5 Reasons Why Caffeine Doesn’t Affect You

By Robert Parsons June 16, 2021

Caffeine has been known to be the answer to many people’s morning drag or that extra push to get them through a late night, but are you one of the people this doesn’t work for? 

Caffeine does not affect all people the same. There are quite a few reasons for this. We are going to dive into the top 5 reasons this might be happening and answer the question “Why doesn’t caffeine affect me?” once and for all.

Built-Up Tolerance

Just like anything that you have too much of, your body grows a tolerance for it. Remember when one glass of wine used to do you in for the night? Or maybe that’s the case now, but it definitely was not the case in college. Caffeine is no different. The more you use it, the less it’s going to work. 

This might be the reason why a cup of coffee used to be your daily fix, but now 3 shots of espresso still doesn’t seem to be enough. If this is the case, it might be time to consider that your tolerance is too high. 

This is a very unsatisfactory conclusion to come to for those that rely on coffee to get them through the day, however, just like the glass of wine or even a can of beer, taking a break ever so often or for long periods of time could fix this problem of high tolerance for some people. 

Medications/Supplements

Another reason that might be keeping your caffeine from doing its job is the medication you are on or supplements you take regularly. Depending on what kinds, they can heavily or mildly affect caffeine’s effect. If this is the case, be sure to consult your doctor. 

To name a few of the types of medications that are known to impact caffeine, be especially aware if you are on antidepressants, antibiotics, antipsychotics, or bronchodilators. As for supplements, if you are looking to fix this problem, steer away from supplements with heavy amounts of calcium, echinacea, melatonin, magnesium, or red clover.

Medical Condition

Another reason could be your health. This doesn’t necessarily mean your health is bad, but rather your current health conditions hinder the effects of caffeine. 

Infants and pregnant women have a much lower reaction to caffeine as well as women during certain phases of their menstrual cycle. Patients with liver disease have also shown that caffeine has a lower impact on them. 

On the other hand, smoking almost doubles the effect of caffeine on a person, so if you have recently quit smoking, this could be a reason it seems like coffee doesn’t work like it used to. 

Sleep-Deprived

Another ironic reason caffeine could not be working for you is because you have a lack of sleep. Now one bad night of sleep is not going to stop caffeine from getting you through a hard day, but as low as three days of sleep can start lowering the impact of caffeine.

While this might come as a shock to many people who base their lifestyle around coffee helping them get through their sleep deprivation, caffeine actually has the opposite effect when sleep deprivation sets in. 

Adenosine is the chemical that makes us sleepy, and when we drink coffee the caffeine sticks to this chemical, reversing the sleepy feeling and making us more alert. On the contrary, when we ignore this chemical and move into sleep deprivation, adenosine is produced at a much rapid rate that the caffeine cannot keep up with, so there is still the tired feeling lingering. 

If you are looking for a quick fix to this solution, drinking a stronger coffee with more caffeine can be a temporary solution, but in the end, the only long term solution is to get some sleep. Take care of your body!

Genetics

The biggest bummer of these is it might just be your genetics. Some people do not handle caffeine well and instead of helping them feel more alert, the smallest amount can make them jittery or even feel unwell. 

The scientific reason behind this is caffeine is metabolized by an enzyme in our liver that makes up 95 per cent of caffeine metabolism for our entire body. The variation of this gene has a giant impact on each person’s response to caffeine. 

While having a variation like most people that makes caffeine’s impact much higher, it is not necessarily the best for other reasons. People with this type of genetic makeup can be prone to high blood pressure from their heavy coffee drinking and result in health problems down the line. 

So regardless of what genetic makeup you have, take it easy on the coffee use. You’ll be glad you did later!

Conclusion

So that’s all of our reasons to answer the question “Why caffeine doesn’t affect me?” We hope you got some tips and possible solutions for your caffeine issue and are ready to take on your drowsy mornings again!