A UNO study on Zebrafish helps explain how caffeine effects vary from person to person.
- published: 2026/10/06
- contact: Jazlynn Sanders – Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications
- email: [email protected]
UNO in the news: Yahoo Health credits a UNO zebrafish study with helping explain why caffeine affects everyone differently. The findings add to the existing evidence that our biology influences how our bodies react to caffeine more than we may think.
Why it matters: With more than 80% of adults consuming at least 135 milligrams of caffeine daily, it is important to know how it affects you individually. Here’s why:
- It takes caffeine anywhere between six to twenty hours to digest depending on your levels of adenosine. Without knowing this, you may consume more caffeine than necessary before the first dosage has fully impacted you.
- Other factors such as medications, smoking, and pregnancy can alter how fast you metabolize caffeine and change your tolerance.
- Generic advice on when to stop caffeine consummation is not a one-size-fits-all. “A blanket of hard-and-fast rule isn’t helpful because it doesn’t really allow for the intricacies and the individualization of what’s really going on,” explains Dr. Lindsay Browning, sleep researcher.
Zoom in: The research for the zebrafish study was done by former UNO undergraduate student, and current graduate student at the University of Washington, Sydney Klucas. Her research explaining how caffeine effects vary based on an individual’s biology was published in the Brain and Behavior.
Read the full article on Yahoo Health.
About the University of Nebraska at Omaha
The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is Nebraska’s premier metropolitan university, committed to innovating for the public good, advancing social mobility, powering workforce development, and serving as a hub for community engagement. Nearly 15,000 Mavericks choose UNO for its hands-on education experiences, nationally ranked online and graduate programs, military-connected student support, and innovative approaches to supporting lifelong learning. UNO holds the Carnegie Research Activity “R2” designation, securing more than $40 million annually in external research funding and counts its faculty among the world’s most cited scholars. Sixteen Omaha Athletics programs compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Summit League and National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).
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Source: www.unomaha.edu
