On Writing & The Brain
On Writing & The Brain: Writers And Coffee
Writers and coffee go together like fish and water. Today, let’s explore the inner workings of how coffee affects writers.
Coffee helps make the world go round. Regardless of what job helps you bring home the bacon, a nice cup of coffee is what helps make those nine to fives a little more bearable. Interestingly enough, in 2015, a gallup poll reported that roughly “two-thirds of U.S. adults drink at least one cup a day.”
When it comes to us writers, we share a rather special (and funny) relationship with our coffee. Aside from its permeating and alluring aromas, coffee is oftentimes our go-to pick-me-up. After a few simple sips, our sleepy minds start buzzing from the caffeine, and we go about completing our tasks for the day. Not only that, but there are many of those within the writing community that attribute coffee as their “writing fuel.” The single most important driving force behind getting their writing done. Most writers may tell you that coffee is one of mankind’s greatest inventions.
But as the old saying goes, there can be too much of a good thing.
Taking a Closer Look at Coffee’s Good Side
The very act of drinking coffee, can be akin to that of a national pastime within the United States. Citing the same gallup poll:
“26% of American adults say they drink one cup of coffee on an average day, 19% drink two, 8% drink three, and 11% drink four or more.”
Moreover, sixty-four percent of surveyed U.S. adults at the time, reported that they drank at least one cup of coffee on the average day.
Traditionally, people don’t necessarily associate drinking coffee with that of any potential risk to one’s health. On the contrary, there are those within the medical community that have found strong supporting evidence for coffee’s benefits.
There’s more to coffee than just simply keeping us awake. In an article titled: “Cuppa Joe: Friend or Foe?,” there are quite a few upsides to drinking coffee. More specifically:
“A growing body of research shows that coffee drinkers, compared to nondrinkers, may be less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, stroke, depression, death from any cause, and neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.”
This conclusion is largely drawn on the fact that coffee provides us with quite a few antioxidants in the average American’s diet. And for those who may not be aware, antioxidants primarily serve to prevent a sort of “cellular rust” from occurring and causing harm to our bodies. In addition, coffee also provides much needed cognitive enhancement when we go to drink it.
For us writers, sometimes putting words to a page just isn’t enough to cut it. Through drinking coffee, we’re able to shift down an extra gear, and help our mind process ideas just a little bit faster.
With that being said, it should be duly noted that the jury is still out on deciding whether or not this is one-hundred percent true or not, with regards to coffee’s potential benefits. The potential risks however, have yet to be seen.
What Exactly Is Coffee?
Throughout history, coffee has stood the test of time and ruled over its tasty beverage dominion for the last twelve hundred years in human society. Originating somewhere around northeast Africa, it is believed that coffee had spread to the Middle East sometime around the 15th century before going on to Europe. And while coffee may certainly be a delightful little drink, little do people know that it is one of the most widely consumed pharmacologically active drugs.
What most people see as a blend of different ingredients, others see as a complex mixture of chemicals. From the peer-reviewed journal: “Coffee And Health,” it is made apparent that coffee “contains thousands of different chemicals, including carbohydrates, lipids, nitrogenous compounds, vitamins, minerals, alkaloids, and phenolic compounds.” As we see in the diagram above, these specific chemicals are typically what you would see in larger quantities concerning the overall composition. Nevertheless, the very mention of the word “chemicals,” is known to have negative connotations. And rightfully so.
When it comes to coffee, the first thing that may come to mind may be caffeine. You know, the main reason that you drink that bitter black soup in the first place? Well, as it turns out, “caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug” in the entire world. Now I know that sounds scary, but stay with me with here.
On the biological level, caffeine makes it presence known by antagonizing adenosine receptors. Now to make things simple, you can think of adenosine as the brakes in our bodies for keeping us awake. When we drink coffee, that caffeine smacks those adenosine receptors in the back of the head, and tell them to go take a hike.
Interestingly enough, the physiological effects of caffeine can also prove some cause for concern. The only problem, is that caffeine is also like that one person at work who leaves anonymous passive-aggressive sticky notes all over the office.
“We think it may be Karl leaving sticky notes everywhere, but we’re not 100% sure.”
Up to this point, caffeine has been correlated with side effects. Most notably, acutely increased blood pressure, nervousness and anxiety, and possibly impaired fetal growth during pregnancy (Although there is currently not enough evidence to substantiate that last claim).
Wait, Is Coffee Still Safe to Drink?
Rest assured, there’s no need for you to start chucking K-Cups out your window, or take a hammer to your beautiful French press. As of this moment, coffee still remains to be the moderately safe beverage that we all know and love. However as with any consumable product, this does not mean that you should go and accept that dare to try and chug thirty cups in sixty minutes.
“Hey watch this!” are famous last words.
With that being said, writers are among the most notorious consumers of coffee, and there does exist “having too much of a good thing.” As a final word to the wise, it should be noted that the FDA “has cited 400 milligrams a day-that’s about four or five cups of coffee-as an amount not generally associated with dangerous, negative effects.” In addition, it has been observed that roughly 1,200 milligrams of caffeine, is the area where things start to get a little dicey. Like alcohol, you should drink coffee responsibly.
Thanks for reading!
