How To Boost Alertness Without the Post-Caffeine Crash 8
OFFEE C N A TH LE AB LI RE E OR M S E DI REME By Giacomo Sandri
W
e all love the sensorial stimulation from a fresh cup of decent coffee. Man, through centuries, has developed various methods of processing the fruits of the Coffea plants to enjoy its earthy aroma fully. Nowadays, the making of a good coffee has become an art, and our exceptionally sophisticated palates have sharpened up to taste the plethora of notes that different brewing methods and bean varieties can offer us. The aroma is not the only enjoyable aspect of coffee; we adapted to love the quick increase in alertness we experience after a cuppa – the coffee kick. The well-known compound responsible for such an effect is caffeine. Caffeine is the most used psychostimulant substance in the world and works by provisionally blocking the action of adenosine,1 a molecule which is directly involved in promoting drowsiness and sleepiness.2 This results in increased alertness, accelerated heart rate and enhanced respiratory functions. And this is, in a nutshell, why we started our romance with the coffee bean. But unfortunately, for some of us, the consumption of coffee comes with a rather annoying price to pay: the caffeine crash. It is a 18
Issue 01 Autumn 2020 2020
phenomenon that happens when we consume coffee when we are already in a state of sleep deprivation, tiredness or fatigue: we feel tired, we drink coffee, caffeine gets absorbed and enters the brain, adenosine receptors get blocked causing its build-up, the action of caffeine ends, adenosine floods the receptors, now we feel extra-tired.
How can we increase alertness and mental performance without experiencing the ‘crash’?
There are few herbs and superfoods that can be useful coffee substitutes in such situations. Here are eight herbal remedies divided into two categories: The brain stimulants (containing psychoactive compounds such as caffeine and theobromine) and brain tonics (without psychoactive compounds).
