WEBVTT - A Cuppa Joe 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:06.000 Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 0:00:06.040 --> 0:00:13.960 Works dot com. Hey, why don't we stuff to boil 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:16.319 your mind? My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie. Julie. 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:17.800 Is there a lot of coffee in your house? Are 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:20.279 you a coffee household? Yes? How do you make your coffee? 0:00:21.360 --> 0:00:23.639 You know? I put a lot of creamer in it 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:25.560 and a lot of sugar. Yeah. What kind of device 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:28.480 do you use? I'm weak sauce when it comes to this. Well, 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:32.280 you know, a standard coffee machine? Yeah. I don't know 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:35.000 if someone asked me if if our coffee machine had 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:37.000 been seasoned, and I was like, what do you mean 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:40.320 season and apparently like if you brew a certain amount 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:43.680 of times then infuses your coffee with a better flavor. Yeah. 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:47.400 Seasoned is often a term for gross stup, you know, like, yeah, 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:50.000 that's there enough stuff growing in or on your kitchen 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:53.199 implement to give it as the desired flavor. Then yes, yea, 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:56.640 it is seasoned. What about you? We we use um, 0:00:56.840 --> 0:00:59.440 just like we have a standard Mr Coffee. Um, We've 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:02.280 tried to use different you know, perculators and stuff and 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:03.920 never quite works out. When I was coming back to 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:06.760 Mr Coffee and then I also bring out the French 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:08.560 breasts if I want to do something a little nicer. 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:11.160 I knew you had the fancy pants when it came 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:13.760 to coffee, that is not No, I don't even begin 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:17.839 to have fancy pants because there are so many complex 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:20.920 ways of making coffee. There's so many different cold brew devices, 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:23.640 and of course pour over is the big thing these days. 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:26.959 And uh, I'm I'm really I mean, I'm not a 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:30.640 straight up, you know, instant coffee drinker. I'm not I'm 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:34.080 not a tencent cup kind of a guy, but I'm 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:38.960 I'm definitely far from fancy. Well, all I know is that, um, 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:40.960 there was like a month here at how stuff works 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:45.080 when our our bean supply got really low, and you 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:48.520 you were the person who blaze the trails and saying 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:53.120 we must fortify the being supply. So I know it's 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:55.560 important to you. Coffee is important to me. I I 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:57.840 drink coffee every day, and if I forget to drink it, 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.080 my my body is quick to remind me that I 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:03.840 forgot to drink it. And uh, and I like a 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:06.760 good cup of coffee, but I'm just not not as 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:09.120 as picky as a lot of people are. And uh, 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:11.520 and maybe my tasting coffee is just not as nuance. 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:13.919 But but I do love love a good cup of coffee. Well, 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:15.120 I mean, this is one of those things that you 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:17.920 could discuss this for hours and hours. You can talk 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:20.040 about shade grow and you can talk about fair trade. 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:22.080 We're not going to talk about those aspects, nor are 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:25.639 we going to talk about the different ritals um that exist. 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:28.760 All fascinating, but we're gonna to kind of go into 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:32.120 what coffee is doing to your brain in some of 0:02:32.639 --> 0:02:36.600 the benefits of coffee. And uh, first I wanted to 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:40.240 point out something about coffee, or caffeine in particular, that 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:44.240 it is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance on Earth. 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:48.160 I don't think that's surprising. In North America, around adults 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:52.079 report using caffeine every day, eighteen billion dollar business in 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:54.760 the US, and there are more than sixteen billion pounds 0:02:54.800 --> 0:03:00.280 of coffee beings produced per year in the US. That 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:05.000 is a lot of psychoactivity. And the number one consumption 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:10.640 of coffee in the United States Gas No New York City. 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:14.360 Oh yes, that would that would make a lot more sense. Yeah, um, 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:16.720 coffee one oh one. Here, let's go through some of 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:20.840 the basics for you guys. Yeah, so coffee beans of course, 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:23.919 So these come from from the coffee plant and theise 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:25.720 are you know, seeds found in the pit of a 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.640 cherry sized fruit on the coffee plant. And if you 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:31.400 just if you've had the experience, if you've visited like 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:33.720 a coffee farm and had the chance to try them, 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:37.200 you can't just does not taste like coffee if you 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:39.800 just pick it up in sweet right, like sweet sweet 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:41.920 and a little you know, bitter. It's it's not something 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:44.000 where you would just feel like snacking on them, like 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:45.840 you're not getting a it's not like eating a blueberry, 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:48.640 and it's not like eating a coffee bean. And presumably 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:51.040 though you'd get a bit of a caffeine rush just 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:53.760 from this. Yeah, because the earlier methods, if you go 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:57.680 back in time, you know, did not involve slow roasting 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:00.840 coffee beans. Um. One that I ran across, uh, and 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:02.600 this is actually from the house Stuff Works article on 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:07.680 coffee um is that early East African tribes would mix 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:11.080 the coffee berries and that's again they unhold beans called 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:15.440 a coffee cherry with animal fat forming energy balls. So 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:17.080 you could think of it as a as a primitive 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:20.600 power bar, except except maybe a little less gross. Yeah. 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:22.360 I was just thinking about that. I was a kid, 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:24.120 you not. I was thinking about the wrapper that would 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:27.279 go around that, like animal fat, big lump of fat 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:29.760 and coffee bear is just poked in and you just 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.000 you just shot down the whole thing and then you're 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:36.400 good to go. Handcrafted. Yeah, there you go. Um. Yeah, 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:38.520 So I think the interesting thing about that too is 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.320 that the beans are actually seeds. We call them beans 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:45.640 um and coffee trees. They are woody perennial evergreens, and 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:50.680 they are grown in tropical climates and seventy different countries. Uh. 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:53.400 These climates, these countries, the areas are known as the 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:56.640 bean belt. So I already mentioned the some some early 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:58.840 East African tribes. You have some stuff on goat herders 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.080 as well. Yeah, the is and this is again from 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.120 how Coffee Works, our article that we have on house 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:06.200 supports dot com. There is an Ethiopian legend whearing coffee 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:09.599 is discovered by a goat hurder named Caldi, who found 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:12.880 his goats frolicking and full of energy after eating the 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:16.840 red berries. And uh, Caldi tried the berries for himself, 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:20.239 and lo and behold, he also started frolicking around, and 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:25.279 after witnessing the strange behavior of this goat hurder and 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:27.560 his goats, a monk took some of the berries back 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:30.400 to his fellow monks, and then they stayed up all 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:36.000 night long and they were alert and behold the coffee 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:41.040 beans powers were revealed. They also became rather big, of course, 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:43.400 in in the in the Islamic world, and kind of 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:47.520 flowed with the expansion of Islamic culture and uh and 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:52.480 some people say whirling dervishes. Actually um of early Islam 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:56.159 especially had were fueled by coffee. Whirling dervishes. Of course. 0:05:57.000 --> 0:05:59.839 I think everyone's seeing footage films of this where there's 0:05:59.880 --> 0:06:04.440 the they wear these kind of flowing garments, they go 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:08.120 into these swirling patterns and it's really really beautiful stuff. 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:10.920 At least a lot of coffee would make sense. Yeah, 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:14.760 I mean, apparently during the thirteenth century, coffee was extremely 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:19.360 popular with Muslim um communities because of its stimulant powers. 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:21.280 So you can see how they also appealed to this 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:24.039 monks with the with the goat herder who discovered it, 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:27.200 because what do you do with those stimulant powers? Um, 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:30.640 It can be very useful during really long prayer sessions, 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:33.799 and so the story behind this, according to Tory Avy, 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:36.720 who is writing for PBS and her article The Caffeinated 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:40.520 History of Coffee, is that coffee plants, they did not 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:45.160 exist outside of Arabia or Africa until the sixteen hundreds 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:48.320 when this guy named Baba Boudon, an Indian pilgrim, left 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:51.560 Mecca with the legend says, fertile beans fastened to a 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:55.680 strap across his abdomen smuggle him out, smuggled him out 0:06:56.000 --> 0:07:01.440 and established a new and competitive European coffee trade, which 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:06.200 leads perfectly to the Age of Enlightenment exactly. So, I 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:09.200 think everyone's heard this story before. This is the idea that, uh, 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:13.440 you know, in human history, um, water wasn't always the 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:16.480 best thing to drink. It wasn't always the purest um. 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:20.600 So drinking water to maintain your hydration level might make 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:25.360 you fabulously sick. Better off trusting good old fashioned beer. Now, 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:29.200 the thing about drinking beer all day is that, aside 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:33.160 from from really probably making you feel bloated um most 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:35.280 of the time, you're also going to be intoxicated most 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:37.760 of the time. You're gonna take long naps, You're going 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:41.000 to vomit in the streets and uh, and generally you're 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:42.680 probably not going to get that much done. I mean, 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:46.160 some individuals have have a really you know, high work 0:07:46.240 --> 0:07:51.000 rate when they're inebriated, but I think they're the exception 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:53.080 that proves the rule. And you have to remember to 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:56.080 that we're talking about the six We were talking about 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:59.560 societies in which you know that the seasons sort of 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:02.440 ruled them a lot more than than our modern technology 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:05.239 rules us right now. So there were periods of time, 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:07.840 you know, in the winter, for instance, where there wasn't 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:09.920 anything to do. There wasn't any farming to do, so 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:12.440 what would you do? Yeah, and at night you're limited 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:14.360 by how many candles or torches can you lie? You 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:17.680 know what I mean. It's the limitations were placed something 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:20.400 by their environment and by the seasons. So you would 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:23.840 pass the time perhaps drinking some meat, some good old meat, 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:26.400 and snoring a lot. And although you might have communed 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:29.040 at a tavern, you would still all be sitting around 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:32.000 sort of like, you know, half polluted in your mind 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:35.800 and half asleep. But the whole the coffee trade and 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:39.120 the coffee houses that began to spring up in Europe, 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:41.880 because here's something else I can drink all day and 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:45.440 uh and not necessarily get sick on. And it also 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:48.959 also has an influence on my my state of mind. 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:51.760 All of a sudden, people are chatting and they're awake, 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:56.400 and they are, you know, talking about all these different 0:08:56.440 --> 0:09:00.600 ideas and focus on them. They're focusing and they're from 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:04.320 all different socio economic backgrounds, so you're not just getting 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:07.520 one perspective here. And uh, this is what a lot 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:10.640 of people credit for helping to usher in the age 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:14.040 of enlightenment. In fact, there is a book called Uncommon Grounds, 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:16.440 The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:19.520 by Mark Pendergrass. He makes that claim as well as 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:22.839 author Stephen Johnson, who has a great ted talk about 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:27.560 creativity and cites coffee as being one of the fonts 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:32.160 of creativity and energy. Yeah. Now, of course one of 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.520 the things. Today you go into a coffee shop, like 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.080 I find this especially the case when I go into 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:40.080 your coffee shop, because we each have coffee shops, yeah, 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:43.080 fairly close to each other that are there our own turf. 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:46.160 I know better than to go to Julie's turf unless 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:50.080 I'm invited, because that's that's where she's working and then likewise, 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:51.840 you don't show up on my turf. No, not even 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:54.120 when the power is out. The other week, I was like, man, 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:57.319 I can't get a Robert's coffee shop. Which places will 0:09:57.360 --> 0:09:59.520 come out? But but when I go to your coffee shop, 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:01.800 and I mainly bring this one up because your coffee 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:03.559 shop cans have more people in it. There are a 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:05.720 lot of people just working with headphones and there's some 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:08.200 people collaborating. But it seems like, you know, within our 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:12.560 modern technological age, um, maybe we're less likely to do 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:15.640 a lot of you know, collaborating with people, uh in 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:17.800 these coffee shops. But then again, we're connected to people 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:20.840 outside of it. And I think if you're like me, 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:24.200 there are certain individuals you you chat with every day, uh, 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:27.200 you know, you know, by email and by g chat 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:29.360 and what have you. Um, you know, being a friend 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:31.840 or my wife, and I can often tell when they've 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.640 had their caffeine because that's when they're reaching out to 0:10:34.640 --> 0:10:37.040 me with all of these ideas and cool stuff and 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:40.160 they're really excited about something and uh, and if our 0:10:40.200 --> 0:10:42.280 caffeine levels match up, then we're able to go back 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:44.960 and forth. If not, I might be like, oh, I'm 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:46.880 gonna put you on ignore for a little bit because 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:49.199 because I'm I'm trying to catch up on my edge. 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:52.600 You know. Yeah, yeah, this happens. I think especially on 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:55.480 the weekends. I noticed this with my husband because I'll 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:57.040 drink a lot of caffeine. I'll but it isn't it. 0:10:57.120 --> 0:10:59.280 And then we'll listen, they will get ike and people 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:03.440 time to you won't And he's like, whoa, I'm still 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:06.280 in my first cup. So yes, we know it is powerful, 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:09.320 powerful stimulant um and it has had a lot of 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:13.240 influence on the modern world. Let's talk about what is 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:16.760 in a cup of this stuff? Yeah, magic demons that 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:19.720 that course through your blood and chew on the creative 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:23.240 portions of your brain. Exactly. Yeah, just they just roost 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:27.520 right in there. Um Patrick, did you Stow writing for Wired? 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:31.280 In his article What's Inside a Cup of Coffee? Really 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:33.560 details exactly what's in there. And I don't know that 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:35.440 we're going to go through every single thing that is 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:38.320 in there, but we wanted to hit the big ones 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:41.280 because it's pretty fascinating. Um, here's the big dub one 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:47.000 water content. Turns out that point seven is water at 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:51.880 one point to five is soluble plant matter. Okay, so 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:56.079 you're mostly paying for for water for water, Yeah, caffeine 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:01.319 another element um But this is interesting, actually an alkaloid 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:05.000 plant toxin. It's found in other plants, and it is 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:08.560 meant to be a natural pesticide. Oh so that's the 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:11.280 reason it was developed or the reason it evolved in 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:13.920 these plants exactly. That's why caffeine is in there to say, 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:16.840 But to the bugs, hey I'm toxic. If you chew 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:19.319 on me, you will die. Now, what happens to the 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:21.839 human brain with that same sort of element we will 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:23.960 find out in a moment. It's also also worth pointing 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:26.000 out that it operates in the brain the same way 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:29.920 that amphetamines such as cocaine and heroin do. Yes, which 0:12:30.120 --> 0:12:32.760 which is maybe a bit of a no brainer. But caffeine, 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:36.000 of course, is a much milder stimulant than those drugs. 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:38.000 Even even a lot of caffeine, you're not going to 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:39.880 get the same effect that you would get off of 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:43.120 somebody doing a much of heroin or coke, obviously, right, 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:44.840 But what else is on this list stuff in the 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:49.840 Wired article? Okay, we have to ethel phenol, and this 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:54.240 creates a tar like medicinal odor in your morning coffee. 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:59.599 There it's also this is awesome, a component of cockroach 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:03.640 along arm pheromones, chemical signals that warn the colony of danger. 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:07.440 The same chemical. Then there's also a clinic acid, and 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:10.679 this gives coffee it's slightly sour flavor. Uh, And it's 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:14.080 also one of the starter chemicals in the formulation of 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:18.400 tama flute. There is also something called a subtle methyl 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:22.400 carbonyl and according to the article, it's that rich buttery 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:25.520 taste in your daily jolt, which comes apart from this 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:30.280 flammable yellow liquid, the same liquid that gives real butter 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:33.240 its flavor and is a component of artificial flavoring and 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:38.000 microwave popcorn. And then we have left the best for last. 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:41.360 It's future scene, right, which sounds lovely. It sounds like 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:44.320 something you want in your daily cup. Yeah, it's an 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:48.400 organic chemical compound and it's related to cadavering, and both 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:51.640 are both are produced by the breakdown of amino acids 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:56.240 and living and dead organisms. So Digesto and his article 0:13:56.320 --> 0:14:00.400 actually describes the smell as Satan's outhouse. And now that 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:04.040 I'm why would Satan have an awful outhouse? I think 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:06.520 It depends on your interpretation. He might have a really 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:09.880 clean out well that because I think you your version 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:13.240 is a benevolent satan or you know, or maybe it's 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:16.760 like constantly crate cleaned by um, you know, by by 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:19.600 the suffering damned. I don't know. I can see that, Yeah, 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:21.280 I can see that. Well, in that case, then they 0:14:21.360 --> 0:14:24.360 might be that that might be a component of it. Yeah, 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:28.200 but I'm I'm hijacking the discussion with non scientific data here. 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:32.240 Thankfully that the amount of future scene is just miniscules, 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:36.440 so it's a scant levels that that wonderful outhouse smell. 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:38.920 All right, we're gonna take a break, and when we 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:41.120 come back, we're going to talk a little more about 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:43.720 us specifically. The most one of the really exciting things 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:47.560 here is is how does coffee affect creativity? And you 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:49.080 might be surprised at some of what we have to 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:51.080 say about that. And yes, we will also talk about 0:14:51.400 --> 0:15:07.440 coffee's ability to, shall we say, ramp up the digestive system. 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:10.400 All right, we're back. We're talking about coffee. We're talking 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:13.240 about the effects that coffee has on the body and 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:16.600 on the mind. So, uh, let's get to it. What 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:18.440 what's next? Time the click. All right, so we're gonna 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:21.160 talk about the chemical changes in our brain, because this 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:24.320 is what caffeine is doing. It is gaming the brain, 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:29.840 and uh specifically, it is crossing over the blood brain barrier. 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:32.040 And now this is that the interface between the brain 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:34.800 and the body's circulatory system that is meant to take 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.000 to keep out all the bad chemicals. But caffeine can 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:41.280 cross into the brain and when it does, it becomes 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:44.840 an impostor of sorts. Now when I say impostor, I 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:47.440 mean that it is taking on the identity of something 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:52.640 called identazine. No. Identazine is this byproduct of um all 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:55.920 those neurons firing. It creates this substance in the brain. 0:15:56.440 --> 0:16:00.360 And the build up of adentazine is actually monitored by 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:02.720 your nervous systems. Your nervous system says, oh, there's a 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.840 lot of adentazine accumulated here. This is going to tip 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:08.040 off this whole reaction in our body that says that 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:09.680 we need to take a nap or go to sleep 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:13.520 or even wake up. Adenazine is part and parcel of 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:17.960 how we manage our body clock. And what happens is 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:23.200 that that caffeine sneaks in and it looks chemically similar 0:16:23.240 --> 0:16:27.840 to adnazine. So it takes adentazine's place in the adenazine receptors. 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:31.200 It bonds to the receptors, and what happens is that 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:35.240 it blocks that adnazine from bonding with those receptors. And 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:39.920 now your body, your brain doesn't know what's going on. 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:42.920 It doesn't have the sort of signals that it might 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:46.720 get from those receptors saying whoa, we need to slow 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:51.880 down the body. So that's how caffeine can bond with 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:56.600 those receptors and change your level of energy even when 0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:58.560 you're you really should be tired. This is how you 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:03.400 get that that like the PM boost to finish studying 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:06.280 for the test the next day. Yeah, exactly, because you 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:10.520 are tricking your body into thinking that it's not tired. Yeah. 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:12.600 Very sneaky, don't you think. Yeah, it is. There's a 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:15.639 lot more, a lot more sneakiness involved than you know, 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:20.080 would initially think. Now, this also causes increased neuron firing 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:22.399 and a lot more just pup you going on in 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:26.120 the brain as the ideas fire around and uh and 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:29.280 and you start making plans for the day, the book 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:31.280 you're gonna write, the ikea trip, you're gonna make all 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:34.320 that that's right, because all of that increased neuron firing 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:36.960 is causing the petuitary to gland to sort of wake 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:38.840 up and go, wow, that's a lot of activity going 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:41.359 on there. There must be an emergency. And then the 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:44.879 adrenal glands get on, get in on the game, and 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:48.359 of course adournaline is produced, and your pupils dilate, your 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:51.200 heart rate increases, your your airways open up, among a 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:53.480 lot of other things. But yeah, this is what gets 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:56.760 you into that one. Ideas have to come out of 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:59.200 my room right now. Yeah, so you got boosting energy, 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:03.200 decrease fatigue, and it enhances physical, cognitive, and motor performance. 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:07.800 It aids short term memory, problem solving, decision making, and concentration. 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:11.120 These are all great reasons to have a cup of coffee. 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:16.440 But the question is, is some of the psychological you mean, 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:19.800 like the Paucebo effect exactly where I say, all right, 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:21.959 I'm no good till I have my morning cup, and 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.240 I'm just by believing that I'm no good till I 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:27.320 have my morning cup. Yeah, I mean, we we talked 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:32.080 about the power of the placebo. The placebo effect absolutely works. Um, 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:35.720 whatever kind of quack uh you know um medicine, you're 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:38.720 taking your magic being you're swallowing. That's a whole another story. 0:18:38.720 --> 0:18:41.560 But the polcebo effect the ability to believe in something's 0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:45.159 positive or negative effect in the in in some cases 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:48.400 you know, there's all no sebo thing to discuss um 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:51.840 that actually works, So just believing that it does something 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:55.119 can in certain cases have an effect you believe it. 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:57.720 So for instance, your heart rate, yes, it does increase. 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:01.840 But if you know that caffeine and coffee will help 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:06.600 you to better focus, are you more predisposed to really 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:10.240 engage in being focused? Um? So. There is a two 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:13.480 thousand eleven study at the University of East London where 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:16.159 a group of psychologists examine the effects of caffeine on 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:21.240 problem solving and emotional responses. And in a double blind study, 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:24.560 eight habitual coffee drinkers were given cups of caffeinated and 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:29.320 decaffinated coffees at random. So subjects who received caffeine but 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:31.440 they were told that they were drinking decaf did not 0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:34.720 show an improved reaction time in the task that they 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:38.240 gave that the research group gave them, and likewise in 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:41.919 a measure of reward motivation and something called the card 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:47.879 arranging reward responsivity objectivity test another way of measuring this. 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:50.919 The participants who believe they had consumed coffee sorted the 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:54.440 cards more quickly than those who believe that they consumed decaf, 0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:59.480 So no doubt there is in part a psychological component 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:02.119 of coffee. Yeah, and I guess it. You know, really 0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:04.840 there has to be in anything you take. I mean, 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:09.240 like I think you were you. You spoke recently about 0:20:09.280 --> 0:20:12.240 having an ice cream that was Chardonnay flavored. If I 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:18.320 remember pair popsicle, right, and let's be honest, there was 0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:22.919 probably very small amount of alcohol, if any really, and 0:20:23.040 --> 0:20:24.760 I could taste it, I'm telling well, yeah, okay, so 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:27.120 we should tell everybody I don't drink. So when I had, 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:31.240 when the reasoning hit my tongue, I was like, oh, 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:33.880 and so it brought back memories of having had reesling. 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:37.520 And after I finished that popsicle and I finished every 0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:41.240 drop of it, um, I did feel a little bit loopy. 0:20:41.320 --> 0:20:43.560 But then I wondered, yea, what extent is that the 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:46.400 poucebo effect? YEA, to what extent is it just your 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:49.040 mind saying, oh this this tastes like reasoning, and therefore 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:52.080 this is the reasoning effect. I feel, I feel lighter, 0:20:52.119 --> 0:20:54.920 I feel a little a little happier, and maybe I 0:20:54.920 --> 0:20:58.680 shouldn't drive a tractor exactly. Yeah, And I didn't drive 0:20:58.680 --> 0:21:00.920 a tractor that day. Good, But it was on vacation, 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:02.760 and you're right, I was sort of primed, and you know, 0:21:02.800 --> 0:21:06.639 it was the beach, and I was like, not a 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:10.600 care in the world. So yeah, the recling effect. So 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:13.359 over the years, there just have been a raft of 0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:16.639 studies that extol the virtues of coffee, um, from the 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:19.680 nutrient and antioxidant content to the idea that it could 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:24.400 lower the risk of type two diabetes, some types of cancers. UM. 0:21:24.800 --> 0:21:26.320 I think there was even one study that had a 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:30.760 ten percent increase in longevity. So we could spend hours 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:32.640 and hours on that, but I thought it we might 0:21:32.840 --> 0:21:35.640 make a little bit more sense if we talked about 0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:39.239 some of the real pronounced effects of coffee. And I'm 0:21:39.280 --> 0:21:43.359 talking about coffee in dementia, because animal experiments show that 0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:47.119 caffeine may reshape the biochemical environment side our brains in 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:50.080 a way that could actually stave off dementia. And this 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:52.320 is a very big concern as we age, right, because 0:21:52.400 --> 0:21:56.000 dementia seems to be one of those um illnesses that 0:21:56.040 --> 0:21:59.359