Nutrition Facts and Health Blog

If you, like most Americans, start your day with a cup or three of coffee, don’t forget to drink some before you go for a bike ride, or jogging, or to the gym for a workout. It would seem, surprisingly enough, that coffee, along with its many other benefits, has pain relieving properties. I know, right? I’m as surprised as you are.

Caffeine and pain

These pain relieving benefits can be reaped for the first time coffee drinker as well as the five cups a day for twenty years coffee drinker, as the caffeine works on the adenosine neuromodulatory system, this system is a part of the brain and spinal cord that are involved in pain processing.

It is speculated that it is able to block pain because caffeine blocks adenosine, the biochemical that plays an important role in energy transfer such as in muscle movement, but the studies are so far inconclusive.

Muscle tension and soreness

Caffeine helps to relieve pain is that it stimulates the elimination of calcium concentrations through the urinary tract. Calcium is associated with muscular constriction, by reducing the amount of calcium present in the muscles; caffeine can provide relief from tension and soreness.

Headache Relief
Caffeine brings relief from a headache for the migraine sufferer. Caffeine’s’ effect of relieving headaches is achieved in the same way as relieving body pain, by blocking adenosine. Adenosine regulates the dilation of blood vessels in the brain, and since caffeine competes at the receptor site, blood vessels constrict, thereby providing relief from headaches.

Drug Interactions

Caffeine also is believed to increase the effects of a common over the counter headache and pain relief medicine, acetaminophen, and may help it to take effect more quickly. Although caffeine is believed to help relieve pain, ironically, the heavy caffeine consumer will suffer withdrawal symptoms that include heightened body pain sensations as well as mental aggravation if caffeine intake is suddenly stopped. Also, by interfering with adenosine receptors produces feelings of alertness and increased energy, this is how our morning cup gets us going.

How much is enough?

That the good news, now heres the bad news. There are those that oppose this train of thought as, according to them, drinking coffee doesn’t provide the same amount of caffeine as does a “work out enhancer” caffeine supplement. So while there may be some small benefit to drinking coffee, the numbers show that in order to get the levels of caffeine in your system to promote “performance enhancement” and to get the maximum pain relieving effect you would really need to take a caffeine supplement.

This doesn’t mean a few cups of coffee won’t help, but it would take a lot of cups to get the maximum benefits. And apparently these effects vary from person to person as well. Those that metabolize caffeine faster will get the maximum effect, or at least more of the effects, than someone that metabolizes caffeine more slowly. My best advice would be to just try it and see.

Next time you go for a run or ride or go to the gym for a workout try drinking a jumbo cup and see if it helps compared to your regular workout. If you drink coffee regularly then you are aware of how it affects you so you should be able to tell if it helps or not.

And if you don’t regularly drink coffee and then one would wager that you will definitely be able to tell if it made a difference. So the debate continues as to whether caffeine helps relieve pain or not, it may be you have to be the judge as each person is affected individually in a variety of ways.

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About the author :

The post is authored by Davis Miller. Davis is adept in writing health and nutrition based articles. Visit his site to know more about kofiemachine kiezen and Koffieautomaten .