Americans have a love-or-hate relationship with daylight saving time. Changing our clocks forward can be a time of joy and a sign that spring is near, but it also can bring feelings of irritability and annoyance in response to “losing” a precious hour of sleep. Many of us look to various ways—including consuming caffeinated foods and beverages—to cope with the time change. To be sure, caffeine can help us power through our day and make the most of all the extra outdoor activities, such as gardening, hiking, and other forms of exercise, that become easier with that extra hour of daylight. Caffe ..read more

Caffeine quite literally keeps Americans up and moving, with approximately 85 percent of Americans consuming a daily coffee, tea, soda, or energy drink. However, a lot of confusion still surrounds the caffeine conversation. This year, as March rolls “in like a lion,” many of us will harness the power of caffeine to help us power through our annual spring cleaning and support our active lifestyles. Coincidentally, March is also Caffeine Awareness Month—the perfect time to tidy up lingering public confusion surrounding caffeine and wipe away any myths that still linger. Myth #1: Pregnant women s ..read more

It’s a brand-new day! To power through your to-do list, you make a beeline towards your coffee machine as soon as your feet hit the floor. While counting on the burst of energy your first sip of coffee promises, you begin your first task with confidence. As noted in the IFIC Foundation’s 2020 Food and Health Survey of 1,000 U.S. households, many Americans share this routine: reaching for their preferred caffeine source soon after they wake up. Caffeine has long been a favored energizer (for centuries, actually!), and while the variety of ways to con ..read more

September 29th was International Coffee Day, and I for one am here to celebrate. As a long-time coffee lover and current Seattleite, I find that one day doesn’t seem enough to pay homage to this delightful morning beverage. I can have my own mini celebration each morning as I push the plunger in my French press and savor that first sip. While coffee is my personal favorite, humans across the world choose to caffeinate in many different ways. Taste preferences, time of day, family structure, social cues and many other factors ..read more

Picture it: Saturday morning, you’ve found the perfect table in your favorite coffee shop, book in one hand, warm latte in another, the smell of freshly roasted coffee beans in the air. Sounds cozy, but have you ever wondered how the modern coffee shop evolved to this point? Coffee has been around for centuries, and so has the communal gathering place, but the coffee world wasn’t always what it is now. Coffee’s Early Days Humans have been enjoying coffee for over two thousand years. Experts suspect coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia in the first century CE. It wasn’t until a millennium an ..read more

With the plethora of traditional ways (and alternative ways) in which caffeine is consumed, it would seem that almost every type of food and drink product one can imagine (from beverages to ready-to-eat products to dietary supplements to medications and even mouth fresheners) can contain caffeine. As new caffeinated products emerge, caffeine has been promoted as an energy-boosting solution for many of us, from busy employees to the fitness-focused crowd. Today, we peer further into the caffeinated beverage category and move beyond the traditional steaming cup of hot coffee into the world ..read more

One thing most people can agree on is that caffeine works! In fact, 85% of Americans reach for caffeine as part of their daily ritual. But how exactly does caffeine get the job done? How does the body process and get rid of it? And why can one person enjoy an espresso after dinner and sleep like a baby, while others steer clear of caffeine after lunch time? To help lay out the facts, we’ve compiled the top seven things you should know about how caffeine works in the body. The absorption of caffeine in the body can take 15­‑45 minutes. This is in part due to the fact that caffeine is amphiphil ..read more

Let’s face it—coffee has gotten complicated. Hearing someone place an order at a coffee shop can often sound like a foreign language. But the seeming complexity of coffee nowadays isn’t stopping Americans from drinking it. According to the National Coffee Association, in 2018 the U.S. per-capita coffee consumption was just over 2 cups per day. And the sales of specialty coffees have been increasing about 20 percent per year, with half the U.S. population consuming beverages such as espresso or iced coffee. When you look at the variety of coffee options, how does it change from preparation to p ..read more

Tea has evolved in many ways since it was first produced in China about 5,000 years ago. According to legend, tea was discovered accidentally by Shen Nung, a Chinese emperor who was pleasantly surprised by the flavor of his drink after tea leaves fell into his pot of boiling water. Since then, tea has turned into one of the most popular beverages on earth. With 84 billion servings of tea consumed in the U.S. in 2018, many people are turning to tea for variety and as an alternative to sugary drinks. There are four main categories of tea: black, oolong, green and white. While they may seem very ..read more

Coffee is so famous for its caffeine content that it’s easy to forget it is not the only source of the world’s favorite pick-me-up. With over 60 caffeinated plant species around the world, caffeine occurs naturally in many sources beyond even tea and cocoa.1 What’s more, it is often added to a wide range of consumer products, from supplements, workout drinks and over-the-counter medications to sodas, chewing gums and body lotions. The number of choices can be overwhelming, and regardless of the source, it’s important to know where caffeine can be found and what to look for on a label. Below ar ..read more