The Caffeinated Biochemist

  If you live in a tropical country, you've most likely heard that you ought to stay out of the sun as much as you can to not get sunburnt. Yet for some reason, most of us go about our daily activities without any sunscreen on.   Why is that? Hopefully, this article can help you to see the importance of sunscreen and why we should incorporate it into our daily routine. Trust me, we all need it- no matter our complexion, ethnicity, whether we're indoors or outdoors, in rain or sunshine, etc.  Let's get to it 👇 As you may or may not know, the sun brings with it Ultra-Violet Radiation (UVR). It is the very reason we are encouraged to limit sun exposure, to begin with. UVR is a non-ionizing form of radiation that the sun emits. It comes in 3  types based on wavelength measurements and in descending order, the types are UVA, UVB, & UVC.  UVC is absorbed by the atmosphere and the ozone layer entirely so it does not get to the earth's surface. UVB is mostly absorbed by th

Most of us know what it's like - you made your first cup of coffee in the morning and you sit down at your desk ready for your super productive day ahead. Two sips in and now you're just about ready for your first bathroom break, courtesy of the aromatic cup of energy in front of you. You'll probably end up taking a couple more breaks after this one, too.  But why does this happen? Could it be the caffeine found in your daily drink? Or is it something else... A 1998 study found that caffeine contributes to the laxative effect of coffee but does not explain it fully. In the study, 12 volunteers were given coffee, decaffeinated coffee, water, and a 1000-calorie meal. Their colonic responses to what they were given were measured by detecting pressure changes using a manometer. The results of this study showed that the 1000-calorie meal stimulated an equivalent amount of activity as the regular coffee did. Decaffeinated coffee lessened the amount of colonic activity but did not