I found out that I was allergic to caffeine the summer of 2010. That means I haven't had a drink with caffeine in it in over three years. I didn't get the whole fuss about caffeine and how it's so wonderful to keep you up during the day. I have found that I develop my own energy throughout the day.
This video explains what caffeine actually does to your body:
Like the video said, the caffeine keeps you up for about 6 hours and then you aren't energized anymore, there's nothing keeping you up anymore. People become addicted to caffeine because their body begins to rely on it because it's the only thing keeping the awake so they drink more and more caffeine to be able to stay awake and that's all that is keeping them up.
Since I realized that sometimes I can have more energy than someone who had that cup of coffee I decided that I want to research it further to see what was actually happening in my body as I have a lot of energy usually. Yes, I have days that I want to just have a cup of coffee so I can stay up to finish work or to not always feel like I'm falling asleep in class, but I've realized it is more worth it to not get the headache and stay tired and get a better nights sleep.
I also remembered that when we talked in class about how when you consume a lot of caffeine if affects your amount of REM sleep. I may be wrong, but I think that I have a lot of REM sleep at night, because I realized that I do dream a lot. Maybe it's the fact that since I don't drink that cup of coffee in the morning that I'm more genuinely awake during the day and I'm filled with energy.
LAY OFF THE CAFFEINE AND GET SOME SLEEP!!
You know why I sometimes doubt the effects of caffeine? My brother (Lavi) used to have a refrigerator full of coke every night while he watched movies or played video games. And when he wanted to go to sleep... he would just sleep. But maybe that's just because he's a teenager.
ReplyDeleteAlso- I think I remember the kola nut from Things Fall Apart, so that's cool, I guess.
All in all, I'm glad to know caffeine isn't dangerous ;)
I'm not allergic or anything but I just can't stand the taste of coffee so I don't even know what its like to deal with that kind of caffeine. On the other hand, I do know what caffeinated soda does to me and I can honestly say that I don't feel a thing. I don't know if I'm just invincible or maybe I just don't realize it. I have seen people go crazy when they drink a little Coke--even worse with a Red Bull but I have never had that problem luckily.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what you said about thinking you get a lot of REM sleep because you dream a lot could be wrong. I think it just means that you get woken up a lot during your REM so its easier for you to remember your dreams, not that you get any more REM sleep than anyone else.