More routes than coffee to ingest caffeine

The darkly roasted coffee bean has long been man’s source of a bit more energy, but the… The darkly roasted coffee bean has long been man’s source of a bit more energy, but the traditional “cup of Joe” is now being replaced by patches, gum, drinks and even an inhaler.

With study sessions, all-nighters and tired eyes at hand, I decided to take a look at the bitter substance that is humanity’s most widely used psychoactive drug. Before getting to the coffee though, there’s the matter of caffeine and its relationship with a neurotransmitter called adenosine.

“Adenosine is something that’s made by neurons when they’re very active,” says Dr. Emily Drill. A professor in the neuroscience department, Drill pointed to the relationship this naturally occurring substance has with caffeine.

“Caffeine blocks the adenosine receptor and keeps it from inhibiting brain activity,” Drill said. “It inhibits an inhibitor.”

What does that mean in layman’s terms?

“It increases activity in the brain,” Drill said. Like methamphetamine and cocaine, caffeine is a drug that improves brain and body function under a particular set of circumstances. A maximum daily intake is usually charted at around 300 milligrams — equivalent to approximately three cups of regular coffee.

Unlike those relatively recently invented illegal stimulants, caffeine has been used to extend days into nights for a very long time.

The stimulant of the masses, caffeine in the form of coffee first emerged in Ethiopia, where the coffea arabica plant produces bundles of bright red berries in the highlands . By the 16th century the black brew was the talk of the Middle East, and by 1645 the first coffee houses opened in Europe. By the 1950s, the percolator was a staple of the modern kitchen. But today there are other options for energizing that take caffeine away from hot and bitter and toward sour and sweet.

1. Energy Drinks

Starting with Red Bull and followed by every manner of interpolation, the carbonated, tangy category of beverage known as the energy drink is the most common variation on coffee’s caffeinated stimulation.

“Caffeine itself can move across the membranes of the GI tract pretty easily,” Drill said. “Once it gets into the intestines, almost all the caffeine that you take in is absorbed.”

Carbonated energy drinks offer a small advantage through their bubbles of carbon dioxide. Because of increased “gastric motility,” or movement in the stomach, the caffeine gets to the intenstines more rapidly.

“It’s not going to make a big difference,” Drill said. “But it could cause it to get to the brain faster.”

2. Lemon-Lime Energy-X Lip Balm ($2.99 on goenergy-x.com)

Tasting somewhat bitter and absent of its stated lemon-lime flavor, Energy-X Lip Balm goes on like a stick of Chapstick with a supposedly more potent edge. At first the buzz isn’t very noticeable — it’s lip balm, for Pete’s sake — but then I realized that it was supposed to be applied frequently.

According to the Energy-X website, the balm is absorbed through the small blood vessels in the lips and needs to be applied 4 to 8 times a day. I could never put lip balm on eight times in one day, but the balm does manage to create a buzz at around six.

“Molecules that are very small and very lipophilic can easily move across barriers,” Drill said. In this case, the product transfers both energy and moisture onto the user’s lips.

3. Primer Energy and Breath Freshener ($4.99 on Amazon.com)

With an overwhelming menthol flavor, this energy spray very well might wake you up even if it didn’t contain caffeine. After the admitted shock that came with spraying it under my tongue — the suggested method of administration for energy — I had to wonder if it was a necessary part of the process.

“It could be crossing the mucous membranes in the mouth and getting to the blood stream that way,” Drill said. This supposedly faster route of administration might be covering up for the known effectiveness of the oral route.

While Primer did have the best breath-freshening properties of all the methods of energy ingestion, it didn’t wow even with a number of pumps from the pocket-sized spray bottle.

3. Spot On Energy Patches ($13.84 for a pack of 24 on Amazon.com)

Reminiscent of the classic smoking-cessation aid, these energy patches sell themselves on being long-lasting without a crash and easy on the stomach. They also contain a number of non-caffeine ingredients such as B vitamins, which might alter the exact effect of the 37 milligrams of caffeine contained in each paired patch.

Whatever their active ingredient(s), the patches provided a smooth flow of energy while keeping me free of the distracted attitude to which over-consumption of caffeine can lead. Despite their value as a new way to get caffeine, the sticky residue of glue remains where the patches once rested.

“Patches only work for a molecule that’s small and can get through fat,” Drill said. Spot On works when natural body heat melts the adhesive, releasing the components contained therein through your skin and into the bloodstream.

I’m not sure if it was caffeine or B12, but something in those patches might have made studying fun again.

5. AeroShot Caffeine Inhaler ($2.99 from Aeroshot.com)

Breathable Foods is introducing a “caffeine inhaler” that claims to deliver 100 mg of the substance in a series of short puffs. It sounds like a deviant medical device, but it actually shoots a fine powder into the mouth and relies on action from there. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to test it.

Despite the increasingly caffeine-crazy culture that birthed these energy-inducing products, the substance itself isn’t particularly dangerous compared to its peers.

“Caffeine is a less-dangerous than a lot of other stimulants,” Drill said. “There can be serious side effects, but it generally requires high doses. The statistic that’s cited is that you’d have to drink 50 to 100 cups of coffee to overdose on caffeine.”

Editor’s note; this story has been corrected to remove an error regarding Aeroshot Caffeine Inhalers. The Pitt News regrets the error.