Morning Thoughts

I wake up at 5 AM every morning and fix my first meal - 1 scoop BSN protein + 8 oz of coffee. Most mornings that is the start of my day and off to cardio. Occasionally though, I get to go back to bed (though I have trouble getting to sleep, I have so much trouble waking up that coffee is no match for it). Today was one of those mornings. I still do the morning cardio, it's just that my schedule starts a bit later today. So, as I lay in bed, I got to thinking, what is going on inside my digestive tract with that first meal.

Well here are some facts about coffee:

• stimulates your GI tract (hence why you usually have to go to the bathroom soon after) - this is something with the coffee itself as decaf has can have similar effects
• can elevate cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine - fight or flight - good for before workouts but not after
• decreases the absorption of magnesium
• is a diuretic

• a brewed cup of coffee can have 135-150 mg of caffeine
• no-doze max strength has 200 mg

How is caffeine metabolized:

• its completely absorbed by stomach and small intestine in under an hour (hence why pre workout ingestion is recommended 60 minutes prior to workout)
• rate of digestion varies
• amount, age, liver function, medicine and the level of enzymes affect metabolic rate
• half life of about 3-7 hours
• now here we get a little more technical- caffeine is metabolized in the liver to paraxanthine, theobromine, and theophylline
• it is then further demethylated into monomethylxanthines and then to methyl uric acids1 
• similar in structure to adenosine and therefore blocks its activity causing a stimulant effect

Future topic - the metabolism of protein!

Referencehttp://toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Caffeine