Comparative stimulant and diuretic actions of caffeine and theobromine in man
Abstract
Human subiects ingested measured quantities of caffeine and theobromine, separately and together, at random. The double‐blind technique was used. Caffeine altered self‐estimates of sleep latency and sleep quality in a dose‐dependent fashion and increased overnight urinary sodium excretion. Theobromine in equivalent doses had no detectable effect on sleep parameters or on urine composition, nor did it interact significantly with caffeine when the two were ingested together. Theobromine is much weaker than caffeine or entirely inert in these situations.
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Doses of caffeine less than 100 mg do not appear to have an effect on sleep.
“whereas doses < 100 mg do not appear to have such an effect on sleep (Dorfman and Jarvik, 1970).”
From Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine (2015) · cites this paper as Dorfman and Jarvik, 1970
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- Authors
- Dorfman, L. J., & Jarvik, M. E.
- Affiliations
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine (US)
- Venue
- Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1970-11
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 869-872
- ISSN
- 0009-9236 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-6535
- OpenAlex
- W2412345192
- Cited by
- 61
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2019: 5 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Coffee research and impacts
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmacology › Alkaloids: synthesis and pharmacology
- Keywords
- caffeine, theobromine, stimulant effects, diuretic effect, sleep latency, sleep quality, sodium excretion, dose-response relationship
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Analysis of Variance, Caffeine, Diuresis, Humans, Natriuresis, Sleep, Theobromine
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