Men more responsive to caffeine, but is it psychological?

A strong cup of coffee has a greater effect on men than women, research shows.

In a study on 668 healthy volunteers, an espresso pepped up men after just 10 minutes. Women also became more alert after the beverage, but less so.

The University of Barcelona researchers say some of this effect might be psychological because decaffeinated coffee also worked to some extent.

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry reports the work.

The volunteers were asked to drink either a classic espresso containing 100mg of caffeine or a decaffeinated espresso containing 5mg of caffeine.

Then the researchers looked for changes in alertness over the following minutes and hours.

Both men and women saw an improvement in their activity levels after drinking the classic espresso and these effects began after as little as 10 minutes.

Arousing

According to the investigators, 45 minutes is the time needed for maximum caffeine concentration to be reached in the blood, but levels reach half this concentration after just a few minutes.

And the effect appeared to be greater in the men.

The decaf coffee had a similar, but weaker effect and tended to be more potent in the women rather than in the men.

Lead researcher Ana Adan said: "Numerous studies have demonstrated the stimulant effects of caffeine, but none of these have looked at their effects in terms of the consumer's gender."

Anna Denny of the British Nutrition Foundation said: "This study provides an interesting insight into how the effects of specific foods and nutrients may differ between men and women.

"Research into 'gene-nutrient' interactions is moving forward quickly and we are finding out more about how our genetic make-up affects our requirements for certain foods and nutrients, and how our bodies react to these. In the future this could allow scientists to formulate dietary recommendations based on our genetic make up, as well as our age and body size."

Dr Euan Paul of the British Coffee Association said: "This new scientific study demonstrates interesting differences in the positive effects that caffeine may have on alertness between men and women, an area that has not been heavily researched in previous scientific investigations. We welcome further research to investigate with greater certainty any differences in the stimulant effects of caffeine that may be experienced between gender groups."

Three cups of coffee a day makes breasts shrink - study

DRINKING just three cups of coffee a day can make women's breasts shrink, researchers say.

• Coffee drinking can make breasts shrink, study says
• Three cups a day enough to trigger effect
• Breasts shrinkage can increase of every extra cup

Nearly 300 women were surveyed about their bust measurements and how many cups of coffee they drank in an average day.

According to the Swedish researchers, three cups a day was enough to start making breasts shrink, with the effects increasing for every cup drunk.

They said there was a clear link between drinking coffee and smaller breasts, as about half of women possessed a gene shown to link breast size to coffee intake.

"Drinking coffee can have a major effect on breast size," said Helena Jernstroem, a lecturer in experimental oncology at Lund University in Sweden.

"Coffee-drinking women do not have to worry their breasts will shrink to nothing overnight. They will get smaller, but the breasts aren't just going to disappear.

"However, anyone who thinks they can tell which women are coffee drinkers just from their bra measurements will be disappointed. The problem is that there are two measures for a bra - the cup size and the girth - so you wouldn't be able to tell."

It was not all bad news for women, as the researchers also found that regular hits of caffeine could help to cut the risk of breast cancer.

Is coffee a connection to good health?

Harvard Heart Letter

October 14, 2008

Some coffee drinkers worry that theirs is a bad habit - not nearly on a par with smoking but in that general direction. Those worries are groundless. In the past few years, coffee drinking has been shown to be safe for heart attack survivors. It offers some protection against type 2 diabetes and gallstones. It is not linked to the development of heart disease.

Now, in the largest, longest and most comprehensive study to date, overall death rates among nonsmoking coffee drinkers were no higher than they were among nonsmokers who didn't drink coffee, and may even have been a touch lower (Annals of Internal Medicine, June 17, 2008).

When drunk black and bitter, coffee is a calorie-free beverage brimming with antioxidants. It eases artery-damaging inflammation and delivers a host of substances that help the body regulate blood sugar and dissolve gallstones.

Of course, coffee isn't a health food. The caffeine it contains is addictive. In some people, it causes the occasional missed or extra heartbeat or a speedup in the heart's rhythm. Espresso and other unfiltered coffee can slightly increase the level of harmful LDL cholesterol. But up to a few cups a day of regular coffee - we don't include Frappuccinos or other coffee-flavored sweets in this category - is fine for you.

...so come on in: shop, let us roast for you, and enjoy a fresh cup of Caffe-Amante Gourmet Coffee!!!