{"id":4319,"date":"2012-10-09T09:03:18","date_gmt":"2012-10-09T13:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/ombs\/?p=4319"},"modified":"2012-10-09T09:03:18","modified_gmt":"2012-10-09T13:03:18","slug":"more-buzz-for-your-buck-maximizing-your-caffeine-intake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/2012\/10\/09\/more-buzz-for-your-buck-maximizing-your-caffeine-intake\/","title":{"rendered":"More Buzz For Your Buck: Maximizing Your Caffeine Intake"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"st_twitter_large\"> <\/span><span class=\"st_facebook_large\"> <\/span><span class=\"st_ybuzz_large\"> <\/span><span class=\"st_gbuzz_large\"> <\/span><span class=\"st_email_large\"> <\/span><span class=\"st_sharethis_large\"> <\/span><br \/>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/w.sharethis.com\/button\/buttons.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n  stLight.options({publisher:'0b9142ea-42f7-4b62-947d-dd7654ef4f2d'});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<p>While up to our ears in physics homework last week, my roommate and I had a chat or two about caffeine. And I wondered (as I poured a cup of coffee), is there a way to brew this stuff to maximize the caffeine I end up drinking? After Wednesday, exam day, a day that included a shameful amount of caffeine, I became curious as to its nutritional or even neurological value\u2026or perhaps just hopeful that it had some. Maybe this isn\u2019t neuroscience <em>news<\/em> per say, but it\u2019s certainly a curiosity, and certainly relevant to my success in \u201cElementary Physics I\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\" style=\"text-align: left\">\n<dl id=\"attachment_4320\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"width: 310px\">\n<dt class=\"wp-caption-dt\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2012\/10\/pouring-coffee-mug-590.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4320\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2012\/10\/pouring-coffee-mug-590-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2012\/10\/pouring-coffee-mug-590-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2012\/10\/pouring-coffee-mug-590.jpeg 590w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/dt>\n<dd class=\"wp-caption-dd\"> <\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I was sure I wasn\u2019t alone in my caffeine-chemistry quest and figured there must be sufficient research published to generate some answers. As it turns out, in 1996, Leonard Bell et al. at Auburn University conducted a study with the aim of improving epidemiological analyses of caffeine intake by allowing researchers to control for the effect of brewing methods on caffeine content. It\u2019s an interesting read, perhaps in part because the \u201cMaterials and Methods\u201d section starts out with buying coffee beans at a local grocery store and proceeds to (very methodically) describe various ways of making coffee. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The results of this experimentation with Eight O\u2019Clock coffee helped satisfy my curiosity. Evidently, for those of us at home with no control over the flow rate of the water in our coffee machines, making larger volumes of coffee increases the time that the coffee grounds spend touching the hot water, allowing for a more complete extraction of the caffeine (a process best carried out between 195-205\u00b0F).<\/p>\n<p>Although the researchers didn\u2019t find a difference between the caffeine content of store-ground vs. home-ground (or lab-ground, I suppose) coffee, i.e. the length of time between grinding and brewing the beans, their evidence did indicate an effect of the size of the coffee grounds used. They analyzed the caffeine content of coffee made with fine, medium, and coarse grounds and found that finely ground coffee contained significantly more caffeine than the remaining two groups, and coarse grounds contained significantly less. The authors suggest that the larger surface area of fine-ground coffee is what makes it more conducive to caffeine extraction.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\" style=\"text-align: center\">\n<dl id=\"attachment_4345\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"width: 310px\">\n<dt class=\"wp-caption-dt\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2012\/10\/562033_10151106421138335_1185074888_n.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4345 \" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2012\/10\/562033_10151106421138335_1185074888_n-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2012\/10\/562033_10151106421138335_1185074888_n-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2012\/10\/562033_10151106421138335_1185074888_n.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/dt>\n<dd class=\"wp-caption-dd\">iced coffee: so my caffeine addiction can be met in all seasons<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<p>Finely ground coffee, and larger volumes of it\u2026I think I\u2019m going to need a bigger coffee pot. But is it worth my investment? What is the effect of this coffee consumption having in the long run?<\/p>\n<p>The coffee-machine upgrade might be a good idea. A paper published last month in <em>Movement Disorders <\/em>correlated a reduced risk of Parkinson\u2019s Disease (PD) with caffeine intake \u2013 significantly in men, and marginally in women. The current thought is that caffeine acts as an adenosine receptor (A<sub>2A<\/sub>) antagonist in the brain. Other studies have demonstrated positive effects of A<sub>2A <\/sub>antagonism with respect to PD \u2013 namely that A<sub>2A <\/sub>antagonists seem to protect dopaminergic neurons from destruction in several research models of PD. Additionally, caffeine\u2019s capacity to treat Parkinsonian symptoms by acting as a psychomotor stimulant may a result of this mechanism.<\/p>\n<p>So: question answered, lesson learned \u2013 brewing lots of finely ground coffee may not only improve my studying stamina, it might be keeping my brain healthy \u2013 and it\u2019s delicious. Next time, for the sake of my GPA, let&#8217;s hope my curiosity leads me closer to the <em>physics<\/em> of my coffee addiction.\u00a0Cheers!<\/p>\n<p>References:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/ac.els-cdn.com\/S0963996997000021\/1-s2.0-S0963996997000021-main.pdf?_tid=d95b6baa-0e9a-11e2-a10a-00000aab0f6b&amp;acdnat=1349407080_1ae652a26a1f498a5c1e4779752dba7d\">Caffeine content of coffee as influenced by grinding and brewing techniques<\/a> \u2013 Food Research International<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/weeklyroast.com\/blog\/coffee-and-caffeine-which-brewing-method-has-the-most.html\">Coffee and Caffeine, Which Brewing Method Has the Most?<\/a> \u2013 WeeklyRoast.com<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.bu.edu\/store\/10.1002\/mds.25076\/asset\/25076_ftp.pdf?v=1&amp;t=h7wr69eg&amp;s=c93f2557a567c1df213277f97dff6904ebc0dae0\">Caffeine and Risk of Parkinson\u2019s Disease in a Large Cohort of Men and Women <\/a>\u2013 Movement Disorders<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While up to our ears in physics homework last week, my roommate and I had a chat or two about caffeine. And I wondered (as I poured a cup of coffee), is there a way to brew this stuff to maximize the caffeine I end up drinking? After Wednesday, exam day, a day that included [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6448,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[587],"tags":[669,690,987],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4319"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6448"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}