Have you ever thought about Googling whether coffee is better than beer or not, or vice versa? I, too, became interested when I came across an infographic about Coffee vs. Beer.
Like other office drones, I usually start my day at work by dropping by the vending machine and getting my brew before anything else. I usually go for white coffee, but I also opt for cappuccino or 3-in-1 coffee (but most of the time it's white coffee) depending on the mood. Coffee fuels my brain, and I think the same goes for most people.
I also happen to drink beer, although not as much as I used to. And I can knock down a bottle or two during my lunch break and still be able to go back to work. You could say just like coffee, it gets me going too and makes me productive. (It won’t be the case of course, if drink one too many bottles.)
Which really benefits you -- drinking beer or coffee? Let’s find out!
Brain on Coffee = Focused, More Energy and More Productive
Coffee drinkers would actually agree with me on this one. Did you ever feel that you get more energy to do the things you need to do? You feel like the work that piled up for a week can be done in a day?
After drinking a cup, you feel more focused. You experience this effect within 5 minutes of drinking your coffee.
So how does coffee affect the brain?
Caffeine, one of the components of coffee, blocks adenosine receptors which prevents the adenosine from binding to its receptors. This tricks your brain into thinking that you got more energy. Adenosine works like a status monitor of the brain. When our energy is low, the brain slows down. When you do exercise and other intense work outs, you feel tired. And when adenosine binds with its adenosine receptor you will feel drowsy. Chemicals that increase the performance of your neural activity are working overtime when the adenosine receptors are blocked.
Brain on Beer = Think More Creatively
Coffee and beer are total opposites of each other. If coffee gives you more energy to finish a task, beer has an entirely different approach on how it stimulates your brain.
Beer, as we all know, can make one less focused and also decrease your working memory. But worry not because it can actually benefit you in a way that you can become more creative, UIC (University of Illinois in Chicago) researchers revealed.
Men that had a couple of beers were better at solving brain-teasers than sober ones. Half of the men were given two (2) pints of beer and the other half got nothing.
The men that were given beer solved 40% more of the problems given than their sober counterparts. What's more surprising is that they finished faster (12 sec) than non-drinkers (15.5 sec).
"We found at 0.07 BAC (blood alcohol content), people were worse at working memory tasks," Psychologist Jennifer Wiley reported on the FABBS (Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences) site. "But they were better at creative problem-solving tasks."
The mind works mysteriously. Sometimes it's good to be distracted because most creative stuff comes out when you are.
Coffee and Beer Prescription
Now that you read about how your brain functions when you consumed coffee or beer doesn't mean that you go drinking every single cup or bottle you laid your eyes on. Everything should always be consumed in moderation. There are also several problems you can run into if you consume too much of both beverages.
If you don't have any ideas yet, drink beer. If you already have everything planned out, drink coffee to execute it.
image credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wacsim/9066099430/ - Girls Drinking
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevesworldofphotos/6843629129/ - Pouring Beer
http://en.ilovecoffee.jp/posts/view/79 - Infographics
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