Caffeine perks up men faster, say researchers

Barcelona, Spain, December 25: A unique study by University of Barcelona researchers found that men's response to caffeine is instant as compared to women.

Researchers reported that a cup of coffee pepped up men quicker than women. The study, which is published in the journal of 'Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry', involved 668 volunteers to study gender-driven effects of caffeine.

The volunteers were offered a cup of classic espresso that contains 100 milligrams of caffeine on an average or decaffeinated espresso with 5 milligrams caffeine content.

Observations revealed that caffeine perked up men in just 10 minutes while effects were found to be much slower and lesser in volunteers of opposite gender.

While caffeine takes approximately 45 minutes to get absorbed in the bloodstream in its maximum concentration, both men and women saw an improvement in their activity levels after drinking the classic espresso and these effects began after as little as 10 minutes.

However, research team commented that some of these effects may be even psychological, considering that even decaffeinated coffee alerted volunteers to some extent. But the decaf was found to have a more potent effect on women.

Ana Adan, study's lead researcher, said: "Numerous studies have demonstrated the stimulant effects of caffeine, but none of these have looked at their effects in terms of the consumer's gender."

"This study provides an interesting insight into how the effects of specific foods and nutrients may differ between men and women," commented Anna Denny from the British Nutrition Foundation.

"Research into 'gene-nutrient' interactions is moving forward quickly and we are finding out more about how our genetic make-up affects our requirements for certain foods and nutrients, and how our bodies react to these. In the future this could allow scientists to formulate dietary recommendations based on our genetic make up, as well as our age and body size," she added.

British Coffee Association's Dr Euan Paul said, "This new scientific study demonstrates interesting differences in the positive effects that caffeine may have on alertness between men and women, an area that has not been heavily researched in previous scientific investigations."

"We welcome further research to investigate with greater certainty any differences in the stimulant effects of caffeine that may be experienced between gender groups," added Paul.

Researchers believe that such findings may help modify dietary recommendations considering an individual's gender age and genetic form.