Caffeine

Caffeine is an alkaloid found naturally in such foods as coffee beans, tea, kola nuts, Yerba maté, guarana, and (in small amounts) cacao beans. It is added to some soft drinks such as colas, Irn-Bru and Mountain Dew.

Caffeine has a characteristic intensely bitter taste. Its main pharmacological properties are: a stimulant action on the central nervous system with psychotropic effects and stimulation of respiration, a stimulation of the heart rate, and a diuretic effect. Caffeine consumption leads to pharmacologic tolerance with defined withdrawal symptoms.

The main source of caffeine in food industry is the coffee bean. The caffeine content can vary significantly. In 2004 some trees were found in Ethiopia that contain one-fifteenth the caffeine of average plants. Beans from such trees may be used in the future to produce better quality decaffeinated coffee.

One dose of caffeine is generally considered to be 100 mg, delivered by one 5 fl oz / 150 ml cup of drip coffee or one (or one-half) caffeine tablet. Real-world coffee varies considerably in caffeine content per cup, from about 75 to 250 mg. Black tea contains somewhat less caffeine per serving than coffee, depending on the strength of the brew, and green tea contains significantly less. Colas also typically contain less than coffee, but some "energy" colas and similar drinks can have considerably more (the caffeine strength of soft drinks being controlled entirely by the manufacturer, with high caffeine content a popular marketing feature).

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Caffine".

Buy Green Mountain Coffee Now at Coffee for Less! »