoid caffeine because it keeps me up all day. Once, when my daughter was about 10, she drank a cup of my wife's coffee. She was bouncing off the walls.

WoW. Must be a spectacular scene. Did she also reach the opposite wall from where she bounced off?

Evo said:
Caffeine makes me sleepy. Shortly after I have a couple of cups, I'll have to take a nap. I started a ritual of having a large cup of coffee right before bedtime when I was in my teens. It's a comfort thing.

Hmm. Caffeine does not affect you the usual way. Maybe those doctors could use Coffee instead of anesthetics on you.
 


Wow! :biggrin:
I was not expecting such kind of -funny- answers.
To wannabeNewton, I've tried a few times to drink wine in my life but could not go further than a single small gulp so I feel your "pain" :)
 


fluidistic said:
To wannabeNewton, I've tried a few times to drink wine in my life but could not go further than a single small gulp so I feel your "pain" :)
My mom drinks so much coffee per day and I always ask her why because I didn't get how someone could consume something so bitter all the time. It didn't even seem like it was making her any more productive. She said it became like second nature after a while.
 


I'm a little bit sensitive to caffeine I think. I can't drink half a cup after 3pm or I will be up way past midnight. I also feel jittery even after a cup of latte.
I was up until 4am last night because I went to a coffee shop and ordered a decaf latte. It was definitely not decaf. I didn't realize that until I drank almost half the cup.
 


Yes if affects me, if I'm sleepy and take 1 small cup of coffee it takes me off that sleepy state very fast. If I take like 3 small cups of coffee or more, I get very agitated and can't stop moving :-p It affects different people differently, I know a guy that gets sleepy by drinking coffee, and he drinks 7-8 cups of coffee some days.
 
  • #10


I rarely drink coffee. I much prefer the iced coffees to hot coffees, as well, but even those I try not to drink often. One of the reasons I avoided coffee when I was younger is that I saw all of these other students (especially the Master's students in the first lab I worked in!) being seemingly reliant on the stuff to function, so I decided it was better not to get hooked on using caffeine as a crutch to function throughout the day!

That said, I did used to drink quite a lot of diet coke. I didn't drink it for the caffeine, though. Then again, I've cut back in recent years, and I do feel more tired that I used to, but I think that's just a sign that I'm not as young as I used to be. (Sadly, I'm still pretty young. =P )
 
  • #11


Depends on the strength. Typical coffee doesn't wake me up, if anything, it makes me sleepy. But many years ago we had some work to do at my friend's home, he offered me a coffee - and it was so strong I thought my heart will jump out through my ears. Good thing it was 10 am.
 
  • #12


I chose yes.
If I take a break from caffeine for a spell and then have some I feel it.
If I drink 2 Java Monsters, I for sure feel that.
When I have my 2 Mountain Dews after I get up for work in the evening, I don't notice a difference, or I am so used to it, the effect isn't profound enough to for me to notice.
 
  • #13


Definitely yes. I feel a rush about 15 minutes after I drink it. And it doesn't fade quickly - if I drink coffee after noon, I'll have trouble sleeping that night.

But sometimes if I drink too much it will make me feel kind of drowsy, yet if I do manage to get to sleep when I'm 'under the influence' it's not a restful sleep.
 
  • #14


Yes. Coffee boosts me.
At work I drink it throughout the day.
The downside is that I have little energy in the evening.

One time at a friend's place, I felt a bit low on energy and drank 3 coffee in a row, but it didn't help at all and I was even starting to feel a bit nauseous.
Then it turned out that this "friend" had coffee without cafeine!
I have never touched that stuff again!
 
  • #15


Thanks all for the replies! :D
Interesting.
 
  • #16


Is there such a thing as "life before coffee"? Is there, really. It all sounds kind of speculative to me.
 
  • #17


Every time I drink one of the massively oversized caffeinated beverages at a cinema, I can't sleep until very early hours of the morning (4AM or so).
 
  • #18


At first it didn't give me any extra energy, then one day when I was fairly tired it finally worked. I haven't looked back since. Only on mornings when I'm in really high spirits and have a lot of energy will I not have a cup. However, it makes me urinate a lot, so I need to control my intake when I go out to places where a washroom isn't readily available, or when my destination is relatively far away (I walk everywhere, so travel takes a lot longer).
 
  • #19
I've experimented with the effects of caffeine off and on for several decades. It's potency for me seems to vary depending on how regularly I consume it. If I stay off of it for several months and then drink one cup of coffee, it's effects are much more noticeable than if I consume one cup every day. It's effects are the usual for me. It helps alleviate sleepiness and makes me more alert. However, too much will make me nervous and jittery.

I have recently discovered that coffee contains acrylamide. But I don't think it contains as much as potato chips and french fries, so I'm not too concerned about it right now. If you go to a coffee shop in California you may notice a warning sign posted as a result of prop 65.
 
  • #20
Coffee. Yes coffee. Do you really "feel a difference"?

Personally, I'm not really a fan. Not sure why but it always upsets my stomach. Not badly enough to avoid it all the time, but is very rare that I do drink coffee. I don't love the taste and it's, IMO, expensive as hell.
But to answer the question, I find it only very slightly affects me. It only keeps me slightly more awake but I definitely still have to focus just as hard.
 
  • #21
I always use Nescafe Classics [Black coffee] when i get tired and sleepy at night. it works.
 
  • #22
TurtleMeister said:
I have recently discovered that coffee contains acrylamide. But I don't think it contains as much as potato chips and french fries, so I'm not too concerned about it right now. If you go to a coffee shop in California you may notice a warning sign posted as a result of prop 65.

After a quick search this is what I found on coffee specifically:

Over a thousand chemicals have been reported in roasted coffee: more than half of those tested (19/28) are rodent carcinogens. There are more rodent carcinogens in a single cup of coffee than potentially carcinogenic pesticide residues in the average American diet in a year, and there are still a thousand chemicals left to test in roasted coffee. This does not mean that coffee is dangerous but rather that animal cancer tests and worst-case risk assessment, build in enormous safety factors and should not be considered true risks.

Full text (it's worth a read):

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1007971204469

With so many people drinking coffee worldwide, it seems to me that there would be a lot more discussion about this if the acrylamide (and other potentially dangerous chemicals) levels in coffee posed a significant risk.
 
Last edited:
  • #23
The hip happening bio-hack way to drink coffee nowadays is with butter in it.

http://www.dailypercolator.com/food_ventures/bulletproofcoffee/
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #24
FreeMitya said:
After a quick search this is what I found on coffee specifically:



Full text (it's worth a read):

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1007971204469

With so many people drinking coffee worldwide, it seems to me that there would be a lot more discussion about this if the acrylamide (and other potentially dangerous chemicals) levels in coffee posed a significant risk.

Thanks for the link. I agree, the dangers of these rodent carcinogens in our food is overblown. My coffee consumption is very moderate anyway, so I'm not worried about it.
 
  • #25
TurtleMeister said:
Thanks for the link. I agree, the dangers of these rodent carcinogens in our food is overblown. My coffee consumption is very moderate anyway, so I'm not worried about it.

Mine too, just thought I'd provide some reassurance for those who tend obsess over things like this.
 
Last edited:
  • #26
Isn't depletion of minerals an issue when drinking coffee?
 
  • #27
Caffeine does not adversely affect me...I can drink a potfull just before bedtime and not be wakefull...maybe I have developed a tolerance to it?
 
  • #28
A short time excited after drinking it.
 
  • #29
Yes, I get easily addicted to caffeine. I can easily drink 5-10 black teas in a row and i start to feel anxious and jittery
 
  • #30
I don't feel anything from caffeine. Heck, I take 20 mg of adderall (a mix of amphetamines) a day and it barely manages to keep me coherent.
 

Similar threads

Why Don't Insulin Needles "Damage" You or Hurt When Poking Yourself?
  • · Replies 37 ·
2
Replies
37
Views
6K
COVID Reaction to COVID-19 Vaccine (or what to be prepared for)
  • · Replies 287 ·
10
Replies
287
Views
27K
Holy bad idea Batman Problems with caffeine
  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
3K
How do you personally cope with stress?
  • · Replies 66 ·
3
Replies
66
Views
8K
Why do doctors give SSRI medication to treat depression?
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
7K
Why Can't I Sleep Despite Revising for Exams?
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
4K
The Truth About Yerba Mate: Health Benefits, Risks, and Controversy
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
7K
Is Your Workplace Stress Giving You Blepharospasm?
  • · Replies 22 ·
Replies
22
Views
4K
Caffeine Soap; does it really work?
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
11K
What Are the Different Concentrations in Theoretical Physics?
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K