Caffeine may be the perfect drug of the Internet Age—cheap, legal and available absolutely everywhere. For a population complaining of fatigue, exhaustion, stress and insomnia, it appears a near perfect antidote. Yet how we deliver our drug of choice changes the results on our brain and body.

For centuries coffee has been praised and vilified for its health and social benefits. Bach wrote a cantata depicting a young woman willing to give up most things in life for her very expensive, imported brew. That caffeine is addictive has been known for centuries. Yet now coffee is praised for lowering insulin levels and decreasing uric acid levels. It’s said to provide the American population perhaps half the anti-oxidants in its diet.