[geeks] caffeine - differences based on source

[Sandwich Maker]

" From: hike <mh1272 at gmail.com>
" 
" On Fri, Nov 7, 2008 at 9:05 AM, Patrick Giagnocavo <patrick at zill.net> wrote:
" 
" > hike wrote:
" >
" > > do you drink your tea and your soft drinks at the same temperature?
" >
" > Soft drinks are cold, tea is at probably a few degrees about human
" > internal temperature.
" >
" > This is Earl Grey/English Breakfast/Lipton (Lipton if I can't find
" > anything else) tea, which is usually "black" tea or a blend.
" > _______________________________________________
" 
" "hot" drinks wake people up.
" the sweetener in USA soft drinks provides a quicker burst of energy than
" sugar plus its effects don't last nearly as long.

i thought the sweetener of choice was high-fructose corn syrup.
fructose would have the opposite effect of sucrose ['sugar']; it's the
only saccharide that isn't immediately changed by the gut into glucose
upon absorption, but is changed by the liver in a feedback-controlled
loop giving you a longer, slower energy boost.

[sucrose is a disaccharide of glucose and fructose]

otoh sodas have lotsa crap in them aimed at giving you that rush - i
was shocked to discover an orange soda with caffeine in it.  i imagine
the idea is to make you want another soda when you crash...  this
argues too against prolonging the rush.

" timing can also be important--for me, just the right amount of coffee at the
" right time with the right amount of food in my stomach and i can be flying.
" same thing can happened with the right soft drink.


" From: Phil Stracchino <alaric at metrocast.net>
" 
" Patrick Giagnocavo wrote:
" > Hi
" > 
" > Seems when I drink tea, the caffeine stays in the system longer and the
" > effects are distributed over a longer length of time, than when I drink
" > a soft drink that has caffeine.
" > 
" > Does that make any sense to anyone?  Anyone observed any differences?
" 
" Are you sure it's all the effect of the caffeine?  Tea contains tannic
" acid too.

strictly speaking, tea contains little or no caffeine at all.  it has
theophylline, a structurally similar compound with similar but
slightly different effects, less on the cardiovascular system but more
on the cardiopulmonary.  remember the folk wisdom about drinking tea
when you have a cold?  theophylline has been prescribed as a mild
bronchodilator.

on most food chemical tests, theophylline will read as caffeine.  this
also goes for theobromine in cocoa, structurally similar as well.

the tannins are a good point; also flavonids.  coffee also has both
but sodas have neither.
________________________________________________________________________
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