Caffine

[pitstopbunny]

I never drink coffee, only regular tea - what is the effect of caffine on the body, especially the skin and does it have any benefits?

[woofgang]

qwell but tea has its own version of caffeine called theine!

[woofgang]

http://www.holymtn.com/tea/caffeine.htm

loads more info if you google on "caffeine in tea"

[Buenchico]

There are literally thousands of websites concerning the effects of caffeine on the body. If you do a web search for 'caffeine effects' (without the quote marks) you'll find just about every possible interpretation of the effects of caffeine, ranging between 'beneficial' and 'it's the work of the devil'! It's generally accepted however that, at moderate levels, caffeine is a harmless drug which stimulates the body's production of endorphins (i.e. naturally occurring, pleasure-enhancing chemicals within the brain).

You specifically ask, however, about caffeine's effects on the skin. There has been some well-documented research which suggests that caffeine may act to inhibit the production of cancer-causing cells when skin is exposed to strong sunlight. The reporting of this research has led to some people assuming that drinking plenty of coffee (or tea, which generally contains about one third to a half of the amount of caffeine that coffee does) will provide some protection against skin cancer or, possibly, some defence against the natural 'ageing' effects on skin. These assumptions, however, fail to take into account two very important factors in the research:
Firstly, the research was carried out on mice and, as yet, nobody has proved that the same effects will apply to the human body;
Secondly (and far more importantly), the research on mice related to the 'topical' application of caffeine. (i.e. caffeine was applied to the skin of the mice within a cream).
So, at present, there is no evidence that consuming caffeine within a drink is beneficial to the skin.

Chris