The debt you owe to caffeine still needs to be paid off

Many of us want - or should I say need? — our morning coffee to get us up and going".

In total, people around the world drink more than 2 billion cups of coffee every day.

< p class="_39n3n">You may think that coffee gives you the energy you need to get through the morning or the day, but coffee may not give you as much as you think.

The main stimulant in coffee is caffeine, and caffeine's main mode of action is to change the way our brain cells interact with a compound called adenosine.

Getting busy, getting tired

Adenosine is part of the system that regulates our sleep-wake cycle and is part of why high activity levels lead to fatigue.

As we go about our days and activities, Adenosine levels increase because it is released as a by-product when energy is used in our cells. ules.

Eventually, adenosine binds to its receptor - the parts of cells that receive signals - which tells cells to slow down, making us feel sleepy and sleepy. That's why you feel tired after a long day of activity.

While we sleep, energy consumption decreases, lowering adenosine levels as it reorganizes itself in other forms. You wake up in the morning feeling rested, well, if you get enough sleep.

If you always feel sleepy when you wake up, caffeine can help you for a while.

It works by binding to the adenosine receptor, which it can do because it has a similar shape.

However , it is not the case similar to that it triggers the signal to sleep and slow down like adenosine does.

Instead, it just fills the stains and prevents adenosine from binding to them. This is what prevents the feeling of drowsiness.

Caffeine can help, but it's not magic. (Pexels: Chevanon Photography)

No free ride

However , there's a catch: While energizing, this little caffeine intervention is more of a borrowing from your wakefulness, rather than a creation of new energy.

That's because caffeine doesn't bind forever urs, and the adenosine that it's blocking doesn't go away.

So eventually the caffeine breaks down, lets go of the receptors, and all that adenosine that's been waiting and building up locks in and the feeling of drowsiness returns, sometimes all of a sudden.

Your caffeine debt must always be repaid, and the only real way to repay it is to sleep.< /p>Timing is everything

How much free adenosine is in your system...