With finals looming ominously upon the horizon, the term "all nighter" is taking on ever greater significance for Hopkins students. Yet who among us has not spent a few hours or more quite accidentally passed out?
It's a fact -- our bodies weren't meant for the rigors that procrastinating students ask of them. Which is why we are provided with a wide array of academic performance enhancing substances.
The two most common examples around campus are various caffeinated beverages and Red Bull. But what exactly do these substances do to your body, and which is the best choice for getting through an all nighter?
We'll start with caffeine, or trimethylxanthine. Don't kid yourself, it is a drug, and an addictive one too. I can vouch for that from experience. If that doesn't surprise you, then consider that it's actually in the same family of drugs as cocaine and heroin.
Caffeine is a stimulant, but a passive one. Your body gets tired when your brain produces a hormone called adenosine. Adenosine then binds to receptors in your cells, telling them to be tired. Caffeine mimics adenosine, and binds to those receptors, but has no effect. So instead of getting tired, caffeine can give you a little jump start by kicking the adenosine molecules off their receptors.
A secondary effect caffeine has is stimulating the adrenal glands to produce adrenaline, giving an even greater short-term energy boost. The release of adrenaline is temporary, however, and this is why even though caffeine stays in your system for hours, the strongest effects might wear off much faster.
The last thing caffeine does to your body is cause the release of dopamine by the brain. Here is where it is similar to the harder drugs mentioned earlier. Dopamine has to do with the feeling of pleasure, and researchers believe this is the step that leads to caffeine addiction.
The problem with caffeine is that after the jolt wears off, you're left lethargic and tired, perhaps feeling even more exhausted than before. I've found that the best way to beat this is to take more caffeine just as you can feel the buzz wearing off.
One should note, this is not good for your body, and should not be repeated on a daily basis. After pulling an all nighter, you should strongly consider backing off from caffeinated substances for a day or two.
How do your standard beverages measure up in caffeine content? Coffee contains about 100 mg /6 ounces, with tea coming in at 70 mg/6 ounce cup. For the Cafe Q regulars out there, realize that a "Short" beverage is 8 ounces, "Tall" is 12, and "Grande" is 16. So a Grande drip coffee would contain just under 300 mg of caffeine. A single shot of espresso has about 100 mg in it.
Sodas come in pretty far behind that, ranging from the low 30s to mid 50s in mg/can. Jolt Cola measures in at 71 mg/can, about the same as a small cup of tea (surprised?).
Another source is Jolt chewing gum. It is advertised as two pieces equaling one cup of coffee, so that comes to about 50 mg per piece of gum.
Caffeine pills? The active ingredient in the popular "NoDoz" is caffeine, the exact same active ingredient as in every other caffeine pill. So don't pay twice as much for it. Anyway, the pills contain 200 mg of caffeine each.
I've never tried this method, but there's an old-school substitute to caffeine pills if you need a quick boost and don't have the time for coffee; a cup of instant coffee contains about 60-80 mg.
Red Bull contained about 80 mg/can. But in Red Bull, you are also consuming the stimulants taurine and glucuronolactone. If you're worried about health effects of these substances, the FDA has thus far issued no regulations upon the amounts of these substances which can be found in beverages.
So, if you have a few rough weeks ahead of you, here's my advice: Try to make it without stimulants of any sort for as long as possible. Your body does need sleep, and you are most productive when you get it. The whole bit about early to bed and early to rise carries a good amount of wisdom.
If you need some sort of stimulant, try taking it early in the day and let it work its way out of your system, so you can get a deep, restful sleep at night.
A 30-minute nap is supposed to have about the same beneficial effects as a 6 ounce cup of coffee, so try a short nap if you need a break. And try to sleep right before you pull an all nighter; it will prevent dosing and help keep you focused.
Finally, the more concentrated the substance you are taking, the faster it will hit you. A cup of coffee's beneficial effects last about 3-4 hours, whereas a shot of espresso only runs about 1-1.5.
Good luck in the coming weeks, and see you on D Level.
