A study involving 379 individuals who abstained from caffeine for 16 hours has revealed little variance in levels of alertness after receiving caffeine. Those who were medium/high caffeine consumers reported a decrease in alertness and an increase in headache if given the placebo, neither of which were reported by those who received caffeine. However, their post-caffeine levels of alertness were no higher than the non/low consumers who received a placebo, suggesting caffeine only brings coffee drinkers back up to 'normal'. In other words, the stimulatory effects of caffeine appears to be an illusion generated by the reversal of the fatiguing effects of acute caffeine withdrawal.
Coffee consumption unrelated to alertness
Reference
Rogers, P. J., Hohoff, C., Heatherley, S. , V, Mullings, E. L., Maxfield, P. J., Evershed, R. P., … Nutt, D. J. (2010). Association of the Anxiogenic and Alerting Effects of Caffeine with ADORA2A and ADORA1 Polymorphisms and Habitual Level of Caffeine Consumption. Neuropsychopharmacology. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npp.2010.71
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