Chocolate and Coffee

[shiato storm]

bit of a randon one this so bear with me...
I was pondering the relative effects of caffiene, its potential to increase heart rate and breathing and such like -[ please don't be fooled by the thought that a cup of coffee does anything in terms of caffeine activity. It's painfully low, so much so that the effects are quite undetectable and coffee is in fact a fantastic placeabo...plus the american stuff is poo. ]- I suddenly began to ponder the relationship between chocolate (the cocoa bean) and the coffee bean.
are they related?

[IBM]

Why doesn't a cup of coffee do anything in terms of caffine activity? I thought the increased heart rate was due to the stimulating nature of caffine...or am I mistaken?

[GeorgeTuk]

Why doesn't a cup of coffee do anything in terms of caffine activity? I thought the increased heart rate was due to the stimulating nature of caffine...or am I mistaken?

I also thought that coffee certainly contained significant levels of caffiene, admittedly against Red Bull its a small amount but on its own it has fairly high levels.

[tiggerai]

please don't be fooled by the thought that a cup of coffee does anything in terms of caffeine activity. It's painfully low, so much so that the effects are quite undetectable and coffee is in fact a fantastic placeabo...plus the american stuff is poo. ]- I suddenly began to ponder the relationship between chocolate (the cocoa bean) and the coffee bean.
are they related?

Yes,

Chocolate does have caffiene in it.

Caffiene is a stimulant which does increase the heart muscle activity. It is well known for people with heart conditions to have to avoid it.

There is enough caffiene in a couple of cups of coffee / a can of coke to put me in hospital so I wouldn't write off the caffiene content of coffee.
You don't need that much of it for it to make an effect on the body. A cup of average coffee is enough to get mine jumping like a bean.

Chocolate has a caffiene content lower than coffee, but there is still some in it. Due to the fact that cocoa beans are so bitter, the cocoa is diluted with sugar and milk to make it edible. Thus diluting the caffiene content also. (yes, tea also has about as much caffiene as coffee, but because it is infused and not diluted the levels found in an average cup of tea and coffee is not the same as in a 100g weight of the same)

Caffiene is addictive, so those people who have tea and coffee on a regular basis will build up a resistance to its effects, thus people not noticing the effects.
(and why do companies have to put it in everything!)

[IBM]

I'm not going to switch to decaf, since I can't quite get my brain working without a cup of joe, but you can't beat a nice freshly brewed cup of coffee first thing in the morning....illy or Lavazza will do...

and to keep the subject on topic (if only slightly) I too love a nice big bar of chocolate first thing in the morning, preferably Galaxy.....reminds me of Christmas....

I'm not enitrely sure how to read the classification of the two plants, but doesn't look like the cocoa bean is related to the coffee bean . They're both in the class Magnoliopsida, but past that, nothing in common...

[Mike Fishcake]

shiato - i'm sure we've had a similar discussion ages ago, and I seriously, seriously dispute your claim that the effect of coffee is purely a placebo effect.

Caffeine *does* affect me in any one of two ways; either it sends me completely hatstand, wanting to run around like a loon, or it gives me the shakes. This is not a placebo effect because it's happened when I didn't realise I was drinking caffeinated coffee until afterwards.

[autopilot]

please don't be fooled by the thought that a cup of coffee does anything in terms of caffeine activity. It's painfully low, so much so that the effects are quite undetectable and coffee is in fact a fantastic placeabo

Coffee has a big effect on some people. I Luuuurve freash coffee but i can't drink much of Costa's stuff as its so strong sometimes that it gives me the shakes, cold sweats and sometimes a bit anxious feeling. A strong coffee will send me running to the loo for a #2 first thing in the morning. It will stop me sleeping well too if i drink it to late.

It's deffinatly NOT a Placeabo mate, although some instants have much less caffeine the fresh coffee.

I dont know where on earth you get that notion from. I absolutly 101% think (know) you are very very wrong .

I have never known anyone else claim this before, its a powerful stimulant that been used for as such for thusands of years, why do you think this?

[Funkstar]

A strong coffee will send me running to the loo for a #2 first thing in the morning.

so thats not just me then? good to know

It's deffinatly NOT a Placeabo mate, although some instants have much less caffeine the fresh coffee.

As caffiene is a very delicate molicule, every process it goes through reduces its potency. So a light cinamon roast will have more caffiene than the heavy frenhc roast, despite the later tasting stronger. Some instant coffee goes through less processing than some ground coffee leaving it with more caffeine in the end product. It also doesn't degrade over time like fresh ground coffee.

I didn't have a coffee on saturday until mid afternoon and ended up with a killer head ache. One cup of my dads strong caffatiere coffee and i was bouncing about and not being grumpy about plumbing