The Surprising Reasons You Shouldn't Get Your Energy From Caffeine (And 8 Ways To Get True Energy) Millions of people struggle with fatigue – grogginess, brain fog, lack of quality sleep or sleep quantity, or even low physical energy for basic tasks of daily living, like going up and down stairs or cleaning the garage. Sound familiar? What's worse, caffeine – the most popular drug on the planet that people rely upon to combat fatigue – has daunting side effects, including extreme addiction. While a nice cup of coffee here and there is likely harmless, large doses, especially in combination with the sugar and other additives you'll find in everything from carbonated energy drinks to fancy coffee beverages at your local coffee shop, can result in caffeine toxicity or overdose side effects. What you're about to learn in this article will surprise you: caffeine and coffee don't provide actual energy, but simply FAKE ENERGY. In a nutshell, they temporarily squeeze huge amounts of adrenaline from your adrenal glands, resulting in a longer-term drop in your energy levels and even greater dependence on these compounds to get you through the day. How Caffeine Works To Give You "Fake Energy" So how exactly does caffeine give you this "fake energy"? Caffeine's primary mechanism of action is achieved via boosting the levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and acetylcholine. Dopamine affects levels of concentration by blocking adenosine receptors in your forebrain, receptors that would normally signal your brain to be tired when it's supposed to be tired, like at bedtime. Caffeine also increases the release of adrenaline, which stimulates the sympathetic nervous system to make your heart beat faster, send more blood to your muscles, and tell your liver to release sugar into the bloodstream for energy. And caffeine can do more than that. For example, it can help muscles contract by causing the sarcoplasmic reticulum in muscle fibers to release calcium ions. It has been shown to reduce the percentage of maximum exertion that any given level of exercise requires. It also increases circulating and intracellular glucose and fatty acid availability. Research also shows that the amount of caffeine we consume matters. Consumption of 3 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight (about one to one and a half cups of brewed coffee) appears to not produce some of the energizing effects, and as much as 6 mg/kg may be needed. That's a lot of coffee, especially for women, considering that high
