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Nervine foods - Nervine substances

What and what they are

Tea, coffee, cocoa and food products that contain them in large quantities are traditionally included in the category of nerve foods . The list can also be extended to alcoholic beverages and those based on cola, guaranà, maté and nervine substances in general (caffeine, theobromine, theine, ephedrine, ioimbina, sinefrina ...).

Effects and properties

The adjective "nervini" wants to emphasize the tonic properties of these foods, capable of acting above all at a central level, improving physical and mental efficiency and releasing inhibitory brakes at the same time. These effects are closely linked to the intake dose; in particular, the abuse of nerve substances leads to a series of undesirable symptoms, such as tremors, tachycardia, hypertension and nervousness. In the long run, then, a high-dose chronic intake can cause gastritis, gastric ulcers, bone fragility, addiction, liver changes and cardiovascular problems of various kinds.

Regardless of their tonic and invigorating characteristics, nervine foods, if consumed with rationality, are precious health allies. Tea polyphenols, for example, have a strong antioxidant action, like those of cocoa, dark chocolate and red wine, while a coffee at the end of a meal, preferably unsweetened, facilitates digestion. We must also not forget their anorectic (suppress appetite) and thermogenic (enhance the body's energy consumption) properties; not by chance, therefore, nervine drugs (guarana, coffee, extracts of tea, cola, ephedra, maté, bitter orange yohimbe ...) are widely used in the dietary field for the preparation of energy and slimming products. Their use is however not recommended during pregnancy, lactation, children under 12 and people who are particularly sensitive to their action.

Note: tea and coffee do not provide calories (unless they are taken with milk or sugar). Alcohol or ethanol provides a lot of energy, but is considered an "empty food" [food, because it supplies calories, empty because it is devoid of the fundamental nutritional principles (carbohydrates, lipids and proteins)]. Ethanol, in itself, is a toxic substance and as such lacks any health benefit, which is instead ascribed to moderately alcoholic beverages, such as red wine and beer, due to the presence of useful micronutrients that have nothing what to do with alcohol.

In-depth articles on single nerves

FOOD AND NERVINI PRODUCTSNERVINE SUBSTANCES
Green tea and black teaTheophylline
coffeeCaffeine
Cocoa and chocolateTheobromine
GuaranaSynephrine
Bitter orangeEphedrine
Mateamphetamines
ThereAlcohol