Natural Caffeine VS. Pure caffeine powder

Introduction

By drinking guayusa tea you absorb natural caffeine and put an end to side effects and intolerance! In this article we describe why natural caffeine is more pleasant and has a longer effect than pure caffeine powder and also go into the different effect curves of caffeine.

For more information about caffeine, such as the general effects, advantages and disadvantages, as well as possible overdose , read the linked article as well. You can also find a comparison of the most well-known caffeinated drinks in our free e-book or in our slightly less extensive blog post .

Contents

1. Pure caffeine or natural caffeine?
2. Pure caffeine powder
   1. Advantages
   2. Caffeine intolerance from pure caffeine powder
   3. Caffeine Duration & Curve
3. Natural caffeine
   1. Tolerance of natural caffeine
   2. Natural caffeine effect time & effect curve
4. Conclusion

1. Pure caffeine or natural caffeine?

Many people these days turn to pure caffeine powder in supplements and energy drinks to help them perform better at work and in sports.

Caffeine was even on the Olympic Committee's doping list for several years and was only removed from the list of banned substances in 2004.

The performance-enhancing effect of caffeine is still undisputed and has been proven in many tests. More on this in our post on caffeine benefits .

However, the question now arises as to which type of caffeine (natural or pure) is best suited to avoid intolerance, to ensure the longest possible action curve and to benefit from the positive properties without provoking possible side effects .

2. Pure Caffeine Powder

When caffeine is extracted from coffee, tea, mate, guarana, guayusa or other caffeinated plants , it is usually present as pure caffeine powder.

In addition to pure caffeine powder extracts, there are also extracts that represent a broad spectrum of active ingredients from the respective plant. However, these are rather rare because their production is significantly more expensive.

If your supplements, pills or powders contain the ingredient "caffeine" or "natural caffeine", "natural caffeine from green tea/coffee/etc.", you can be sure that it is not a spectrum of active ingredients , but pure caffeine powder is!

2.1. Advantages

Pure caffeine powder has its advantages. Because we already know so much about the active ingredient, we can use it in a targeted manner without also obtaining the effect of another substance.

Some advantages can be, for example, the following:

1. Fast effect
2. Strong effect
3. Easy to consume
4. Dispensable

A pure caffeine powder can be easily dosed knowing it is 100% pure. Which is why it is used in the industry for numerous foods such as drinks, boosters, snacks and supplements.

The fast-acting effect can be used very precisely before the training session and dosed in this way, especially in sports. In this way, a presumably optimal result can be achieved.

Plus, of course, it's easier to pop a pill than make a guayusa - albeit a lot less enjoyable! If you practice real biohacking , you can find out your own effect curve and thus the effective time of caffeine in your body with enough self-experiments. More on that later!

2.2. Caffeine intolerance from pure caffeine powder

However, pure caffeine powder has some intolerances, especially compared to natural caffeine, which have a correspondingly negative effect on our health.

Some of these caffeine intolerances can include:

1. overdose
2. tachycardia
3. tremors
4. Loss of concentration due to erratic thoughts
5. stomach problems
6. problems getting air
7. Increased stress levels – mentally and physically
8. depression
9. Panic Attacks
10. short effect

Especially inexperienced and at the same time ambitious athletes like to overdo it with the intake of boosters. A caffeine overdose is achieved faster than you think with pure powder and the consequences are unpleasant.

A desired increase in performance, whether mental or physical, quickly turns into a weakness. And caffeine's normally short-lived effects translate into hours of racing heart, tremors, sweating and chest tightness that makes it difficult to breathe. We go into more detail about many of these side effects here .

Of course, these intolerances can also occur with natural caffeine, but the probability is much lower.

2.3. Caffeine Duration & Curve

The time of action of caffeine is often equated with the half-life. However, since everyone reacts slightly differently to caffeine, the half-life says nothing about the effect, but only about the amount still in the body.

Someone who never consumes caffeine will have an extreme effect after a 160 mg soda, probably even a caffeine intolerance. Even after some time, when only 80 mg are left in the body, this person will still clearly notice the effect. In comparison, another person who consumes 2 to 3 such sodas a day no longer notices anything at 80 mg and needs the next soda!

This is because our bodies gradually build up a tolerance to caffeine.

The official half-life of caffeine is 4 to 5 hours. After these 5 hours, the amount consumed in the body has halved. After another 5 hours again and so on. However, the fluctuation range is also officially from 1.5 hours to 9.5 hours. So it depends a lot on the person. A caffeine effect curve is therefore not that easy to determine.

Below we show you a caffeine effect curve for 2 hours, 5 hours and 8 hours. Caffeine intolerance can also affect people differently. Studies show that even more than 400 mg per day can cause problems. An amount exceeding 1,000 mg is very likely to result in severe toxic effects.

3. Natural caffeine

A caffeine intolerance with natural caffeine is much less likely than with pure caffeine, but it cannot be ruled out here either. Anyone who drinks 3 liters of coffee will most likely experience the same unpleasant effects as someone who drinks 700 mg of caffeine powder.

3.1. Tolerance of natural caffeine

The other ingredients and active ingredients of the plants make an enormous difference. For example, theobromine can B. complement and prolong the effects of caffeine. L-theanine has a positive-antagonistic effect by reducing heart palpitations and tremors and sharpening focus. Theophylline has a positive effect on respiration and oxygen uptake, and antioxidants help the body deal with oxidative stress.

Natural caffeine has many advantages due to this combined effect. Note that not all drinks have the same active ingredients. L-theanine, for example, is only found in guayusa, the amount of antioxidants varies enormously and is 14 times lower in coffee than in guayusa.

When comparing pure caffeine powder and natural caffeine, natural caffeine has the following basic benefits that make it more tolerable:

1. Slow release effect
2. Long-lasting caffeine effect time
3. Antioxidant Effects
4. Less chance of tremors & tachycardia
5. Stomach problems are less common
6. Overdose unlikely

The enormous advantage of natural, bound caffeine is clearly that it has a more lasting effect and your body is not put into a state of stress. You have to assume that you will not feel an effect immediately after consumption, but the effect will spread over a longer period of time.

Here, too, you need to be well informed. The caffeine in coffee, for example, is only bound to a few other substances. In Guayusa, on the other hand, there are many active ingredients that have a supporting effect. You can read about exactly how Guayusa works and what the differences are to other stimulants in our free, detailed e-book “ Stimulant comparison ” or in our blog post on the effects of Guayusa .

3.2. Natural caffeine effect time & effect curve

In contrast to pure caffeine powder, the curve of action with natural caffeine, which is bound to many other active ingredients, is even more difficult to determine.

We have therefore presented you with various caffeinated drinks and their perceived caffeine effect time and associated effect curve below.

4. Conclusion

In our research on caffeine and during our many years of experience with caffeinated drinks, we have repeatedly encountered the many intolerances to caffeine.

In the majority of cases, however, these negative side effects came from the consumption of artificial pure caffeine powder in the form of pills, tablets, energy drinks, etc... We have almost never had any reports of undesirable effects from our Guayusa tea , in which the caffeine is in a natural form and bound to other active ingredients.

Studies also often emphasize the caffeine intolerance of pure caffeine and expressly warn of caution and careful use.

We therefore recommend reducing the consumption of pure caffeine powder to a minimum or avoiding it altogether and using a natural caffeine source instead.