Everyone knows that coffee perks up the soul. Shortly after the nectar passes our lips, our brain is attentive, our vision sharpens and fatigue goes away.
As French novelist Honoré de Balzac states, “This coffee falls into your stomach, and straightway there is a general commotion. Ideas begin to move like the battalions of the Grand Army on the battlefield.”
Caffeine is the primary chemical in coffee, a psychoactive drug that alters how we feel and behave. Caffeine molecules resemble the body’s adenosine molecules, which accumulate in the brain the longer we are awake. And since caffeine looks like adenosine, it can block sensors and trick the brain to stay awake.
Given its popularity, scientists have conducted many studies on coffee and caffeine to discern its effect on health and behavior. Here are five of the lesser known surprises they have discovered.
