Coffee is Addictive 569
zpok writes "According to scientists, coffee is really addictive, which I guess must mean they'll come in and confiscate your latte any moment now..." Can't wait for the study proving sugar is sweet.
After Goliath's defeat, giants ceased to command respect. - Freeman Dyson
Before people moan... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Irresponsibility (Score:5, Interesting)
leading cause of death: automobile (Score:2, Interesting)
The fact that it's also by FAR the leading cause of death among young people worldwide, of depleting cities of sidewalks full of people and converting them to endless asphalt-covered semi-arid cultural deserts, making the air equivalent to smoking a couple cigarrettes, etc, seems to be no problem.
So when's a president going to declare "war on the auto industry killers"? Oh yeah, every presidents just represent THEM, too, never US.
Welcome to govcorp. You're free and happy. Go to read your officially sancioned multiple brand confunews and back to work to prop our paper monopoly. Be sure to talk of everything that makes no difference to everyone, and feel anger, and seek solutions with anger, death and weapons. Our weapons, pointed at you.
Confused? Angry? Good.
-------------------
I must be an exception... (Score:5, Interesting)
I can honestly say that even though it does clearly have an effect on me (I get a little jittery and feel way too high strung after a cuppa joe) I would bet that most people would only have "withdrawal symptoms" for a day at most. I'm guessing (very unscientifically) that for most people the need for coffee is a routine. Try switching to water or juice or even decaf coffee to see if you feel any different.
I can see where someone who drinks a couple pots of coffee a day might get headaches or something if they just quit all at once, but this could be said for anything...sugar, caffeine, salty snacks, you name it. Your body is going to be used to dealing with anything you take in in excess. Once that excessive amount is gone, you will notice, at least for a little while. I'm not sure it's really groundbreaking news just because Johns Hopkins told us they found it out.
I certainly don't think it needs to be entered into the DMS just yet, just because some people get a headache from too little/much caffeine. (yes it happens when you get too much too, at least for me) I know people will say it is like alcoholism, where it's the same kinds of symptoms and what not. But I don't think alcoholism is quite as bad as people make it out to be. (and before I go any farther, let me tell you that I do have two alcoholics in my close family) I think that even though some people may be more likely to develop alcoholism, the blame and responsibility still falls on them. Every person has the ability to stop doing destructive behavior. You just have to learn what your limits are and govern them youself....but that's another topic for another day.
I kicked coffee accidentally with creatine (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm now taking 1 heaping teaspoon of creatine a day and on those occasions I drink coffee at all it is about 1/2 to 1 cup early in the morning.
Re:Irresponsibility (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Irresponsibility (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't want a stop to the research and classification of various mental states. I want the psychological/psychiatric community to sit down and create some real standards for treatment, including some strict ethics and punishments for their violation. If a physician started prescribing morphine for stubbed toes, he'd run the risk of losing his license (we'll worry about the chronic problem of prescribing antibiotics for viral illnesses later), he'd lose his license, while the shrink community hasn't even gotten around to saying "it's something we should maybe consider not doing, we think."
Or worse yet, we still have Freudian analysts getting licensed and offering their "treatment." This would be like if the AMA licensed doctors who practised the purging of various bodily humors in order to restore their balance.
Re:Irresponsibility (Score:5, Interesting)
So I've been wondering if this is more a cultural expectation thing. In Britain it just doesn't seem to be discussed in the same way -- I've known people (including myself) complain of caffeine withdrawal symptoms -- evil headaches and suchlike -- but almost never about any "hyper" effects of over-consumption of caffeine.
Yet often American sitcoms will refer to coffee in reference to making people hyper, to the point where you'd think that half an espresso is meant to send you crazy. Or maybe it's genetic differences between the populations that mean that caffeine has different effects in the two countries?
Re:Then soda must be too... (Score:3, Interesting)
A month ago I started drinking water...lots of water. Insted of 2-liters of soda a day, I started drinking 2 liters of spring water a day. It made me cringe at first, I hated the "taste" of water. 1 week into drinking no soda I didn't mind it anymore. Now, when I drink anything sweet or even eat small peices of candy, I cringe because it's TOO sweet. Not only that, even sweet ice tea will give me a caffeine/sugar buzz now...something that I've never experienced before in my life. Even though I've lost no weight (I'm pretty thin to begin with), clothes fit better and the bags under my eyes have gone away. Most importantly, I have more energy than I can ever remember having before in my life.
Growing up, we always had soda in the house and I rarely drank anything but soda. Now I wonder how my life would be different had I been raised on water...
the last 5 times i've forgotten to have coffee (Score:3, Interesting)
'hey wait a minute, my coffee pot is empty, and wasn't filled!'
Usually i have around a half a pot to a pot a day. I need around two cups just to get me up in the mornings to some level of coherency. All my recent screw ups I can pin the blame on me for not drinking enough coffee in whatever day they occur on. It kind of worries me, actually; It's becoming more of a 'I have to have coffee, or I will not function with even mediocre talent' rather than a 'with smore coffee I can do better, longer, faster!.'
Which is of course, why I'll be into provigil as soon as I can get easy access to some.
(anyways, I've written many a song on the vector-meme of coffee and caffeine addiction...although none of those have been finished off, you can find some here, from my attempted album ""past tense" [moonside.org] )
Re:The War on Drugs funds Terrorists (Score:4, Interesting)
This of course leads to increased local crime as junkies are forced to steal to support their habit, and gang wars as local dealers protect their turf.
Legalise drugs, and these problems will largely go away. Plus the effects in society can then be handled the same way as alcohol problems (including application of DWI/DUI laws for the safety of others), without needlessly ruining lives, as prosecution for victimless crimes now often does.
Furthermore, if legalized, regulated, and taxed in the same way cigarettes and alcohol are, that's a HUGE tax base just waiting to be used, that would not negatively impact anyone other than those who actually use the product. And it might slow the increases on other taxes (such as sales, income, and property taxes) that DO impact everyone.
Not to mention the positive public health impacts: no more need to share dirty equipment, better quality control so fewer adverse reactions/side effects, etc.
[/rant]
It's a drug baby ... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Mental disorders are classifications (Score:3, Interesting)
Next time the definition of 'mental illness' is updated, don't be surprised if it looks like this:
Mental illness: n.
Anything.
Eventually, no one will be held responsible for anything they do because they will be able to lay the blame off on some 'mental illness'.
Re:Mental disorders are classifications (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Irresponsibility (Score:4, Interesting)
I've never had a drop of alcohol in my life, and never plan to.
But I can look at my signifigant sweet tooth and other behaviors and know that were I to ever take a single drink, I would be an alcoholic. I have no doubt of that.
That same predisposition to "isms", does indeed affect my consumption of everything from caffiene to swedish fish (and other carbs).
The irony to this is that I have a healthy dosage of self-control and discipline. But in these areas the "ism" kicks in. Therefore, I'll never take a single sip of alcohol or a single drag on a cigarette (my common sense can keep me from both anyway).
Re:Irresponsibility (Score:2, Interesting)
Nifty Caffeine Hack (Score:5, Interesting)
Right before going to sleep at night, take one or two caffeine pills. It's necessary you use pills, because the taste of familiar caffinated drinks and/or the sugars in these drinks will cause an immediate "peppy" reaction. The trick to this hack is to fall asleep before the chemicals kick in. Caffeine takes about 30-60 minutes to take effect depending on the person, so you want to be in a situation where you can fall as quickly as possible.
If you do this correctly, what'll end up happening is that the caffeine will cause a state of hyperactivity while you're still asleep! What ends up occuring is an extremely deep, relaxing sleep, while producing intensly vivid dreams. Try it!
Re:Irresponsibility (Score:3, Interesting)
The "hyper" effects of caffeine are more like an on edge jittery feeling. Probably some people are a lot more susceptable to it than others. I used to drink espresso's and have a few shots added to the drink, but I found that it made me feel almost as if I hadn't eaten anything for a long time. Yanno, like when you're so hungry you feel weak and shaky. I never feel hyper with too much caffeine, but I think it's the jitteryness that some feel which gets that lable placed on them.
I drink two cups of coffee in the morning and usually some caffinated soft drinks here and there, but I've never thought myself to be addicted at all. I also used to smoke a cigarette every hour, but I didn't have any trouble going to just one or two a day. I'll even go a week sometimes where I don't smoke at all, it's just that different situations kinda trigger a bit of desire in me. Psychological rather than physiological. So, I tend to believe that some people become addicted to substances much more easily than others. As always TV and the news will paint a very skewed picture of...well, of anything they get their hands on. : ) Oh, and I very much agree with the first post in these comments!
Re:Irresponsibility (Score:2, Interesting)
Just recognize it, and account for it. If you assume that it's all roasted darker than normal, just buy one step lighter than you normally would. Don't bother with their french roast at all, and if you like other french roasts, go with italian roast, and so on.
cya,
john
Re:Sigh.... Another Atkins Cultist (Score:3, Interesting)
1. Genetics: I haven't seen very many fat Asian-Americans either.
2. Rice isn't as important as you think. It's a staple of Asian meals, but they don't eat a big plate of rice and a little bit of meat and vegetables on the side. Rice is always there, but it's not the primary component of the meal. You're always eating plenty of meats and vegetables to go along with it.
3. Portions. Perhaps they just eat ridiculously low portion sizes that would leave the average 200 pound American (that's me) craving an actual meal afterwards.
As for the lack of exercise, maybe we should adjust our eating habits to our lifestyle, instead of adjusting our lifestyle to our eating habits. Instead of randomly physically exerting ourselves from time to time like the Exercise Nazis would have us do, maybe we need to find a way to eat so that we can get by on our current activity levels.
And maybe Atkins is the way to do that. I don't know for sure, myself. But athletes eat carbs. They eat a LOT of carbs. That's because athletes are in a constant state of physical exertion. Most of us aren't in a constant state of physical exertion. The high-carb orthodoxy tries to make us eat like athletes, and then exercise as much as athletes, therefore (in their estimation) making us as healthy as athletes. That sort of thing would work if we abandoned the past couple centuries of technological innovation and worked in the fields. But people have to work for a living in the 21st century, and when they work, for the most part, they aren't physically exerting themselves. There goes the time we'd set aside for exercise.
That said, I'm not against exercise, but exercise for the sake of weight control (unless you're consciously trying to *lose* excess weight) shouldn't have to be an essential part of our lives. Exercise because it feels good, because you enjoy martial arts or something, or because you want to attract women. Don't exercise because your diet requires you to.
My Coffee Addiction (Score:1, Interesting)
I work early hours. Usually up at 5am to start getting ready for work. The first tasks of the morning are to brew a pot of coffee and smoke a cigarette. We already know nicotine among other chemicals in cigarettes is addictive. I just wanna talk about my coffee.
I procede to drink the whole pot which totals out three cups of coffee. (It is a small Braun) I have to have these cups to actually function properly throughout the morning and the rest of the day. Cigarettes will not compensate for the lack of caffine. I have tried and I still carry the "slack" feeling.
Upon walking int he door after a hard 8 hour day at work, my first order of business is to make another pot of coffee. I typically make two so I might share the pot with my fiance. I have to have this pot of coffee to continue to operate the rest of the night without the tired feeling.
As a result of some experimentation. Here is what happens if I cut out coffee for one week.
Day One:
1. Extreme sluggishness throughout most the morning.
2. Trouble concentrating
3. By noon time I experience a jittery feeling. I smoke extra cigarettes to try and ease this feeling. Anxiety is the best way to describe this.
4. By evening I am suffering from a rather uncomfortable headache. Swallowed two asprin without any effect to the headache. It would not subside. Even tried this experiment at a later date with ibuprofin with the same result as asprin.
Day Two:
1. All the same symptons but to a considerably lesser degree. Headache not so bad if not non-existant.
2. Cigarette smoking increased
Day Three:
1. Only the sluggish feeling in the mornings which remained for the remainder of the week.
2. Coffee smells exceptionally good, even better than when taking it on a regular basis.
So my summary in the end is that there is not a strong addiction but more of an intense dependancy. There is still the pull or twinge to want a cup of coffee to alleviate all side-effects. In a later experiment the headache vanished within 10 minutes of drinking two cups of coffee.
So as a conclusion the addiction that I felt was the need to end the side effects that were ailing me. I still continue my morning ritual as I love the taste of coffee in a variety of forms. That and the pick-me-up aspect in the morning is very welcome. I have to be fully aware as an electrician. I cannot afford any mistakes when working with live or potentially live wires. In my trade we treat wires like guns. Even though you know it is not loaded, you treat it as if it were loaded.
That is a general attitude shared among many service electricians. Especially after getting shocked in some of the worst ways possible.