Caffeine

There are many myths surrounding caffeine, caffeine intake and the risk associated with its use, so here I will try to explain and dispel some of those myths.

What is caffeine?

Chemically speaking, pure caffeine is a plant-based alkaloid which stimulates the central nervous system of any creature that ingests it. In nature, caffeine serves as a form of pest control for certain plants such as cacao trees, coffee shrubs, yuba mate and tea trees. The caffeine causes insects and other pests to collapse from the effects of over-stimulation.
Caffeine, also known as guaranine, mateine or theine depending on the source plant, is considered a psychoactive drug. However, it has not been designated a controlled substance, so its use in teas, coffees and sodas is not illegal. Coffee beans contain a significant amount of caffeine, while tea leaves and yuba mate plants contain less. Cocoa beans also contain caffeine, but they contain much higher levels of another alkaloid called theobromine.
When caffeine is removed from the source plant and reduced to its most natural state, it forms a white powder. This powdered form of caffeine is actually very bitter, which is why many beverages containing caffeine also contain copious amounts of sugar or other sweeteners.


Origins


The Coffee Science Information Centre reports the coffee tree probably originated in the province of Kaffa, in the area known today as Ethiopia. There is no real evidence to show when or how it was first discovered that a brew could be made from the bean (or seed) within the fruit of the coffee bush, but it is thought that before coffee was ever enjoyed as a drink; native people may have chewed the ripe berries and beans as a food. There is evidence that coffee trees were first cultivated on monastery gardens over 1,000 years ago in order to keep monks awake during long periods of prayer, with commercial cultivation following after that.


Caffeine the stimulant


Caffeine acts as a mild stimulant of the central nervous system, and as such can have an effect on sleep, mental performance, alertness and anxiety.

 Sleep. If you have any trouble sleeping caffeine consumption should cease after lunch. This is because caffeine has a half life of around six hours, meaning that six hours after you last coffee (tea, cocoa etc) half the amount of caffeine will still be in your bloodstream. If you have a cup of coffee in the evening when the body start producing melatonin (the sleep hormone) the stimulant effect will trigger the release of cortisol (the wake up hormone). This will release glycogen (sugars) into your bloodstream in readiness for daytime activity; in effect your body will think it is daytime, time to get up and start work activities.


Physical performance. Vanderbilt Education and Psychology reports that caffeine can help burn more fat and less carbohydrates for energy. Glycogen is the main fuel for muscles, but fat is the most abundant resource that the body uses for energy. Caffeine enters the body and forces the working muscles to utilize as much fat as possible. This delays the immediate depletion of glycogen.
This means that in the first 15 minutes of exercise caffeine has the potential to reduce the loss of glycogen by 50%. When this happens, the saved glycogen can be used for the remainder of the workout where normally it would be entirely depleted.
Vanderbilt also suggests that caffeine may have the ability to strengthen muscle contractions. By transferring calcium, sodium and potassium in the cells, membrane permeability increases. This in turn results in more powerful muscle contractions.


In the 2000 Olympics a urinary test above 12mg/litre (8 cups of coffee) was perceived by the IOC as a deliberate attempt to gain an advantage over the competition. Therefore caffeine is seen by the IOC as any other illegal drug.


Cancer and Health


There have been many myths surrounding the link between caffeine and cancer – including urological, pancreatic and breast cancer. In addition caffeine has been linked to heart disease, high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems. There is currently so proven link to any of these problems. Indeed the British Coffee Association reports that caffeine may even protect against liver cancer.
Caffeine although not proven to be a link to any of the above health problems can cause (apart from sleep deprivation) nausea, cramping, anxiety, fatigue and headaches. Factors such as metabolism, consumption and frequency of use have to be taken into account, so how much is enough?
Both the Coffee Science Information Centre and British Coffee Association (BCA) suggest that 4-5 cups of coffee per day is perfectly safe for the general population and may even have some health benefits.

Pregnancy

The BCA website states that the Food Standards Agency, The Centre for Pregnancy Nutrition and The Royal College of Midwives are agreed that 2-3 cups of coffee is safe during pregnancy and breast-feeding and that there is no research to suggest otherwise.
Their factsheet can be found here and contains information regarding levels of caffeine in instant coffee, filtered coffee, chocolate, energy drinks etc. This is important reading beause above a certain level there is a greater risk of miscarriage.


Coffee facts

To make a roated pound of coffee it takes around 2000 Arabica coffee cherries. With two beans per cherry- this means it takes 4000 beans per pound of coffee.

 It takes 42 beans to make an espresso.

 Sir Francis Bacon once said "The drink that comforteth the brain and heart and help digestion".

Sir James Mackintosh said "The powers of a man's mind are directly proportionate to the quantity of coffee he drinks".

Edit.

I have just had some interesting statistics given to me by a friend who posts on the Martial Arts forum Martial Arts Planet 

It is in regard to the half life of caffeine and was taken from Wikipedia.

The biological half-life of caffeine is the time required for the body to eliminate one-half of the total amount of caffeine. It varies widely among individuals according to such factors as age, liver function, level of caffeine-metabolising enzymes in the liver, pregnancy, medication and habits such as smoking.

* In healthy adults, caffeine's half-life is approximately 4.9 hours.

* In women taking oral contraceptives, this is increased to 5–10 hours.

* In pregnant women the half-life is roughly 9–11 hours.

* Caffeine can accumulate in individuals with severe liver disease, increasing its half-life up to 96 hours.

* In infants and young children, the half-life may be longer than in adults; the half-life in a newborn baby may be as long as 30 hours.

* Other factors such as smoking can shorten caffeine's half-life.

Post by Simon Sheridan

Entrainment

Entrainment is defined as the tendency for two oscillating bodies to lock into phase so that they vibrate in harmony. It is also defined as a synchronization of two or more rhythmic cycles. The principle of entrainment is universal, appearing in chemistry, pharmacology, biology, medicine, psychology, sociology, astronomy, architecture and more. Christian Huygens, a notable physicist, coined the term entrainment after he noticed, in 1666, that two pendulum clocks had moved into the same swinging rhythm, subsequent experiments duplicated this process.

Entrainment is a function of resonance, or the frequency an object wants to vibrate. We all function to a certain rhythm. Our heart beat, respiration and brain waves are entrained to each other. If you slow down your breathing, your heart rate will drop and your brain wave pattern will alter. The opposite effect is to calm the mind and the heart rate and respiration will drop. Standing meditation and Tai Chi can help in this respect.

With entrainment you can change the natural oscilating pattern of one object and replace it with the oscilating pattern of another.

It is easy for two different people to become entrained. Females who work in the same office for any long period of time can start to share their menstrual cycle. A similar example may be the entrainment between a parent and their child.


You may have noticed effects of entrainment yourself. If you have spent any time with a person mentally weaker than you, your stronger brainwave will actually slow down, while their brain wave will speed up. The outcome is you will get entrained down to their level. This is why you sometimes go home at the end of the day mentally tired.

Electrical equipment also resonates a certain frequency, so time spent in an office for example can leave you entrained and feeling weak.

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT SLEEP PATTERNS

Chances are during the day (and night) you will be exposed to low frequency electromagnetic energies. Power lines, electrical circuits in your walls, ceilings and floors and electrical appliances such as electric blankets and TV’s all emit such energies. This electromagnetic pollution can disrupt natural sleep / wake cycles.


Brainwave entrainment refers to the brain's electrical responce to sensory stimulation, such as light. Entrainment is also linked to even greater cycles such as lunar cycles. We are nearly all entrained to sleep when it is dark and wake when it is light for example.

When the brain receives a sensory signal it emits an electrical charge, this charge runs into and through the brain to become what we see and hear.


When the brain receives a rhythmic stimulus it is reproduced in the brain as an electrical impulse. If this stimulus is fast enough it can resemble the natural rhythm of the brain, called a brainwave. Brainwaves are related to mental state. You could not normally go to sleep for example listening to AC/DC, but could listening to the calming sound of the sea.

WHAT TO DO
 
Try unplugging all electrical items in your bedroom, including clocks, TV’s and lights. If your sleep quality improves, rearrange your bedroom so that all electrical items are as far away from your bed as possible. Also do not use an electric blanket.


OTHER FORMS OF ENTRAINMENT


Doctors and psychologists have discovered that you can become entrained or synchronized to a dysfunctional schedule in as little as 7-21 days. This means that if you stay up to midnight for one to three weeks in a row, your internal body clock will become entrained to wait until midnight to start reducing cortisol output and increasing melatonin output (explained in ourprevious blog on Circadian Rhythm). If your body gets used to going to bed late and you then decide to get to bed earlier one night, you’ll probably have a hard time falling asleep. Now your faced with the task of entraining your system to release your sleepy-time chemicals early enough so that you can get to sleep on time for a full cycle of physical and mental repair. In addition, if you work in an environment with other people, your heartbeat will show up in the brain waves of any weaker people in the group. In other words, you get entrained down to their level. This is one of the reasons at the end of the day you go home mentally tired.

The different types of brainwaves are as follows: -


• Gamma (100 - 38) HZ (Hertz=cycles per second)


• Beta (38 - 15) HZ


• Alpha (14 - 8) HZ


• Theta (7 - 4) HZ


• Delta (3 - 0.5) HZ.


Gamma Brainwaves


Not much is know (in comparison to other brainwaves) about Gamma waves. They have been seen in states of both physical and mental peak performance, periods of high concentration and schizophrenia.


Beta Brainwaves


Normal waking consciousness is when beta brainwavwes would be observed.


Anctious, busy or active thinking produces these brain wave patterns.


 Alpha Brainwaves


Alpha brainwaves are seen when we are relaxed, daydreaming or visulaizing.


Sensing is the word here. Hearing, tasting and smell can stimulate alpha waves.


Theta Brainwaves


Subconscious, dreaming (REM Sleep), hypnosis and meditation produces Theta waves. It is connected with intuition and creativity.

Delta Brainwaves


These are the lowest frequency waves and represent unconsciousness or dreamless deep sleep.


Binaural Beats


We now know that our brain operates at certain frequencies at certain times of the day, depending on our mood, our surroundings, our company, stimulation to light and so on. It is possible to alter the state of mind by means such as meditation, but an ever more popular method is binaural beats.


We all know that music can affect our mood. Rock concerts leave you buzzing, whereas a folk concert might leave you more mellow.


It is now possible to obtain very low frequencies from a fairly high sound, so if the frequencies of two sound sources are applied seperately, one to each ear, a binaural beat frequency is created. What is heard is not the two seperate sound (frequencies), but a frequency difference between the two sounds. It is like playing the number 1 in one ear and number 3 in the other and hearing number 2.


So by listening (through headphones) to certain frequencies it is possible to alter your brainwaves, whether that be higher frequencies to stimulate thought processes, or lower frequencies to help relaxation or sleep.


I use binaural beats at work. If I feel mentally drained I use a certain frequency for 10 minutes to perk myself up. If a feel a headache coming on I can usually stop it by using another frequency.


Binaural beats are not just a buzzing in your ear. There are some good ones that can be downloaded (some for free) on I-Tunes. They are mixed in with calming sounds of the ocean, bird song, thunder and rain and can nearly all be customised to suit you.



Certainly worth a look.

 I now need a rest as I have been typing for ages and have become entrained.

Post by Simon Sheridan

Circadian Rhythm

ARE YOU GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP

It is all to easy when training is not going so well to blame diet, training techniques, age, time factors, lack of equipment, places or partners to train with and so on. But how many of us look at or understand our sleep patterns, or how a good sleep pattern can benefit our health and cure those aches and pains that even the doctor could not help?

Years ago when we all lived outside we would have gone to bed when it was dark and got up with the sun. Those living a tribal existance will still be doing just that, as will many wild animals. This is the natural sleep/wake process, but why and how does it occur?

Circadian Rhythms are physical, mental and behavioral changes that result from the movements of the sun and planets following a 24 hour cycle and affecting nearly all living creatures including plants. Circadian Rhythms are produced by natural factors within the body, but they are also affected by signals from the environment. Light is the main cue influencing Circadian Rhythms, turning on or off genes that control an organisms' internal clocks.

The above illustration is an overview of the human circadian biological clock with some physiological parameters. Many of our hormones are produced in tune with the cycle of the sun. Stress activating hormones cortisol are produced as the sun rises and peak around mid-morning. As the day progresses, the level of stress hormones decrease. The body then begins to increase production of growth and repair hormones melatonin as the sun goes down. Our bodies are designed to wind down from sunset until about 10.00 pm, when sleep and physical repair should begin. Psychological repair takes place predominantly from about 2.00 am to 6.00am.


DISRUPTED SLEEP/WAKE CYCLES


A disrupted sleep/wake cycle can lead to adrenal fatigue. The adrenal glands produce a hormone called cortisol, which is an activating hormone released in response to stress. This activates the body in preparation to work or movement. In addition, if you go to bed after midnight you’ve already missed two hours of your psychological repair cycle. This long term can lead to musculoskeletal injuries, headaches, as sagging personality and neurological disorders.


TIPS FOR A GOOD SLEEP/WAKE CYCLE


1. Get to sleep by 10.30 pm. Wind down before you go to sleep. Going to bed at 10.00 pm and reading until 11.00pm does not count.
2. Minimize exposure to bright lights, two hours before going to bed (including TV.)Try dimmer switches or candles.
3. Sleep in a room that in completely dark.
4. Avoid caffeine, sugar and nicotine after lunch. These are stimulants which trigger the release of cortisol.
5. Drink plenty of water. If dehydrated the body thinks it is in stress. Again more stress hormones, which are awakening hormones.

Another thing to understand is that the body cannot tell the difference between different types of stress. So if it is bills you cannot pay, an arguement with a partner of a fall down the stairs, it is all just stress as far as your body is concerened. So stress releases cortisol, which we now know as the wake up hormone, therefore it is of upmost importance that a calm frame of mind is reached before going to sleep.

Circadian Rhythm is closely linked to Entrainment which will be the subject of our next blog.

Post by Simon Sheridan

Five Ways of Attack

There are many physical and psychological components to attacking movements and these components can be broken down into categories such as simple attack, compound attack or counter-attack.
The intelligent fighter has the ability to change tactics during the course of a fight and the choice of what weapon to use will be dictated by the opponent. It is no good for example a boxer continually throwing a jab against an opponent proficient in blocking or parrying, tactics such as feinting will need to be used to draw a movement from the opponent.

Below are examples of the 'Five Ways of Attack', a term which will be familiar to fans of Bruce Lee, as they are mentioned in his book Tao of Jeet Kune Do.

The Five Ways of Attack are used extensively within the UK Quanfa Academy.

Single Direct Attack (SDA)

Single direct attack is simply punching or kicking an opponent at the precise moment of an opening. Single direct attack requires mastery of timing, range and speed and can be used as a pre-cursor to attack by combination. Visual recognition is important in understanding which and when each punch or kick should be utilised.

Attack by Combination (ABC)

An attack by combination may be defined as a series of two or more attacking motions that flow from one to another naturally. Utilizing the hands and feet either separately or in combination, they are compound attacks, with each opening creating another. Although used in conjunction with feints and all other forms of attack such as a single direct attack, in attack by combination each blow in the series in intended to score. This requires economical motion, tight defence, speed, surprise and determination in execution.

Hand Immobilisation Attack (HIA) or Attack by Trapping.

Hand immobilisation (or trapping) tools are necessary when the opponent blocks your single direct attack creating a barrier. In order to continue your attack, you either have to change the line of the attack or remove the barrier. By trapping the barrier becomes immobilised and a new line created for a renewed attack. In addition the opponent is prevented from using the trapped arm (or leg) again.

Attack by Drawing (ABD)

Attack by drawing is essentially counter fighting. It is initiated by `baiting` an opponent into a commitment. It is a premeditated action and its success depends on luring the opponent into attacking the opening being offered. Subtlety is an essential ingredient, as it must not appear to be a deliberate error or the opponent will not take the opening. Attack by drawing can also be offensive actions by making the opponent react in a set manner to develop your own attack.

Progressive Indirect Attack (PIA)

Progressive indirect attack differs from attack by combination in that, in PIA, only the final blow is intended to score. Progressive indirect attack uses feints and false attacks to draw a reaction from the opponent, to induce the execution of a block or other defensive motion, then deceive the defensive move to score on another line of attack. The initial feint or false attack should bridge the distance by at least a half, leaving your final motion only the last half of the distance. Progressive indirect attack is a single forward motion without withdrawal.

All of the above does not just relate to boxing, they are ways of attack so can be used within any art, Muay Thai, Karate or weapons based arts such as Eskrima.

Post by Simon Sheridan.

Hubud

Instructors David Arnold and Yousif Nahab demonstrating Hubud drill.
This drill can be done either with a weapon as demonstrated here, or just with empty hands.