Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Interesting Facts About Caffeine

By Debrah Elliot


You might be surprised to find that the FDA has reported that an average American adult consumers about 200 mg of caffeine each day. You might think that this is the highest amount in the world, but it is actually Finland where the average consumption of caffeine is the highest, at a staggering 400 mg per day. While much of the caffeine comes from drinking coffee, it is wrong to think that caffeine can only be consumed and found in this drink. Actually, there are several different caffeine-bearing food and drinks as well. Here are some interesting facts about caffeine.

Of course, coffee contains a great deal of caffeine and coffee comes from the seed of the coffee tree. The seeds are green and must be roasted and ground in order to finally come up with the coffee which we make into various hot or cold drinks. It is possible to actually separate the caffeine from the coffee seed, and this caffeine is crystalline and white. Do you know that caffeine is not only found in coffee beans because others like the tea leaves, kola nuts and cocoa beans also naturally come with caffeine? Yes, there are more than 60 plants with caffeine in the leaves, seeds or fruits and while we enjoy the energy boost from caffeine, the plants use caffeine as a natural deterrent against insects.

You should know that with the premise that caffeine is found in several other plants other than coffee, it follows that other food and beverages we consume daily could contain caffeine as well. Others even use man-made caffeine to add to their products. Interestingly, even if it is popularly believed that coffee beans contain the highest amount of caffeine, the truth remains that tea leaves have the much higher caffeine. Perhaps tea-drinking people get this lesser caffeine-kick when they drink it because it is more diluted and is definitely consumed in a lesser amount compared to what coffee-drinking people do.

Do you have the appetite for chocolates too? Then you should know that you will also get that "kick" when you eat chocolates along with drinking some cola because these too have caffeine. The only thing is that colas of today mostly use caffeine and artificial flavors already as compared to back when caffeine for colas were actually extracts from coca leaves and kola nuts.

You get that energy boost you need but you also get a dose of antioxidants and nutrients like the B vitamins which are beneficial. In fact, studies will show that your caffeine or coffee intakes help in reducing your risk at having Type 2 diabetes or diseases like Alzheimer's. So facts like these tend to encourage coffee lovers to contain enjoying their daily cup of coffee. You do need to remember not to overdo it or your cardio-vascular system's function could suffer as well.

With all the interesting facts we've cited here, it should give you that carving for coffee now, right? In this case, make your next stop to Island Monarch Coffee - your haven for the best and freshest coffee drinks in Los Angeles. It should delight you to know that this Culver City coffee house serves coffee imported from Hawaii and South America. The beans are roasted within a few days of use, and beans are never ground until you order a drink. The water also is purified using a special process known as reverse osmosis.




About the Author: