Natural Caffeine
Natural Caffeine (from Green Coffee Bean)
Caffeine is the most widely used substance on the planet, ninety percent of the world’s population consumes caffeine in some form every single day. It is one of the most researched in how it affects the human body and brain. While we love caffeine different forms, did you know some are better than others? And also there are nootropics and foods or herbs you can have with caffeine sources that can make the effects of caffeine way way better.
Caffeine is a well loved brain-stimulant, and works synergistically with Savvy’s brain boosting formula to create a wholly uplifting effect. But we'll talk more about that later, firstly let's get into what caffeine is and how does it work.
WHAT IS CAFFEINE?
Caffeine is a natural stimulant found in the seeds, fruits, nuts, or leaves of a number of plants native to Africa, East Asia, and South America. These include coffee beans, cocoa beans, guarana berries, kola nuts, and leaves from tea, guayusa, and yerba mate. The natural caffeine in Savvy is from green coffee beans and green tea.
Caffeine is consumed around the world for its beneficial effects on energy, physical and mental performance, alertness, and mood. Many people praise its ability to keep them awake and focused on their tasks. Additionally, most of its side effects tend to decrease with prolonged consumption.
HOW DOES CAFFEINE WORK?
Caffeine works by stimulating the brain and central nervous system, helping you to remain alert and to prevent feelings of fatigue. In a more scientific way, caffeine blocks the effects of adenosine in the brain, which is a neurotransmitter (or brain chemical) that relaxes the brain and makes you feel tired and ready for sleep.
Normally, adenosine levels build up over the day, making you increasingly tired and wanting to rest. As well as blocking adenosine receptors, it also increases adrenaline levels by increasing the activity of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine.
This combination further stimulates the brain and promotes a state of arousal, alertness and focus. Because it affects your brain, caffeine is often referred to as a psychoactive drug.
In this way, caffeine is more of a brain-stimulating drug than a brain-nourishing nootropic. Alongside the other nutrient-rich ingredients in Savvy, caffeine will help you to feel better, energised and ready for a big day. Research shows that caffeine is a brain stimulant that increases alertness, wakefulness, attention, working memory, and motor activity.
WHAT VITAMINS, HERBS OR NOOTROPICS MAKE CAFFEINE EVEN BETTER?
- Panax Ginseng + Caffeine have some amazing nootropic synergies.
- Rhodiola Rosea + Caffeine have some amazing nootropic synergies.
- Ashwagandha helps to reduce the negative of caffeine while still boosting the positive effects of caffeine.
- L Theanine and caffeine have the best synergy and are known as one of the oldest nootropic stacks (a combination that bring out the best benefits in each other).
Caffeine + L-Theanine – the most well-known of the caffeine stacks is a combination of caffeine with L theanine. The latter ingredient is a psychoactive amino acid found in tea, which can negate the side effects of caffeine (such as heart rate, blood pressure, etc) while increasing the positive aspects of focus and concentration. This is one of the key reasons why we have selected green coffee bean extract as the caffeine source - to be able to benefit from the L-theanine as well as it comes with natural cofactors which help with improved absorption.
Main health benefits of caffeine for Savvy:
- Caffeine improves attention and alertness
- Caffeine increases cognitive function and mental ability
- Caffeine improves mood and memory
- Caffeine increases mental and physical performance and endurance
- Caffeine contributes to faster reaction time and processing speed
Scientifically-proven Benefits
To make it easy to identify all the different studies - we will highlight them for you!
We really hope you enjoy our many years of research when formulating Savvy...
Benefit 1
Caffeine improves attention and alertness
Biggs, SN, et al, ‘Perception of simulated driving performance after sleep restriction and caffeine.’ in Journal of psychosomatic research, Volume 63, Issue 6, December 2007, pp 573 - 577 [Link]
“Caffeine resulted in significant improvements across all measures.”
Owen, GN, et al, ‘The combined effects of L-theanine and caffeine on cognitive performance and mood.’ in Nutritional neuroscience, Volume 11, Issue 4, August 2008, pp 193 - 198 [Link]
“The L-theanine and caffeine combination improved both speed and accuracy of performance of the attention-switching task at 60 min, and reduced susceptibility to distracting information in the memory task at both 60 min and 90 min. These results replicate previous evidence which suggests that L-theanine and caffeine in combination are beneficial for improving performance on cognitively demanding tasks.”
Heckman, MA, et al, ‘Caffeine (1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthine) in foods: a comprehensive review on consumption, functionality, safety, and regulatory matters.’ in Journal of food science, Volume 75, Issue 3, April 2010, pp R77 - 87 [Link]
“Performance benefits attributed to caffeine include physical endurance, reduction of fatigue, and enhancing mental alertness and concentration. Caffeine has also been recently linked to weight loss and consequent reduction of the overall risks for developing the metabolic syndrome.”
Brunye, TT, et al, ‘Caffeine modulates attention network function.’ in Brain and cognition, Volume 72, Issue 2, March 2010, pp 181 - 188 [Link]
“Caffeine improved alerting and executive control function in a dose-response manner, asymptoting at 200mg; this effect is congruent with caffeine's adenosine-mediated effects on dopamine-rich areas of brain, and the involvement of these areas in alerting and the executive control of visual attention.”
Glade, MJ, ‘Caffeine-Not just a stimulant.’ in Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, California), Volume 26, Issue 10, October 2010, pp 932-938 [Link]
“The consumption of moderate amounts of caffeine 1) increases energy availability, 2) increases daily energy expenditure, 3) decreases fatigue, 4) decreases the sense of effort associated with physical activity, 5) enhances physical performance, 6) enhances motor performance, 7) enhances cognitive performance, 8) increases alertness, wakefulness, and feelings of "energy," 9) decreases mental fatigue, 10) quickens reactions, 11) increases the accuracy of reactions, 12) increases the ability to concentrate and focus attention, 13) enhances short-term memory, 14) increases the ability to solve problems requiring reasoning, 15) increases the ability to make correct decisions, 16) enhances cognitive functioning capabilities and neuromuscular coordination, and 17) in otherwise healthy non-pregnant adults is safe.”
Benefit 2
Increase in cognitive function and mental ability
Noguchi-Shinohara, M, et al, ‘Consumption of Green Tea, but Not Black Tea or Coffee, Is Associated with Reduced Risk of Cognitive Decline’ in PLoS One, Volume 9, Issue 5, 2014 [Link]
“Our results suggest that green tea consumption could be beneficial for reducing the risk of cognitive decline.”
Chacko, S, et al, ‘Beneficial effects of green tea: A literature review’ in Chinese Medicine, Volume 5, Issue 13, 2010 [Link]
Camfield, DA, et al, ‘Acute effects of tea constituents L-theanine, caffeine, and epigallocatechin gallate on cognitive function and mood: a systematic review and meta-analysis.’ in Nutrition reviews, Volume 72, Issue 8, August 2014, pp 507 - 522. [Link]
“A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted on 11 randomized placebo-controlled human studies of acute effects of tea constituents L-theanine and epigallocatechin gallate, administered alone or in combination with caffeine, on cognitive function and mood. The outcome measures of mood were alertness, calmness, and contentedness, derived from the Bond-Lader scales, and state anxiety, from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Cognitive measures assessed were attentional switch, intersensory attention, and rapid visual information processing. Standardized mean differences between placebo and treatment groups are presented for each study and outcome measure. Meta-analysis using a random-effects model was conducted when data were available for three or more studies. Evidence of moderate effect sizes in favor of combined caffeine and L-theanine in the first 2 hours postdose were found for outcome measures Bond-Lader alertness, attentional switching accuracy, and, to a lesser extent, some unisensory and multisensory attentional outcomes. Moderator analysis of caffeine and L-theanine doses revealed trends toward greater change in effect size for caffeine dose than for L-theanine dose, particularly during the first hour postdose.”
Gupta, U, ‘Personality, caffeine and human cognitive performance.’ in Pharmacopsychoecologia, Volume 1, Issue 2, 1988, pp 79 - 84 [Link]
“Caffeine, particularly in larger doses, facilitated the performance of extraverts but did not significantly affect introverts...Extraverts may be less aroused in the morning than introverts, and their performance may therefore be enhanced by the stimulating effects of caffeine.”
Kelly, SP, ‘L-theanine and caffeine in combination affect human cognition as evidenced by oscillatory alpha-band activity and attention task performance.’ in The Journal of nutrition, Volume 138, Issue 8, August 2008, pp 1572S - 1577S [Link]
“Recent neuropharmacological research has suggested that certain constituents of tea may have modulatory effects on brain state...This may signify a more generalized tonic deployment of attentional resources to the visual modality and may underlie the facilitated behavioral performance on the combined ingestion of these 2 major constituents of tea.”
Tomata, Y, et al, ‘Green Tea Consumption and the Risk of Incident Dementia in Elderly Japanese: The Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study.’ in The American journal of geriatric psychiatry: official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, Volume 24, Issue 10, October 2016, pp 881 - 889 [Link]
“Green tea consumption is significantly associated with a lower risk of incident dementia.”
AL Reef, T, and Ghanem, E, ‘Caffeine: Well-known as psychotropic substance, but little as immunomodulator’ in Immunobiology, Volume 223, Issue 12, December 2018, Pages 818-825 [Link]
“Thus, we support the use of caffeine to alleviate various inflammatory conditions and autoimmune diseases.”
Nehlig, A, et al, ‘Caffeine and the central nervous system: mechanisms of action, biochemical, metabolic and psychostimulant effects.’ in Brain research. Brain research reviews, Volume 17, Issue 2, May to August 1992, pp 139 - 170 [Link]
“Caffeine increases energy metabolism throughout the brain but decreases at the same time cerebral blood flow, inducing a relative brain hypoperfusion. Caffeine activates noradrenaline neurons and seems to affect the local release of dopamine. Many of the alerting effects of caffeine may be related to the action of the methylxanthine on serotonin neurons. The methylxanthine induces dose-response increases in locomotor activity in animals. Its psychostimulant action on man is, however, often subtle and not very easy to detect. The effects of caffeine on learning, memory, performance and coordination are rather related to the methylxanthine action on arousal, vigilance and fatigue.”
Benefit 3
Improvements in mood and memory
Sherman, S, et al, ‘Caffeine Enhances Memory Performance in Young Adults during Their Non-optimal Time of Day’ in Frontiers in Psychology, Volume, 7, 2016 [Link]
“These results suggest that caffeine has a specific benefit for memory during students’ non-optimal time of day – early morning. These findings have real-world implications for students taking morning exams.”
Ruxton, C, ‘The impact of caffeine on mood, cognitive function, performance and hydration: a review of benefits and risks’, in Nutrition Bulletin: British Nutrition Foundation, Volume 33, Issue 1, March 2008, pp 15 - 25 [Link]
“From a review of double‐blind, placebo‐controlled studies published over the past 15 years, it would appear that the range of caffeine intake that could maximise benefit and minimise risk in relation to mood, cognitive function, performance and hydration is 38 to 400 mg per day, equating to 1 to 8 cups of tea, or 0.3 to 4 cups of brewed coffee per day. Current levels of caffeine intake in the UK fall well within this range, suggesting that risk, for example from dehydration, is likely to be minimal.”
Loke, WH, ‘Effects of caffeine on mood and memory.’ in Physiology and behavior, Volume 44, Issue 3, 1988, pp 367 - 372 [Link]
Penetar, D, et al, ‘Effects of Caffeine on Cognitive Performance, Mood, and Alertness in Sleep-Deprived Humans’ in Food Components to Enhance Performance: An Evaluation of Potential Performance-Enhancing Food Components for Operational Rations, 1994 [Link]
“The reduction in boredom or fatigue is associated with the repetitive nature of the task and the period of time during which the tasks were repeated. In general, high-to-moderate users of caffeine recalled more words than low users, particularly at the beginning of the lists.”
Smillie, LD and Gokcen, E, ‘Caffeine enhances working memory for extraverts.’ in Biological psychology, Volume 85, Issue 3, December 2010, pp 496 - 498 [Link]
“Findings revealed that caffeine administration relative to the placebo condition resulted in heightened WM [working memory] performance”
Lucas, M, et al, ‘Coffee, caffeine, and risk of completed suicide: results from three prospective cohorts of American adults.’ in The world journal of biological psychiatry, Volume 15, Issue 5, July 2014, pp 377 - 386 [Link]
“These results from three large cohorts support an association between caffeine consumption and lower risk of suicide.”
Kim, T, et al, ‘Improvement of Memory Impairment by the Combination of Green Tea Extract and L-Theanine through Inhibition of Acetylcholinesterase Activity in Mice’ in Korea Agricultural Science Digital Library [Link]
“The combination of green tea extract and L-theanine more significantly inhibited the scopolamine-induced latency time and distance in the water maze test, and increased retention time in the passive avoidance test than those of single compounds.”
Owen, GN, et al, ‘The combined effects of L-theanine and caffeine on cognitive performance and mood.’ in Nutritional neuroscience, Volume 11, Issue 4, August 2008, pp 193 - 198. [Link]
“The L-theanine and caffeine combination improved both speed and accuracy of performance of the attention-switching task at 60 min, and reduced susceptibility to distracting information in the memory task at both 60 min and 90 min. These results replicate previous evidence which suggests that L-theanine and caffeine in combination are beneficial for improving performance on cognitively demanding tasks.”
Park, SK, et al, ‘A combination of green tea extract and l-theanine improves memory and attention in subjects with mild cognitive impairment: a double-blind placebo-controlled study.’ in Journal of medicinal food, Volume 14, Issue 4, pp 334 - 343. [Link]
“Brain theta waves, an indicator of cognitive alertness, were increased significantly in the temporal, frontal, parietal, and occipital areas after 3 hours in the eye-open and reading states. Therefore, this study suggests that [GTE and L-Theanine] LGNC-07 has potential as an intervention for cognitive improvement.”
Bhatti, SK, et al, ‘Coffee and tea: perks for health and longevity?’ in Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care, Volume 16, Issue 6, November 2013, pp 688 - 697. [Link]
“Tea consumption, especially green tea, is associated with significantly reduced risks for stroke, diabetes and depression, and improved levels of glucose, cholesterol, abdominal obesity and blood pressure...Coffee and tea can generally be recommended as health-promoting additions to an adult diet.”
Backhouse, SH, et al, ‘Caffeine ingestion, affect and perceived exertion during prolonged cycling.’ in Appetite, Volume 57, Issue 1, August 2011, pp 247 - 252 [Link]
“Overall, the results suggest that a moderate dose of CAF ingested 1h prior to exercise maintains a more positive subjective experience during prolonged cycling. This observation may partially explain caffeine's ergogenic effects.”
Scholey, A, et al, ‘Acute neurocognitive effects of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).’ in Appetite, Volume 58, Issue 2, April 2012, pp 767 - 770 [Link]
“This pattern of results suggests that participants in the EGCG condition may have been in a more relaxed and attentive state after consuming EGCG. This is in keeping with the widespread consumption of green tea for its purported relaxing/refreshing properties.”
Fredholm, B, ‘Adenosine, Adenosine Receptors and the Actions of Caffeine *’ in Basic and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Volume 76, Issue 2, February 1995, pp 93 - 101 [Link]
“Of the known biochemical actions of caffeine, only inhibition of adenosine receptors occurs at concentrations achieved during normal human consumption of the drug. Under normal physiological conditions, adenosine is present in sufficient concentrations to activate A1 and A2a receptors. Via actions on A, receptors, adenosine decreases neuronal firing and the release of neurotransmitters. The exact mechanisms are not known, but several possibilities are discussed. Via actions on A2a receptors, adenosine ‐ and hence caffeine ‐ can influence dopaminergic neurotransmission. “
Dodd, FL, ‘A double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating the effects of caffeine and L-theanine both alone and in combination on cerebral blood flow, cognition and mood.’ in Psychopharmacology (Berl), Volume 232, Issue 14, July 2015, pp 2563 - 2576. [Link]
“Caffeine reduced oxygenated haemoglobin (oxy-Hb), increased deoxygenated haemoglobin (deoxy-Hb), improved performance on attention tasks and increased overall mood ratings….Combining L-theanine with caffeine, at levels and ratios equivalent to one to two cups of tea, eliminated the vasoconstrictive effect and behavioural effects of caffeine. This supports previous findings of an interaction between these substances”
Grosso, G, et al, ‘Coffee, tea, caffeine and risk of depression: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of observational studies.’ in Molecular nutrition and food research, Volume 60, Issue 1, January 2016, pp 223 - 234 [Link]
“This study suggests a protective effect of coffee and, partially, of tea and caffeine on risk of depression.”
Benefit 4
Increases mental and physical performance and endurance
Davis, JK and Green, JM, ‘Caffeine and anaerobic performance: ergogenic value and mechanisms of action.’ in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), Volume 39, Issue 10, 2009, pp 813-832 [Link]
“Caffeine acts antagonistically on adenosine receptors, thereby inhibiting the negative effects adenosine induces on neurotransmission, arousal and pain perception. The hypoalgesic effects of caffeine have resulted in dampened pain perception and blunted perceived exertion during exercise. This could potentially have favourable effects on negating decreased firing rates of motor units and possibly produce a more sustainable and forceful muscle contraction.”
Doherty, M and Smith, PM, ‘Effects of caffeine ingestion on rating of perceived exertion during and after exercise: a meta‐analysis’ in Scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports, Volume 15, Issue 2, April 2005, pp 69 - 78 [Link]
“The purpose of this study was to use the meta‐analytic approach to examine the effects of caffeine ingestion on ratings of perceived exertion (RPE). Twenty‐one studies with 109 effect sizes (ESs) met the inclusion criteria… In addition, caffeine improved exercise performance by 11.2% (95% CI; 4.6–17.8%). Regression analysis revealed that RPE obtained during exercise could account for ∼29% of the variance in the improvement in exercise performance. The results demonstrate that caffeine reduces RPE during exercise and this may partly explain the subsequent ergogenic effects of caffeine on performance.”
Graham, TE ‘Caffeine and exercise: metabolism, endurance and performance.’ in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), VOlume 31, Issue 11, 2001, pp 785 - 807 [Link]
“The mechanism(s) by which caffeine elicits its ergogenic effects are unknown, but the popular theory that it enhances fat oxidation and spares muscle glycogen has very little support and is an incomplete explanation at best. Caffeine may work, in part, by creating a more favourable intracellular ionic environment in active muscle. This could facilitate force production by each motor unit.”
Hodgson AB, et al, ‘The metabolic and performance effects of caffeine compared to coffee during endurance exercise.’ in PLoS One, Volume 8, Issue 4, 2013. [Link]
“There is consistent evidence supporting the ergogenic effects of caffeine for endurance based exercise….Performance times during the TT were significantly faster (~5.0%) for both caffeine and coffee when compared to placebo and decaf [coffee]...Average power for caffeine and coffee during the TT was significantly greater when compared to placebo and decaf”
Doherty, M and Smith, PM, ‘Effects of caffeine ingestion on exercise testing: a meta-analysis.’ in International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism, Volume 14, Issue 6, December 2014, pp 626 - 646 [Link]
“This study used the meta-analytic approach to examine the effects of caffeine ingestion on exercise testing. Forty double-blind studies with 76 effect sizes (ES) met the inclusion criteria. The type of exercise test was classified as endurance, graded, or short-term. In comparison with placebo, caffeine improved test outcome by 12.3 % (95 % CI, 9.1 to 15.4), which was equivalent to an overall ES of 0.41 (95 % CI, 0.31 to 0.51). Endurance exercise significantly improved test outcome (P < 0.05) more than either graded or short-term exercise. When exercise protocol was examined, time-to-exhaustion (Tlim) protocols had a significantly greater (P < 0.05) ES than either the graded or the non-Tlim protocol(s). The results from this meta-analysis confirm the ergogenic effects of caffeine, particularly for endurance testing that use Tlim protocols.”
Mora-Rodriguez, R, et al, ‘Caffeine ingestion reverses the circadian rhythm effects on neuromuscular performance in highly resistance-trained men.’ in PLoS One, Volume 7, Issue 4, 2012 [Link]
“These results indicate that caffeine ingestion reverses the morning neuromuscular declines in highly resistance-trained men, raising performance to the levels of the afternoon trial. Our electrical stimulation data, along with the NE values, suggest that caffeine increases neuromuscular performance having a direct effect in the muscle”
Timmins, TD and Saunders, Dh, ‘Effect of caffeine ingestion on maximal voluntary contraction strength in upper- and lower-body muscle groups.’ in Journal of strength and conditioning research, Volume 28, Issue 11, November 2014, pp 3239 - 3244. [Link]
“In conclusion, a moderate dose of caffeine improves MVC strength in resistance-trained men regardless of muscle group location, whereas the influence of muscle group size remains uncertain. This research may be useful for competitive and recreational athletes aiming to increase strength-power performance.”
Benefit 5
Faster reaction time and processing speed
Childs, E and de Wit, H, ‘Subjective, behavioral, and physiological effects of acute caffeine in light, nondependent caffeine users.’ in Psychopharmacology (Berl), Volume 185, Issue 4, May 2006, pp 514 - 523 [Link]
“Caffeine significantly increased blood pressure, and produced feelings of arousal, positive mood, and high. Caffeine increased the number of hits and decreased reaction times in a vigilance task...We confirm that acute doses of caffeine, at levels typically found in a cup of coffee, produce stimulant-like subjective effects and enhance performance in light, nondependent caffeine users. These findings support the idea that the drug has psychoactive effects even in the absence of withdrawal.”
Hoffman, JR, et al, ‘The effects of acute and prolonged CRAM supplementation on reaction time and subjective measures of focus and alertness in healthy college students.’ in Journal of the international society of sports nutrition, Volume 7, issue 39, December 2010. [Link]
“Results indicate that acute ingestion of CRAM can maintain reaction time, and subjective feelings of focus and alertness to both visual and auditory stimuli in healthy college students following exhaustive exercise… The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of acute and prolonged (4-weeks) ingestion of a supplement designed to improve reaction time and subjective measures of alertness, energy, fatigue, and focus...CRAM; α-glycerophosphocholine, choline bitartrate, phosphatidylserine, vitamins B3, B6, and B12, folic acid, L-tyrosine, anhydrous caffeine, acetyl-L-carnitine, and naringin… Reaction time significantly declined..”
Judelson, DA, et al, ‘Effect of chronic caffeine intake on choice reaction time, mood, and visual vigilance.’ in Physiology and behavior, Volume 85, Issue 5, August 2005, pp 629 - 634 [Link]
“The stimulatory effects of acute caffeine intake on choice reaction time, mood state, and visual vigilance are well established.”