[Teslazar]

I'll add some more info to my post.

Caffeine is a purine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine).

A Google Scholar search for "molybdenum purine" will come up with many studies discussing how molybdenum is involved in purine catabolism. For example, the following article states "[molybdenum] is considered essential because it is part of a complex called molybdenum cofactor that is required for the three mammalian enzymes xanthine oxidase (XO), aldehyde oxidase (AO), and sulfite oxidase (SO). XO participates in the metabolism of purines". (https://aspenjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.117...).

When I was younger I was able to drink multiple pots of coffee in a day and even drink coffee right before going to sleep without any obvious issues. So when I couldn't even drink a single cup of coffee in the morning on a regular basis without problems I had reason to believe there was something wrong with me and it wasn't simply a genetic quirk.

[hilbert42]

I find discussion about caffeine sensitivity in humans rather fascinating given the very broad range of the amount required to induce an effect.

If those above are to be believed (or not suffering a psychosomatic response) and are still affected by decaffeinated coffee then the dosage between different individuals for given psychotropic effects to occur could be as high as 100:1.

As someone who can drink copious nubmers of cups of coffee in a single sitting and notice very little effect I'm curious to know why this range is so wide (heaven help patients, doctors and pharmaceutical manufacturers if all drugs had such a wide range).

Whenever I raise this the common retort is that I've developed a tolerance to caffeine, and no doubt that's true to some extent. But from experience it's pretty limited, I've been in situations where I've not had caffeinated drinks for months and not noticed any difference when I returned to them. Also, decades ago when I was a student I took up coffee to help stay awake whilst studying and it was pretty inefective. I tried evey strong brew availabe including up to five heaped teaspoons of Moccona instant coffee per cup and it was like water off a duck's back—almost useless/inefective.

The question is why do some people have a supersensitive response to caffeine whilst others do not.

[Teslazar]

There are stimulating compounds in coffee other than caffeine, so I've pondered that people who find decaf stimulating may be reacting to some of these other compounds.

Another consideration is that people seem to often report that coffee is more stimulating than caffeine pills, even if the amount of caffeine is similar.

[pillefitz]

Did taking molybdenum improve metabolism of caffeine in your case?

Did you have blood markers checked? For me, some values like GPT/GGT are in fact increased for unknown reasons.

I recently and unsuccessfuly researched ways to participate in studies, as I'd like to understand why I can't eat chocolate or drink coffee anymore.. I'm slightly concerned other toxins wouldn't be metabolized as well either, leading to early cancer down the road.

[Teslazar]

I took 1 mg of molybdenum daily for about 3 weeks and then tested out drinking coffee. By this point I had tried many other interventions that did not help. I wasn't expecting the molybdenum to help but figured it was worth a shot since it was about $6 for a bottle. After the fourth day of drinking coffee, it was clear that something had changed; the coffee was no longer the issue that it had been. I'm now able to enjoy a regular coffee in the morning without any negative issues. I didn't change my diet or supplements during this time or anything else I can think of that could possibly have contributed to this change.

When I was sensitive to coffee I felt just wrecked and exhausted by the coffee. I couldn't sleep well at night. Several days in a row of drinking one coffee in the morning and I'd get to the point where I would wake up feeling jittery the next day. Now, this is completely resolved.

My blood tests for commonly tested health markers such GPT and GGT have always been fine and tend to be tested about once a year. I had the coffee sensitivity for quite a few years until recently when I finally resolved it.

I do have some minor gut issues, so I'm guessing this is to blame for any nutritional deficiencies (I eat a healthy diet of "real" food).