Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Please consult with your health care professional with any medical or health related questions.
Caffeine has a whole heap of benefits – from keeping you awake during an afternoon slump to enhancing sports performance, even controlling ADHD!
The effects of caffeine on one’s mental state are an important area for scientists to explore because about 90 percent of the world’s adults take the stimulating substance. Some prefer coffee, some tea, others soda pop and a few more take it in energy drinks. Caffeine is also in chocolate, over-the-counter pain relievers and even caffeine mints, including Viter Energy Mints.
But the health and wellness communities have long debated the pros and cons of caffeine, with the latter touching on its effects on mental health. Some studies show that caffeine can help alleviate symptoms of depression, while others say it worsens the condition.
Scientists debate whether caffeine has a positive or negative effect on people suffering from depression, a disorder affecting 15 percent of people in high-income nations. [1]
Some scientists say caffeine helps alleviate symptoms, thanks to its positive effects that are so great it may actually help prevent suicide. There are numerous studies that have shown caffeine – specifically coffee - may prevent mild to moderate depression:
This means that caffeine, particularly in coffee, may lessen the likelihood of depression.
By the way, this same study also found that tea, with its lower caffeine content per cup, was less protective in preventing against depression, but still effective to some extent.
While there are no studies yet on how exactly coffee actually prevents depression, the researchers from Qingdao University Medical College put forward a couple of possible explanations.
Firstly, they speculated coffee may help prevent depression because it has chemical compounds that counteract depression. [6] Coffee combats depression through compounds that reduce inflammation in the nerve cells in depressed people’s brains. The compounds are caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, and ferulic acid.
They suggested in the study:
“Along with caffeine’s natural antioxidant properties, coffee can act as an anti-inflammatory in affected parts of the brain. This may relieve some of the discomfort and distress caused by depression, which is related to inflammation.”
The other hypothesis is based on the psychostimulant nature of caffeine – it boosts motivation and helps you feel more awake.
Caffeine helps the brain create more dopamine, which activates the part that taps reward perception. This then allows you to make better decisions, feel more motivated, and generally be in a happy mood.
Based on a review conducted by A. Nehlig, having 75mg of caffeine (a cup of coffee) every 4 hours can lead to a “pattern of sustained improvement of mood over the day.” It can increase alertness and well-being, help concentration, improve mood and limit depression. [7]
For more information on this, read How does caffeine affect your mood?
Some research has found that copious amounts of coffee and caffeine can worsen one’s mental state. Coffee and/or caffeine taken in large amounts can result in headaches, anxiety, nausea, restlessness, increased blood pressure and palpitations.
Medical News Today says these symptoms are part of the fight or flight process. If the fight or flight symptoms occur too often from caffeine, inflammation and disease could result. [8]
Coffee consumption may result in a heightened risk of depression, some studies have shown. One study says taking caffeine might intensify depression and result in anxiety if the person has a mood disorder.
Further, caffeine’s effects are temporary, and depressed people could experience a crash in their mood when it wears off. “People who have depression are advised against consuming large amounts of caffeine,” Medical News Today concludes.
Mayo Clinic says that while there isn’t a clear link between caffeine consumption and depression, the idea may have been based on two things: [2]
Caffeine does more than just wake you up. It’s the most widely used stimulant/substance/drug (however way you want to call it) for getting that familiar jolt in the morning, the kick that you need to jumpstart the day.
Every day, millions of people all around the world consume caffeine to stay awake and ease fatigue. But there’s definitely more to it than just a fix.
While it usually gets a bad rap for its adverse effects like jitters and link to depression (usually from having too much of it too soon), moderate caffeine consumption can give you the best bang for the cup.
[3] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/313988.php
[4] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mnfr.201500620/full
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26339067
[6] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0963996915301174
[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26677204
[8] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/313988.php
Sublingual Viter Energy Mints deliver a quick kick to the bloodstream. One of the fastest ways to get a drug, vitamin or caffeine into the body is through sublingual administration—that is, under the tongue, where the substance dissolves and quickly gets absorbed into the body.
That is how Viter Energy Mints, our product, delivers a load of invigorating caffeine and B vitamins into the bloodstream quickly.
Stories of coming back from a downfall after great success are inspiring for anyone—even for young people who haven’t made their mark on the world yet. History and mythology are filled with people who were at the height of success, crashed and came back again.
Sometimes, people need to lose everything material to realize that they didn’t need it, or that the health and safety of their families are worth more than all the success and gold in the world. Sometimes people come back even stronger and more successful than before they “fell.”
Careful about falling asleep at work or you could become an Internet meme like this poor fellow.
Unless you work outdoors or indoors in a job where you are physically active all day, it can be difficult for some people who have desk jobs to stay awake at work without caffeine.
Maybe the most important thing you can do to make sure you don’t nod off at work is to get a good night of sleep, at least 7 to 8 hours, at a regular time every night. Boredom can also cause you to nod off. Other than getting a good night’s sleep and having a fascinating job, there are things you can do to stay awake.