Most of the time a lot of noncoffee drinkers says they do not drink coffee because of its caffeine content that is bad for the health. To me seems like this reasoning is not acceptable because most of the food and drinks we take they all have caffeine content to it. But what is exactly, the reason why caffeine is addictive?
After we eat or drink caffeinated foods, our body will absorb the chemical through our small intestines and dissolve through the bloodstream. Because caffeine is both water and fat soluble that can be dissolved in water base solution, thick blood, and cell membranes , it can penetrate our blood-brain barrier and enter the brain.
Caffeine can closely resemble a molecule that is naturally present in our brain called adenosine – this is an inhibitory neurotransmitter for the brain. Acts as a central nervous system depressant. This is also the reason why we feel tired, sleepy and suppresses arousal. Every time we eat or drink foods that contain caffeine, they can fit instantly to our brain cells making its way to blocked our adenosines and reacts as our brain receptors.
When caffeine molecules block our natural receptors, they can now work their duties to our body, giving us alertness and energy to our body for a few hours. Also, when the adenosine is blocked, some of our brains natural simulators will work more effective like the dopamine and when the adenosine is not doing its regular job they will act as brain stimulator for the adrenal gland cueing to secrete adrenaline for the body.
This explains why caffeine is addictive, but this is not like some other drugs like weed and ecstasy that one tablet or a single hit will make you overdose and go wild. Being addictive to caffeine takes a long time to react in our body, and it is not like drugs that we go wild and crazy but we will develop a caffeine tolerance which makes our body more alert and energetic. People who take advantage to caffeine intake are those who most likely have the higher risk of becoming caffeine addicts, as a result of this the brain chemistry and physical characteristics change over time.
The process of caffeine addiction is, the more we have caffeine intake the more our brain cells grow adenosines receptors. That is why the balance of our natural stimulants are not equal to what supposed our body has to have and leads to decreasing amount of our body natural receptors. This is the exact reason why regular coffee drinkers have already build up their caffeine tolerance. Because as long as our adenosine receptors grow it takes more than just one cup of coffee to blocked a portion of them and achieved the desired effect to our body.
The best thing to do to avoid caffeine tolerance is to have a well-balanced coffee drinking. Because you can get another source if caffeine through other food that you eat like chocolates and sodas. 1 to 3 cups of coffee a day is good enough to sustain the caffeine that we needed for our body for the entire day.
