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REAL LIFE NEWS: COFFEE DOESN'T WAKE YOU UP IN THE MORNING

by Hazed

If you are one of the millions of people who rely on a cup of strong coffee to get you going in the morning, you will be very sceptical about a new survey which says that caffeine is not the pick-me-up everybody thinks it is.

University of Bristol researchers say that rather than making people more alert than usual, the caffeine simply eases the withdrawal symptoms which build up overnight. In other words, it just makes you feel normal, as if you'd never ever drunk any coffee.

Professor Peter Rogers, a biological psychologist who led the research, said "If you're not a regular consumer, you might get something out of one or two drinks. But once you're a regular consumer, you're in a cycle of withdrawal dependency... That alertness you feel is you getting back to normal, rather than to an above normal level."

He said that coffee did have some benefits, however, such as preventing cognitive decline in the elderly.

And in another study, scientists from Southwestern University have found that caffeine increases the sex drive of female rats. The effect is caused by the caffeine stimulating the part of the brain which regulates arousal. But, once again, they think a similar effect would only be repeated in humans if they don't drink coffee regularly.

More details of these two stories at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6422279.stm and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4628070.stm.

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