Blog #4 -> Why does Caffeine keep some awake and others more tired?

Hello!

Welcome back to my second round of research for my question, how does caffeine effect youth, and how it generally affects people! Today I will be going into detail about how certain people are very much impacted by caffeine, and it causes for them to stay awake all night and have a big burst of energy, while others drink lots of caffeine and still feel sleepy and tired, even though it causes others to stay awake all night?

I personally wonder if it is because of a hormone imbalance within the body that certain people are not affected by caffeine, but I also wonder maybe that certain person has a resistance to caffeine. For me personally I know when I drink coffee, I become more tired and sleepier; however, when I drink energy drinks it makes me stay up for a few hours before the effects of it wear off, but I wanted to research this because as an avid caffeine drinker, I feel for me that caffeine does make me fall asleep and more tired at times, while other times I am able to stay up and be energetic for hours at a time!

When researching, many different reasons come up to why caffeine does not affect some people, and the examples start theirs genetics, the amount of caffeine a person is drinking, their caffeine tolerance, and sleep debt (1). To speak more about genetics, it depends on the persons metabolisms; half of the world has a high metaboliser, and half of the world has a slower metaboliser, and this is due to a gene called the CYP1A2, which is an enzyme that is produced in the liver, to break caffeine down (1). If people have a higher metabolism, they may have a weaker effect when they drink caffeine, and if they have a faster metabolism, caffeine works wonders for them, so much so it can reduce heart disease, but only coffee, not energy drinks (1).

Caffeine also has lots of effects on the brain, and there is a gene in the brain called the ADORA2A, which is the gene that results in sleepiness and lethargy, and this gene may be the reason to why people cannot feel the effects of caffeine and feel the opposite instead (1). The gene can cause some people to find it harder to sleep if they drink caffeine 6 hours before trying to sleep, while for others the caffeine does not affect their sleeping, and causes anxiety instead (1). People with a certain type of the ADORA2A gene may gain anxiety, and feel tired after drinking caffeine because the nervous system is stimulated when one drinks caffeine which causes the brain to do many things at once such as activate its adenosine receptors, make the person more aware and alter, and it causes the brain to produce anxiogenic effects, which is essentially why some tend to feel anxious when they drink caffeine (2). It overstimulates the brain, and causes the nervous system and the body to act with too many things in mind, which causes the anxiety side effect, and why some people become a lot more tired; because the all of a sudden the body starts to multitask on places it should not (2). This means that the caffeine is working, it is simply not working in the way that it is intended to, it works on the inside, and causes us to feel the after math which is the tiredness and sleepiness (2).

However, moving onto why some people cannot even have a little bit, otherwise their sleep pattern is ruined; this is mainly because caffeine acts like a stimulant (as mentioned before), but for certain people it causes the adenosine receptors to turn off, which is what essentially makes one tired (3). For the previous situation, caffeine causes the adenosine receptors to work more, but in this case (like it is supposed to) the caffeine acts as a block, and it blocks the adenosine receptors from making one feel sleepy and tired, so it makes a person stay up all night (3).

An interesting fact that kept popping up when I was researching all of my topics is that, people with ADHD tend to become more tired when they drink caffeine, and this is because of the hyperactivity within their brain (4). Like explained before, because the brain becomes more alert and active when caffeine is ingested, the body can sometimes reverse the caffeine intentions, and can be reciprocated as exhaustion or sleepiness which makes it for people who have ADHD to become more tired rather than energetic (4). It can be advised to those who suffer from a very high amount of hyperactivity should drink coffee, so that they can calm the hyperactivity, but this may cause other side effects such as severe insomnia, and anxiety, especially in youth so it is not advised that youth with ADHD to ingest caffeine of any sort as it could help them in one way, but harm them in another (4).

With these facts, we know that it can harm youth in negative ways because if they have ADHD, caffeine is not beneficial for them in the long term, and if they do not have ADHD, it is not advised that they ingest caffeine either way because it can cause an increase in anxiety due to the alertness and awareness that one gets when they ingest a high amount of caffeine (5). There are also many other risk because teenagers are still developing, and caffeine can cause a huge impact on their nervous and cardiovascular system; they can start experiencing having a higher heart rate, a higher blood pressure, acid reflux, and it can cause a sleep disturbance which is the most harmful because teenagers need to sleep lots as their bodies are developing, so if they do not sleep, there body is not able to fully develop, which can cause health problem later on in their life (6).

Not gaining enough sleep causes a large impact on brain development in youth, and studies have shown that young drinkers of caffeine may have a higher risk of having a mental health disorder such as anxiety as mentioned before, and bipolar disorder because they become more prone to panic attacks (5). Panic disorder is the most common disorder throughout youths that are active caffeine drinkers, and it has been shown that if the youths are not careful about the amount they ingest daily, the panic disorder may develop into a bipolar disorder, so it is very important that youth, and people in general are aware about how much caffeine they are ingesting in order to keep their mental and physical health healthy (5)!

Thank you so much for reading my research round for today! I felt for myself I have found my answer, and I believe I have built s tolerance to caffeine which is why when I drink coffee, I will simply feel the same, and why when I have energy drinks, I am able to stay up longer, and have a bit more energy, but I am also able to sleep right after because I still end up crashing after a few hours of ingesting the energy drink!

Hope to see you on my next blog post for my last research question!

(1) Phadnis, H. (2022, November 8). Why does caffeine not affect me? The positive health effects of a high caffeine tolerance. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-does-caffeine-affect-me-positive-health-effects-high-phadnis/

(2) Liu, C., Wang, L., Zhang, C., Hu, Z., Tang, J., Xue, J., & Lu, W. (2024). Caffeine intake and anxiety: a meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1270246

(3) Paprocki, J. (2022, October 6). Sleep and caffeine. Sleep Education. https://sleepeducation.org/sleep-caffeine/#:~:text=Caffeine%20is%20a%20type%20of,keep%20you%20from%20feeling%20sleepy.

(4) BetterHelp Editorial Team. (2024, April 12). What is the relationship between caffeine and ADHD? | BetterHelp. https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/adhd/the-relationship-between-caffeine-adhd/

(5) Smith, M., MA. (2024, January 2). Caffeine and its effects on teenagers. HelpGuide.org. https://www.helpguide.org/articles/teen-issues/caffeine-and-its-effects-on-teenagers.htm#:~:text=In%20the%20short%20term%2C%20caffeine,which%20then%20impacts%20brain%20growth.

(6) Is coffee bad for kids? (2023, July 24). Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/is-coffee-bad-for-kids#:~:text=Children%20and%20adolescents%20are%20also,acid%20reflux%20and%20sleep%20disturbance.