It all started junior year while writing my AP Lang report on Huxley’s Brave New World where I discovered the magic of small doses of caffeine in glass bottled, 2 dollar, Starbucks Mocha Frappes sold in the Library’s downstairs vending machines. Preceding the sudden malaise of lactose intolerance, I was enlightened: my pupils dilated, my legs bounced, my brain buzzed and for the first time I felt alive. Needless to say that was only the start of my journey as I braved into this new world (aha pun) of coffee.
Five months later, I accidentally drank a whole ~venti~ cold brew and magically aced my Microeconomics test in half a period’s worth of time. Not gonna lie, coffee does wonders but as I sat around for the rest of the period, my heart practically thumping out of my chest, I started to think (a truly dangerous action for a caffeinated mind):
If we all become dependent on coffee, will our demand be able to exceed the amount that the world can supply? And what if we experience a mass extinction of coffee beans will we be able to develop a new alternative? How am I still buzzed how does coffee all work? Is my heart rate supposed to be this fast? Is this real life? IS THIS JUST FANTASY?
Thus, as my coffee darkened and my research deepened, I’ve noticed a few things:
(1) Coffee drinking is like a positive feedback loop
Whether it be bio, anatomy, or the amoeba sisters, I am slightly disappointed to say that science has ingrained itself into my brain and became the first question that I tried to answer: how does this all work? Positive feedback, or amplification feedback, likewise, has been taught to me a multitude of times. In short (to not have to trigger you all so early in my post), positive feedback amplifies and enhances changes to move the state farther and farther away from equilibrium. Like the excruciating process of childbirth, for example, the baby pushes, hormones are sent and the cervix dilates. This process continues until the baby is finally liberated of its confinement, exposed to the new world where everything will be at his fingertips.
So what does this have to do with coffee in any sort of way? Surely you’re not saying that you should feed babies caffeine?
Not quite.
In short, our bodies burn down adenosine triphosphate, or ATP –a word that may cue sophomore year flashbacks. When the phosphates decide to disband like our favorite British boy band and go in many directions, energy is released, and adenosine levels will increase as they are left without their partners. If we take a look at the neurons in our brain, as we break down more ATP, adenosine levels rise and bind to adenosine receptors which tells the wake-stimulating A1 neurons to tone it down and the sleep-promoting A2 neurons it is their time to party, causing us to grow tired so we can synthesize more ATP. Likewise, the adenosine receptors on your heart and kidneys have the same effect, leading to not only a jittery mind, but a pounding heart and a weak bladder.
Caffeine, with its extremely similar shape to adenosine, compete with the molecules for their spot in those receptors, but don’t have the ability to activate them and trigger your sleepiness. Once the caffeine breaks down in the next few hours, the adenosine finally binds with its receptors, causing you to grow tired and drink more coffee. Because of the creation of these new receptors, we grow coffee tolerance and have to drink more to push back the sleepiness of the impending all-nighters we are soon about to pull.
(2) But positive feedback loops aren’t always positive
So, if drinking coffee is a positive feedback loop it’s pretty good right?
Also, not quite.
Words are deceptive and the term “positive feedback loop” is no exception. Yes, introducing the world with new life is good, but if we look at other examples of positive feedback in economics and conservation, it is clear that these loops are not always positive. Human existence has plagued the world, what was once a balanced ecosystems has been littered by the supply and demand of humans. Take a look at the fur industry, as these extant animals slowly start to become extinct, humans don’t take it as a cue to stop, but rather a cue to mark up their prices. This constant increase in prices ultimately leads to a continuation of poaching in hopes of attaining more money for markets and higher social status for consumers.
Thus, we have been fooled by a name, muddled by our familiarity and idealism we equate definition with “singular”, positive with “good”, and coffee with “energy” when, in reality, definitions are rarely singular, positive feedback is not always good and the energy provided by coffee always comes with a price. We grow tolerance and increase our dosage, we lose countless amounts of money on double shot espressos, and earn enough stars to get many many free cookies. As we stray further away from the balance our body so desperately needs, we fuel ourselves with caffeine in an attempt to push away our dependence on sleep. Simultaneously, we place our dependency in the hands of a beverage whose chromism will slowly darken over time. And as this vicious cycle continues, it’s hard not to wonder:
How much are we willing to pay for another waking moment of energy?
How far have we already strayed away from equilibrium?
When will it end?
Perhaps we have overlooked something important.
(3) In reality, everything is temporary
At the end of the day, the coffee high slowly starts to fade, and we are left pondering how far we have strayed away from our own equilibrium in the middle our dark, insomniac nights. Looking at the bigger picture, is this all worth it?
How much will that chem quiz you pulled an all-nighter for actually affect you in the next five years? And how will your slightly troublesome Starbucks consumption be compensated by your slowly dwindling debit card deposit?
We drink coffee to live in the moment, to get as much done in the hours remaining in the day as if it was the last that we have, reading through colligative properties, memorizing triple integrals, and studying enhanced for loops. We desperately try to make the most of our lives, but with coffee as an outlet, with coffee like a positive feedback loop, “the most” will always be slightly out of reach.
Perhaps without these coffee highs, we wouldn’t be able finish what we had to do in time, but perhaps without these coffee highs, we can finally address our body’s desperate call for help and finally rest.
Perhaps it’s best to take a step back from the daily grind and take a break. Maybe ponder about this over some decaf.
Works Cited:
https://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/models/loops.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_feedback
https://science.howstuffworks.com/caffeine4.htm
https://anatomyandphysiologyi.com/homeostasis-positivenegative-feedback-mechanisms/
Hello friend. As someone who has never bought their own covfefe, I have become enlightened by your profound, encapsulating blog post. I often find myself struggling to power through my work at the end of these long days, especially as a second semester senior. Thus, I am considering getting started along the turbulent road that is the classic Coffee Journey®. Do you recommend I take the same convoluted path as you? I can see myself starting off with your $2 Mocha Frappes and developing my coffee addiction until I can no longer down the very gateway drink that got me started without gagging. Or should I full send and down an entire ~venti~ cold brew to kick off my journey in style? Please let me know, I’m running out of energy.
This was a somewhat enlightening somewhat upsetting read. As a fellow coffee(/matcha) drinker, I feel simultaneously understood and defensive. The positive feedback loop is a great analogy for this kind of situation–like the fur industry, the melting of the ice caps and global warming, effects just get increasing exacerbated, and typically for the worse. I completely agree with you analysis at the end–everything is temporary. Coffee is a means for us to achieve a certain feeling, but we have to question, is it worth it? It certainly pushes us to test our limits, both physically but also mentally. At what point do we call it, and say that enough is enough? Or is life really meant to be lived at 110% constantly, pushing ourselves to get to the next big task?
Hi Hans,
As someone who is a firm believer in not getting addicted to caffeine, I fully support. However, your insightful post educated and cultured me further with the biological aspect. Also, as someone who as first-hand witnessed the effects of caffeine on you, I can safely say that magical things can truly happen with coffee. Thus, you have convinced me–when I see you holding Starbucks cold brew, I will no longer feel the need to slap that coffee out of your hands and all over your plaid pants “Mean Girls” style. Just kidding. That thought has never occurred to me. Still, your post eloquently and humorously reveals the two sides of coffee in a quantitative and proven way, rather than those people who get their daily coffee with the reasoning of, “I can’t get through the day without it”. Hard facts, man.
I thoroughly enjoyed your coffee high thoughts and appreciated your high quality taste in pinterest coffee photos. I think Mr. Champion would be extremely proud of all of the biology methaphors/analogies you have inserted into this post. Kudos to you star biology student!
Honestly, I’ve never been so caffeinated and informed (at the same time) by one blog… like ever! I loved how you used an amazing drink to explore the complexities of such a peculiar drink while also giving me a giant dose of PTSD in so many different subjects. And, it was really motivational and helped provide some new insight to help calm my overthinking insight! But happy/sad to say, caffeine does in fact give me massive headaches so I’ll be sticking to decaff for the near future!
I remember learning about positive and negative feedback loops in Anatomy last year. At the same time that it’s a positive loop though, I feel like it’s also a negative feedback loop: you feel tired, so you drink coffee, which makes you stop being tired. Funny how that happens.
I used to drink coffee! I’d basically have a cup of coffee every morning! But by the end of junior year, I had stopped drinking coffee almost completely, and now, I can’t really stomach the taste anymore. It’s probably due to the way caffeine affects me; personally, I don’t stop feeling tired when I’m caffeinated. Instead, caffeine simply prevents me from falling asleep and raises my heart rate to alarming levels. You obviously can’t change the way your body responds to caffeine, but maybe try to gauge exactly what happens to your brain on coffee if you’re trying to curb your addiction.