DHAKA: It has been long believed that coffee acts as a stimulant and combats fatigue and drowsiness in people but what has recently come to light after a study done at the Bristol University this goes absolutely opposite in the case of  men.

The study shows that though the performance of women is enhanced by drinking caffeinated coffee, especially when stressed, it in fact, makes men less confident making them take longer than usual time to complete their tasks. It was found that the men’s performance ability under stress was seriously impaired after consuming caffeinated coffee whereas with women it was the other way round.

Researchers decided to find out the effects of caffeinated coffee in high stress situations such as in the work place. They divided 64 coffee drinking volunteers into pairs of the same-sex and similar ages. They gave them a number of tasks to complete such as memory tests, puzzles and negotiating tasks. To increase the pressure they told the pairs they would be making a public presentation on their results.

The pairs were then given decaffeinated coffee to drink, but half of them had caffeine added to their drinks. Their performance was monitored throughout the experiments.

The researchers found that after drinking caffeinated coffee memory test performance by men was extremely weak.

According to experts, this difference might be due to the way men and women perceive and react to stress.

Men mostly have the ‘flight or fight’ approach towards problematic situations whereas women are inclined to come together and solve the problems they are facing; and thus when both the sexes consumed the same amount of caffeinated coffee, they gave out different results.


BDST: 0750 HRS, MAR- 15, 2016
Edited by: Sharmina Islam, Lifestyle Editor