Coffee-O' Clock

Coffee-O’ Clock

Why your brain craves coffee

My body rhythms to the time of coffee

So is it Coffee-O’ Clock yet?

I have a song somewhere in the background

Flowers and poetry are also along

But I have pending projects on my desk

And my brain needs deadlines to be set

I hope it is Coffee-O’ Clock yet!

Julie was mad at me, and this makes me sad

She isn’t responding to my calls

Did she get sick? I am worried now

Should I call again or should I just text?

Oh please! Is it Coffee-O’ Clock yet!

Lunch was heavy, no wonder I am sleepy

“Ray, meeting at 3”, my boss startled me

Mercy please, I didn’t get a good night, but who cares

I need to be alert and awake

I think yes it should be Coffee-O’ Clock yet!

Evening’s gone, but it was worth

I need a break from my work

But now that work-mail makes me weak

I’ll have to work and skip the sleep

No no, I can’t hold my sleep any longer

May be I’ll just work for an hour

And I make my alarms set

So now, is it Coffee-O’ Clock yet?

Coffee is the most commonly consumed circadian psychoactive substance worldwide. Caffeine- the active ingredient in coffee interacts with our central nervous system mainly through adenosine receptors. Adenosine is a neurotransmitter which promotes sleep when melatonin is high. Caffeine molecules compete with adenosine and when bound to receptors promotes activation of neurons and boost your brain functioning keeping you awake and alert. Caffeine also builds up our adrenaline and serotonin reserve. It prevents dopamine getting re-absorbed in the blood supply and hence, it stabilizes your mood by killing that ‘worry-monster’ and making you ‘feel-good’ chemically. Caffeine is said to be a potent stimulant since it sparks the ‘brain entropy’. This causes brain networks to fire and connect more efficiently which makes your brain process information at faster rate. More importantly it acts as a ‘Clutter-clearer’, cleaning your chaos, it helps you gain focus. Hence, coffee appears to improve cognitive performance and memory. Despite all the rewards, over consumption of caffeine or coffee-addiction is harmful to health and can cause circadian-rhythm disruption by disturbing your natural sleep-wake cycle. Health and Disease unit have already marked ‘Caffeine-use disorder’ as a prevailing health issue.

Lastly, as ‘moderation is the key’, I hope your body-watch strikes just twice at coffee-O’ clock!