[This is the first in The King of Caffeine's own series on that Nectar of the Gods: Caffeine. Our guest writer and researcher is digging into those questions we have all asked ourselves. This first one will be a 3-part series on the sources of caffeine. Enjoy!]

Where does Caffeine come from?

What people think all caffeine comes from

Almost all Americans consume caffeine at some point during the day, every single day. When the morning rush hits the local starbucks everyone is there for coffee right, no they are there for the caffeine inside. Caffeine can be found in several products we consume everyday but do we actually know where caffeine comes from?

Well before you stop reading this and say “it comes from the cup/can of [insert drink here] I’m drinking, you might be surprised at what you read. Caffeine comes from several places some natural and some made in a lab. The most commonly known natural sources of caffeine come from the coffee bean the tea plant (Camelia Sinensis) and cocoa. If you drink soda then you are getting your caffeine from the Kola nut, get it Cola. If you’re a fan of energy drinks that’s Guarana

Guarana Berry plant

and it contains twice the amount of caffeine then a coffee bean. I will get into each one of these in more detail in the coming weeks.

Caffeine has been around forever, well no one actually knows when but as long as people have been drinking coffee and tea there’s been caffeine. In the early 1800’s Caffeine made its way to a lab and by around 1900 caffeine was made synthetically. Though it’s not common it’s usually synthesized from dimethylurea and malonic acid. It’s also being used in the medical field for a variety of things since it directly affects the central nervous system.

So to answer the questions caffeine comes from several different things each with different applications but they all have the end result on us we…..STAY UP!

Written by: Joshua Wood

Joshua is the owner and writer for the up and coming MMA website MMAValor.com. The site is dedicated to the world of Mixed Martial Arts and he does his fair share of caffeine consumption.

Tags: Caffeine, Exclusive, series

This entry was posted on Friday, April 23rd, 2010 at 8:43 am and is filed under General, News, Resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.