Millions of people start their day with a cup of coffee, but as soon as they give up this habit, terrible headaches begin to haunt them. And this is not a joke – caffeine withdrawal pain is very real. Portal livescience.com speakWhy.
Neuroscientists aren't entirely sure why caffeine withdrawal headaches are so unpleasant, but they have some theories. For reference, a caffeine withdrawal headache occurs when a person consumes more than 200 milligrams of caffeine (about two cups of coffee) per day for more than two weeks and then suddenly stops. The pain usually appears within 24 hours without caffeine and disappears after a week or with the next caffeine intake.
Because caffeine affects many parts of the body, experts cannot identify a single common cause of headaches. But it's likely that it's at least partly due to dilated blood vessels. Caffeine narrows them – paradoxically, this is what allows the substance to fight certain types of headaches. If caffeine stops entering the body, blood vessels swell again, increasing blood flow and leading to pain.
But this is just one of the possible reasons. Another explanation for headaches is the response of adenosine receptors. Caffeine prevents adenosine, a basic part of RNA, from attaching to receptors scattered throughout the central nervous system. As a result, nerve cells fire much faster and blood vessels constrict, making people feel more alert and alert.
In theory, if a person stops consuming caffeine, a sudden increase in adenosine levels in the body could lead to headaches. But because of this, caffeine is used to treat other pain: it prevents the expansion of blood vessels. In fact, this is what allows caffeine to improve the effectiveness of pain relievers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen.
However, science still doesn't know much about the effects of caffeine withdrawal. Most often, such pain occurs in a hospital environment, when the patient has to give up coffee in order to undergo a specific medical procedure. Some scientific studies have also found headache symptoms in people who follow crash diets.
However, experts note that caffeine is generally safe if consumed in moderation. However, if you want to reduce or eliminate it completely, the best strategy is to reduce the dosage gradually. Drink less coffee every day or replace it with other drinks that contain less caffeine such as tea.
