How much coffee is too much coffee?
多少咖啡是太多咖啡？
Legend holds that kaffa, or coffee, was discovered in western Ethiopia by a man who noticed that his goats were more active after eating coffee beans. Today, caffeine is the most widely used brain stimulant in the world. Caffeine works by blocking another chemical in your brain, called adenosine, from bonding to receptors on your neurons. Adenosine is an inhibitor that keeps many brain regions in check, including one called reticular activating system, which basically amplifies brain activity. When adenosine is blocked, this region goes into overdrive, sending a wake-up call to the rest of your brain. So actually, coffee doesn't stimulate your brain. It just suppresses the part that makes you drowsy.
傳說kaffa，或是咖啡，是在衣索比亞西部，由一名注意到他的羊隻在吃了咖啡豆之後更加活潑的男子所發現的。今日，咖啡因是世界上最廣泛使用的大腦興奮劑。咖啡因起作用是透過阻礙另一種在你腦中的化學物質，叫做腺甘酸，使之無法與你神經元上的受器連結。腺甘酸是一種保持腦部許多區域受到控制的抑制劑，包括一個叫腦部網狀刺激系統的區域，它基本上會強化腦部活動。當腺甘酸受到阻礙，這個區域開始變得特別活躍，發送morning call給腦部其他地方。所以事實上，咖啡並沒有刺激你的腦部。它只是抑制了會讓你感到昏昏欲睡的那部分。
Is caffeine addictive? Some scientists think so. But it's not as bad as other drugs, because it doesn't strongly affect the dopamine pathways related to addiction. Your brain does learn to balance the caffeine though, which is why stopping cold can be a real headache.
咖啡因會上癮嘛？有些科學家認為會。但它不像其他藥物一樣有害，因為它並沒有強烈地影響與成癮有關的多巴胺通路。你的腦袋的確還是會學著去平衡咖啡因，也就是為什麼突然戒掉咖啡會有嚴重頭痛。
And while the equivalent of a hundred cups of coffee can kill you, studies have found that in moderation, it may help protect against Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. So perhaps our craving for coffee isn't all that bad.
雖然與一百杯咖啡等量的東西會殺了你，但研究發現只要適當，它可能會幫助預防阿茲海默症及帕金森氏症。所以也許我們對咖啡的渴望不全都是糟的。
- 「抑制、使受控制」- Keep In Check
Adenosine is an inhibitor that "keeps many brain regions in check"...
腺甘酸是一種保持腦部許多區域受到控制的抑制劑... - 「突然停止、突然終止」- Stop Cold
Your brain does learn to balance the caffeine though, which is why "stopping cold" can be a real headache.
你的腦袋的確還是會學著去平衡咖啡因，也就是為什麼突然戒掉咖啡會有嚴重頭痛。
