Caffeine’s reputation as a stimulant is overblown

I saw this going viral:

People are overly inclined to overestimate the claimed physiological effects of caffeine. Its reputation as a stimulant is way overblown. As I discuss earlier, when people claim to feel a buzz or a ‘pick me up’ from a caffeinated drink, such as coffee, tea, or soda, it’s almost certainly from all the sugar and or fat added to it (calories), not the caffeine. This is a prime example of confusing correlation with causation.

It’s also why sugar-free , zero calorie energy drinks are not nearly as effective or inert compared to their sugar-laden counterparts. I can personally attest this being the case. I would just drink and drink cups of black coffee and not feel anything except full (in a bloated, unsatisfied sense, and soon having to go to the bathroom), unlike a candy bar , which instantly hits the spot. I remember thinking, “When am I going to feel stimulated after drinking all this coffee? The only thing I am feeling is my stomach and bladder filling up.”

My hunch is, at some point, the body or brain becomes habituated to the caffeine, whereas this does not occur with fatty or sugary food. The brain reliably and consistently registers food as a novelty experience, but quickly gets bored of caffeine. People can eat huge amounts of junk food in a single sitting, and still want more soon later. From an evolutionary perspective, this makes sense: if people got bored of food too readily, people would starve or fail to eat enough to protect against famine or other scarcity.

If caffeine were an effective stimulant, there would be no huge market (legal and underground) for actual stimulants, such as amphetamines. Or cigarettes and other highly carcinogenic tobacco products. At Starbucks, everyone would just order the black coffee for the caffeine, instead of the calorie-dense sugary drinks. In reality, it’s the opposite: black coffee is among the least popular choices and never promoted compared to the much more popular Frappuccino® and other fat-filled concoctions. So we can clearly see from people’s consumption choices that caffeine, in its own right, is not that effective.