“Caffeine works on receptors in the brain. Olav Spigset asserts there are also individual caffeine tolerances. Many then find they have a lower tolerance of coffee and they have to reduce their intake of it to avoid getting too high a dose.” Individual differences When a person quits the nicotine habit, this decomposition starts going slower again. So a smoker needs more coffee to get the same stimulating effect from caffeine. “Another thing is that smokers metabolize caffeine more rapidly than non-smokers. This contributes to higher concentrations of it and side-effects such as agitation, the jitters and heart palpitations. The professor says that women who are pregnant or use contraceptive pills experience a much slower metabolization of caffeine. “Some medications speed up the decomposition so more coffee is needed to keep up the stimulating effects, whereas others its break down.” Certain medications can also have an impact on this decomposition,” says Spigset. Concentrations of these enzymes vary between individuals. “The caffeine is metabolized in the liver by special enzymes. Enzymes are proteins which are found in multiple variations throughout the body and are involved in the chemical reactions going on inside us. They have so much caffeine left in their bodies they are still being stimulated by it.” Contraceptive pills and smokingĮnzymes in the liver are what determine how fast the caffeine breaks down. For them, a cup of coffee at noon could cause problems falling asleep at 10 or 11 in the evening. Amongst those whose bodies are slower in this respect it can take up to ten hours. But for some it can be as little as a half hour. “A half-life of five hours is the average for the population. And among some the half-life is of course shorter or longer than average. Spigset explains that the effect of caffeine as a stimulant is still there after it is halved. After ten to 15 hours there is no longer enough left to have an impact.” “The time it takes for the caffeine level to drop by half is an average of five hours. Olav Spigset says that the half-life of caffeine varies. In the coffee context it is the time it takes for a concentration of a substance to be converted an digested or released from the body by 50 percent. Five-hour half-lifeĪ common term in chemistry and pharmacology is half-life. He explained that caffeine can disturb a night of sleep in intricate ways. We asked Olav Spigset, a researcher and professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s (NTNU)’s Department of Laboratory Medicine, Children’s and Women’s Health. But does caffeine decompose in the body at different rates, making this stimulant last longer in some than others? There are big differences in how alert we become from caffeine, as our tolerances for the drug are individual. Others say they spin like a top on the mattress if any less than half a day as passed since their last latte. Some seem to be able to drink cup after cup, even right before going to bed, with no problems. Many Norwegians wouldn’t think of letting a day pass without getting their jolt of java. Norwegians are said to be second only to Finns in world coffee consumption per capita.
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