The influence of coffee on the body can be felt very clearly immediately after drinking it, so exactly how do the organs inside the body react when we tolerate coffee?
For many of us, drinking a cup of coffee in the morning is an indispensable habit to increase concentration and provide energy for an effective working day.
The influence of coffee on the body can be felt very clearly immediately after drinking. So how exactly do our internal organs react when we tolerate coffee? MailOnline has analyzed this process in detail.
Coffee affects your body. (Source: Dailymail)
After 10 minutes
10 minutes after you take your first sip of coffee, your blood pressure and heart rate begin to gradually increase, because the caffeine has taken effect.
Dr. Duane Mellor, of the British Dietetic Association, said that 10 minutes after drinking coffee, caffeine will begin to appear in the blood. This reflects how quickly caffeine is absorbed into the bloodstream.
When the caffeine in coffee is absorbed, that’s when you feel a noticeable increase in energy. However, the truth is that caffeine does not provide energy; instead, it works by preventing your body from interacting with adenosine, a neurochemical in the brain that causes fatigue.
After 20 minutes
You feel more alert, active, and focused. Processing and solving tasks also becomes easier.
Dr. Mellor explains how caffeine blocks the body’s adenosine receptors to not only promote alertness, it also causes a rise in blood pressure within half an hour of drinking coffee – and this effect continues for about 4 hours later.
You will feel more alert, active, and focused after 20 minutes of drinking coffee. (Source: Shutterstock)
Blood pressure spikes are caused by caffeine causing your blood vessels to constrict, thus increasing your heart rate.
Although only temporary, the British government’s National Health Service (NHS) warns that drinking more than four cups of coffee a day can increase your blood pressure in the long term.
After 45 minutes
Dr. Mellor said the effects of caffeine on the body peak after 45 minutes.
At this time, the amount of neurotransmitter serotonin (happy hormone) in the body increases. It will improve motor nerve function in the brain, thereby helping muscles work stronger. You will feel full of energy and have better work performance.
However, that doesn’t mean drinking as much coffee as possible. Too much caffeine, instead of helping you focus, will make you feel jittery or anxious.
NHS guidance says around 400mg of caffeine a day is safe for adults, equivalent to four regular cups of coffee.
Pregnant women should only drink a maximum of 2 cups of coffee per day. The recommended limit for teenagers is 1 cup of coffee/day.
After 60 minutes
After caffeine takes effect to stimulate alertness, you may notice its side effects after about an hour.
Dr. Mellor says once caffeine appears in the bloodstream, it begins to have what experts call a diuretic effect.
That means if you drink coffee, you may have to pee more than usual.
If you drink coffee, you may have to urinate more than usual. (Source: iStock)
According to the NHS, when you drink coffee, the caffeine in the drink inhibits the production of anti-diuretic hormone or ADH, which normally helps regulate the amount of water in your body.
This prevents the kidneys from reabsorbing water and increases urine output.
You also don’t need to worry about the possibility of your body becoming dehydrated due to the diuretic effect of caffeine.
Research shows that drinking more than 500 mg of caffeine (more than 5 cups of coffee) per day increases the risk of mild dehydration.
The NHS also says that drinking coffee in moderation is as effective in replenishing the body’s water as water and juice.
After 90 minutes onwards
Dr. Mellor said the time it takes for caffeine to metabolize varies from person to person, but for most people, 1-2 hours after drinking coffee, the alertness-stimulating effect as well as the diuretic effect begins. fading.
Hours later, some people will feel sluggish again like before drinking coffee.
However, just because you feel a drop in caffeine doesn’t mean it has completely left your body.
Six hours after caffeine is consumed, half of it remains in the body. Researchers at the Sleep Foundation say caffeine can stay in your body for up to 12 hours.
Because of this, many sleep experts recommend avoiding caffeine at least eight hours before bed so it doesn’t affect your sleep, which means it’s best to avoid afternoon coffee. .