8. Everything You Need to Know About Caffeine

In this episode, Sam goes on a caffeine deep dive after traumatizing herself with an energy drink on an empty stomach (lol). She explores the physical and mental effects of drinking caffeine, plus how much you should be having, when you should be having it, and what types you should look for. She shares some shocking findings about synthetic caffeine (BAD), as well as the possibility of using caffeine as a preventative tool to protect against Alzheimer's, dementia, and Parkinson's (GOOD). Listen to this episode if you want to optimize the way you use caffeine, or if you just want to feel and perform better at work or in the gym. Key moments: 01:10 What inspired this episode 01:45 Sam's mantra about symptoms 02:24 Storytime 10:15 Sam's exact caffeine routine 12:35 What actually...is...caffeine? 13:13 The difference between natural and artificial caffeine 14:01 How natural caffeine is processed for consumption (also fun nerd moment!) 15:41 How synthetic caffeine is made (INSANE) 16:51 Craziest thing Sam has ever heard about caffeine 17:25 Somehow it gets worse 19:25 What does caffeine do in your body? 20:00 Caffeine and the brain 20:15 How caffeine impacts your sleep 21:50 How caffeine impacts your cognition 22:53 Yerkes-Dodson law broken down (important) 23:56 How caffeine impacts your memory 25:30 Caffeine and your mental health 25:44 Caffeine and anxiety 26:35 How caffeine affects your emotional state 27:14 Caffeine and depression (unexpected) 28:21 Long-term impacts of caffeine on your brain 28:28 Caffeine’s role in preventing Alzheimer’s and dementia (this is bananas) 29:55 Caffeine’s role in preventing Parkinson’s 31:10 The short-term physical effects of caffeine on your body 32:07 Caffeine overdose 32:20 How caffeine helps us in exercise/at the gym 33:26 The long-term physical effects of caffeine on your body 34:39 The most popular caffeinated products and their pros/cons 34:47 The benefits of drinking coffee (and the best way to drink it) 35:55 The benefits of drinking tea (and what kind is best) 36:57 The truth about energy drinks 39:03 Caffeine pills 39:49 Yerbamate 40:56 Can you become addicted to caffeine? 42:24 Upcoming episode topics Thanks for listening! New episodes are released every Sunday at 8 AM EST, so if you liked this episode, subscribe or follow to get notified about the next one. And please leave me a rating or review, so I can continue to improve the show. Talk soon! Follow along: Instagram: www.instagram.com/lifeincapslock  TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@lifeincapslock  YouTube: www.youtube.com/@lifeincapslock  Threads: www.threads.net/@lifeincapslock  Resources for this episode can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices