Coffee really is a quick-fix

Caffeine is commonly used to give an energy boost when you are tired, but need to keep going.  However, new research published in the Journal Neuropsychopharmacology has found that you only get a boost if you use caffeine sparingly.

To test the effects of coffee, researchers in Germany and the UK asked 379 volunteers to give up coffee for 16 hours.  Half of the volunteers were medium to heavy coffee drinkers who drink up to 6 cups a day.  Half of the volunteers were low- or non-users.  At the end of the 16 hours, half of the volunteers were given a 100mg espresso-size dose of caffeine.  The other half were given a caffeine free placebo shot.

The medium high caffeine user group who received the placebo shot reported decreased alertness and an increase in headaches.  These symptoms were not reported by those who received caffeine.  However, despite having received caffeine, this group's alertness was no higher than that of the no or low caffeine user group that received a placebo shot.

The researchers argue that their findings support the view that while occasional caffeine use can counteract drowsiness, heavier long-term use results in a tolerance.  This means that most regular heavy caffeine users are drinking coffee (and other caffeine drinks) to ward off the tiredness associated with caffeine withdrawal rather than natural tiredness.

This research has implications for people with depression, who often turn to caffeine drinks to stay alert during the day following a night of poor and disrupted sleep.  The research demonstrates that caffeine is a "quick fix" insofar as it can have short-term benefits, but only at the expense of longer-term problems.  In this case, a shot of coffee now and again is unlikely to be harmful, but regular use appears to add caffeine dependancy to the long list of problems that people with depression have to cope with on a day-to-day basis.