Health Issue: KICK'S JUST MYTH CUP OF COFFEE

Wake up and

smell coffee

it's all in mind

London: Does the morning cup of coffee help you kick start the day? Not really, it's all your mind, say scientists.

        Researchers at the Bristol University found that the effect of caffeine, which has been believed to be an energy boosted, does not actually increase people's alertness and it may rather raise the risk of anxiety and high blood pressure.

       Lead researcher Peter Rogers said their findings suggest that coffee drinkers may actually be better off without their habitual morning mug. "Our study shows we don't gain an advantage from having caffeine - although we feel alerted by it, this is caffeine just bringing us back to normal," Rogers said. "While caffeine can raise anxiety, tolerance means that for most caffeine takers this effect is negligible."

        The researchers recruited 379 people who abstained from caffeine for 16 hours before drinking either caffeine or a placebo and then were tested for a range of responses. All were asked to rate their levels of anxiety and alertness and whether they had a headache before and after being given the caffeine or the placebo.

       They were also asked to carry out a series of computer tasks to test their levels of memory, attentiveness and vigilance. Those who received the dummy drink reported a fall in alertness and an increase in headaches, neither of which were reported by those who received caffeine.

       However, it was found that their post caffeine levels of alertness were no higher than those of consumers who received a placebo. This suggests caffine only brings coffee drinkers back up to ' normkal', the researchers said.

       Those with the gene variant linked to anxiety tended to consume slightly larger amounts of coffee than others, suggesting a mild increase in anxiety may be a part of the pleasant buzz caused by caffeine.