all about caffeine

when your nerves are active (ex. thinking), they produce adenosine. adenosine acts like a chemical "break pedal" for your brain. the more you have, the less your nerves work, hence sleepiness occurs. what caffeine does, is block adenosine usage, like a chemical "block of wood" under said chemical "break pedal". this, of course, results in lack of sleepiness, not to be confused with wakefulness. because caffeine does not actually stimulate your nerves it can't make you any more peppy then your body naturally feels. if you're already exhausted, you'll stay that way, you just won't be able to sleep.

it's nearly impossible to O.D. on caffeine. this is because of the way your body breaks it down. it gets processed into a chemical that your body needs anyway. when that happens, any excess just gets pissed out, kind of like vitamin C (yes it's true!). the bad part about having too much caffeine is this: if you don't have things like adenosine slowing your neurons they over fire. this leads to medical maladies ranging from the jitters to a massive coronary (don't worry it's impossible to drink that much coffee, around 40 cups, that quickly without inducing vomiting).

now back to our regularly scheduled program...