Nowadays it is possible to buy “de-caffeinated” coffee, and millions of people drink this rather than “regular” coffee. What is caffeine, and why do some people try to avoid it?

The roasted coffee bean is so full of different substances that science has not yet detected all of them. But the best known substance in the bean is caffeine. It is a stimulant and is chemically related to uric acid. caffeine Is not found in a free state, but combined with acids. The coffee bean contains about one per cent caffeine.

Since caffeine is a stimulant, some people avoid drizzling coffee at night—because that’s the time when they want to relax. Other people seem quite able to sleep despite the caffeine in their coffee.

As we mentioned above, the caffeine in coffee acts differently at different times, and has a different effect on different people. But we can’t think of caffeine in coffee as if we were taking it in a pure state. The way it is combined with other substances in coffee and with food makes quite a difference. For example, if you take milk or cream in your coffee, the caffeine of the coffee combines with the protein of the milk, and the action is thus weakened. You are partially “de-caffeinating” your coffee.

De-caffeinated coffee is made by using steam, or by soaking green coffee in a benzene derivative (ether) before roasting. The product is still pure coffee, but a great deal of the caffeine has been removed.