Why Do Coffee and Cigarettes Go So Well Together?

In a 1999 study at the National Institutes of Health rats who were given a moderate amount of caffeine in their drinking water self-administered nicotine more rapidly than their decaffeinated fellows. And I mean, come on—go to any Denny’s or self-respecting truck stop and see for yourself. Drinking coffee may not lead to smoking cigarettes, but I don’t know any cigarette smokers who don’t occasionally drink coffee to potentiate the effects of nicotine.

There is also some evidence suggesting that drinking coffee and smoking lowers incidence of Parkinson’s disease. (Especially Folger’s delicious “Stem Cell Roast.”) Caffeine is thought to be a MAO A and MAO B inhibitor, acting as a neuroprotectant. Nicotine probably also protects against Parkinson’s, but humorously the late onset of the disease sees far fewer over-65 smokers from which to gather data.

The second linked paper above does not claim that the neuroprotective nature of caffeine and nicotine are compounded in combination, but consuming the two simultaneously will certainly make your head feel like they’re swimming up the same stream.

It’s the first rule of psychoactive substances, of which caffeine and nicotine are the most commonly imbibed: Sometimes 1 + 1 = 3.

That said, nicotine may shorten the half-life of caffeine, making it possible for you to consume more. (Yet with a more powerful physical effect? I don’t know; I’ve sent up a flare to my chemist friends.)

Image via Danny Kick’s photostream.