Undoubtedly, coffee has an effect on people's bodies and minds. When we read books on toxicology, we find that they say: "According to current understanding, caffeine primarily acts on the cerebral cortex of the central nervous system, reducing the feeling of fatigue and drowsiness by increasing alertness, attention, and associative ability. The desire for impulse and conversation in the human body is gently enhanced, which promotes a greater need for social interaction. Overall, this pleasant feeling can translate into enthusiasm, making coffee drinking a hard-to-break habit—but without the significant danger of addiction. In other words, this habit can be self-controlled." How fascinating such a medical description is! It's as if saying: "Coffee can make people alert and bring them a good mood—wouldn't you like a cup?"
But at the same time, coffee can also bring a certain dependency. When coffee lovers want to reduce their coffee intake or stop drinking it altogether, this addiction becomes apparent. At the latest, after drinking the last cup of coffee and not drinking it anymore, certain symptoms will appear, such as headaches, fatigue, and even a mild feeling of nausea—these are clear signs of addiction. These symptoms will gradually disappear after a few days.
After stopping coffee consumption, so-called "weekend migraines" often occur. This condition mainly affects those who usually drink coffee at work but do not drink coffee or caffeinated beverages at home. Therefore, some people may seek home remedies for what could be considered "family problems." (A family problem is that there is no headache when not with family at work, but when with family, the head inexplicably starts to hurt.) Of course, it can be predicted that such home remedies are definitely ineffective. So what makes people, in the face of a headache that makes them grimace, still unreservedly maintain their fondness for this drink? It happens that tea-loving Japanese have solved the puzzle for us: the refreshing feeling people experience comes from caffeine, which can increase the activation of serotonin. Serotonin acts as a messenger in the nervous system—simply put, it transmits good news. That comfortable feeling we have mentally is closely linked to serotonin. Therefore, depression is often associated with an imbalance in serotonin. When serotonin levels drop, mood also drops. The amount of serotonin is related to the intensity of light, which also explains why some people must have a cup of coffee in the morning to get their mood "into gear." When the light fades again, it's time for our afternoon coffee. From a biochemical perspective, we are artificially extending the day.
Therefore, it is no coincidence that people in Scandinavia consume the most coffee in Europe. On the contrary, residents of the Mediterranean region have the lowest coffee consumption in Europe. To feel the effect of coffee on mood under the bright sun of Southern Europe, it is necessary to increase the concentration of coffee—this led to the birth of the espresso pot. In Sweden, a milder coffee is sufficient because it extends the feeling of the day. And for this reason, the per capita coffee consumption in Sweden is several times that of Italians or Greeks. Therefore, instead of calling coffee a black poison, we might regard it as a mild remedy with few side effects that can fight depression...