Does Coffee Actually Wake You Up? (Solved & Explained!)

Caffeine in the coffee behaves like a stimulating agent that makes you feel alert and energetic. In addition, caffeine raises your blood pressure and heart rate that helps to boost your mind and body energy levels. This increased heart rate and high blood pressure make you feel more awake. 

This article will look at the science behind coffee and its link to alertness, and how it interacts with your body to create a sense of attention, plus some reasons why coffee might not make everyone alert all of the time.

What is the Science Behind Caffeine and Alertness?

An experiment was performed on 367 people. Some were habitual coffee drinkers, some drank coffee occasionally, and some were non-coffee consumers. The research proved that regular coffee drinkers do gain an improvement in attention and focus after consuming coffee.

Researchers gave a portion of the non-coffee consumers a cup of coffee, and the coffee consumers were given a fake coffee without caffeine. After that, they sat on a computer and were given some tasks to complete.

Researchers noticed that when non-coffee consumers were given coffee and started to work on a computer, they felt headaches and slight anxiety. While the coffee consumers who were given a dummy drink, on the other hand, felt sleepy and had no activeness.

Another experiment happened afterward, and the daily coffee consumers were given a caffeinated cup of coffee and did tasks on the computer again; researchers observed that they were more alert for a more extended period.

Researchers concluded that coffee created activeness and alertness in people who were habitual to drinking. Therefore, you can say that coffee has some observable benefits in waking you up.

How Does Caffeine Interact With Your Nervous System To Wake You Up? 

The interaction of caffeine with the nervous system is mainly based on the adenosine receptors present in the brain. Adenosine controls your sleep-wake cycle and promotes sleep. In your brain, adenosine binds to special receptors on some neurons. 

Adenosine production is continuous during the whole day and makes you tired at night at the time of sleep. This is because caffeine and adenosine have almost the same molecular formula and structure. 

They fight with each other during attachment to the receptor site of the neuron. Caffeine diminishes the activity of adenosine by slowing down its neural activity. In this way, caffeine works to stimulate your central nervous system by blocking the adenosine, making you awake for a long time. 

Caffeine also stimulates the central nervous system to release other neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, and noradrenaline. 

Caffeine can help with many brain functions, especially your:

1.  Mood 

2.  Attention 

3.  Focus level 

4.  learning process 

5.  Basic Mental function 

To achieve maximum benefits without causing any health concerns, you should be careful about the amount of coffee you consume daily. According to the FDA, 400mg of coffee with four to five cups per day can boost your mind and make you feel enthusiastic during the whole day. 

Does Coffee Energize You? 

Caffeine diminishes the production of adenosine and stimulates the production of the adrenaline hormone, which is the fight or flight hormone and makes you energetic. 

According to modern studies, 60mg of caffeine enhances alertness and improves your focus level. And about 100mg of caffeine decreases your fatigue and gives you strength. 

The energy level of caffeine also depends upon the timing you are drinking coffee, especially if you want an energetic or healthy mood. Drinking coffee in the late morning has the best benefits for delivering energy.

Coffee also has a beneficial effect on the energy level of habitual consumers. In addition, they have significant improvements in their performance of tasks compared to non-consumers of coffee.

According to the research on office workers, the experiment suggested that if they prefer ornithine (found naturally in meat, dairy, and eggs) with their coffee in the morning, it will positively affect their moods. It will also reduce their fatigue, and they will have a higher capacity for being alert and awake.

Ornithine is easily found in most breakfasts, such as eggs and toast with butter or scrambled eggs with a type of sausage. So it is suggested to take ornithine with caffeine to increase the physiological activities. 

What Is The Effect Of Caffeine On the Brain To Make You Feel Less Tired? 

Caffeine acts as a stimulant on your nervous system. It affects your mind by alerting it. After drinking coffee, your mind feels wakeful and less tired.

Studies have shown that people who drink coffee daily have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. These positive effects are for those who consume a healthy amount of coffee every day.

But it may also have side effects for people who drink it beyond the limit, as taking too much caffeine can give you headaches. This also occurs in people who leave coffee or immediately stop drinking coffee after having a habitual routine with coffee.

This means that if you are used to drinking coffee every day, your brain vessels are also used to it. Therefore, when these vessels do not receive adequate caffeine, they are disturbed by the imbalance. 

Why Does Coffee Not Wake Me Up? 

People who consume too much caffeine are susceptible to caffeine tolerance because their bodies are used to high levels of caffeine. Therefore, it is difficult to gain or notice the awakening feeling in coffee.

When you are used to coffee, the adenosine will bind to the receptors’ side, making you tired and sleepy. However, there are other reasons why coffee doesn’t wake you up:

• If you are dehydrated, coffee can dry out too much fluid from the body. 

• If you add too much sugar or dairy products such as milk and cream, your coffee will not be as effective in waking you up.

• If your body is a caffeine metabolizer, meaning your genes are not sensitive to caffeine, it will not affect you. 

• Caffeine may not work as effectively if you are too tired after a hectic day.

• Finally, if you change your coffee-making techniques, your new method may not wake you up.