This week we debunk myths concerning the most popular drug of choice, caffeine.  Found abundantly in coffee, it is the world’s most widely consumed psychoactive drug. Unlike many other psychoactive substances however, it is legal and unregulated in nearly all parts of the world.

You will have heard that coffee dehydrates you.  This idea originated as caffeine is a diuretic (it increases the production of urine).  So this myth sounds reasonable since the more times you visit the bathroom, the more water you are loosing.  However this reasoning fails to account for the water you are drinking in the coffee!  Researchers have found little evidence of dehydration in coffee-consuming adults.  The amount of water going in roughly equals the amount of water going out.

A sad myth to debunk is that coffee sobers you up.  According to a study published in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience, the wakefulness and awareness boost that comes with caffeine intake can make you feel capable of driving home when you are not.  One of the authors of the study, Thomas Gould Ph.D., says “The myth about coffee’s sobering powers is particularly important to debunk because the co-use of caffeine and alcohol could actually lead to poor decisions with disastrous outcomes.”

A third myth is that an espresso contains more caffeine than a normal cup of coffee.  This is false as a normal cup of coffee contains, on average, more than twice the amount of caffeine of an espresso.  This myth probably stems from the fact that the espresso has a darker roast.  People unjustifiably believe the darker the coffee the more caffeine it contains, but this is also not based on scientific evidence.

Time for an americano, a pastizz, and the sports pages of The Sunday Times of Malta ...

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