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Science

More To Coffee Buzz Than Caffeine 57

Posted by timothy from the what-about-the-orange-juice-high dept.
MrByte420 writes "WebMD has story about every computer geek's favorite beverage enhancer. Seems like there's more to the kick than just the caffeine that makes coffee a favorite amongst the sleep deprived programmers of the world. Some more information can be found here with some interesting details why decaf can keep ya up and wired too. In related news, scientists report no progress in determining why the best computer code is written at 4:27 AM on a tuesday morning surrounded by a box of Mountain Dew."
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More To Coffee Buzz Than Caffeine More

More To Coffee Buzz Than Caffeine

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  • The real mystery (Score:5, Funny)

    by Phexro ( 9814 ) on Monday November 18, 2002 @10:56PM (#4703552)
    ...is how anyone can fit in a Mountain Dew box. Seems like a pretty tight squeeze, even if the contents have been consumed to make room.
    • Think of it this way: Really big box.

      (Or, you could go the other way. Use the rumor that Mountain Dew makes certain genitals shrink, and just say it makes the whole body shrink)
    • Maybe it was one of those funny chinese men who work in circuses and get paid for sitting inside small boxes, you know the ones I mean, right?

  • Blood Pressure? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by skunky-boy ( 453764 )
    the blood pressure of occasional drinkers rose.

    Followed by:

    potentially adverse effects of coffee on the heart could be less hazardous in regular drinkers with normal blood pressure.

    The link here doesn't seem very clear. Are they trying to say that blood pressure rises with occasional use, but regular drinkers don't suffer raised blood pressure?

  • Decaf (Score:4, Funny)

    by tedDancin ( 579948 ) on Monday November 18, 2002 @11:04PM (#4703589)
    ..researchers found [nervous system activation] rose after consumption of both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee in both groups.

    Now we have some solid evidence to prove to people that there is no point in drinking Decaf. Decaf is EVIL!!

    • Re:Decaf (Score:3, Interesting)

      by ichimunki ( 194887 )
      Well, the question I have is whether the decaf drinkers thought they were drinking decaf. If not, this points more to psychosomatic effects than anything. While giving one group decaf (which doesn't remove all caffeine, I'm given to understand) makes a decent control for the caffeine, what's really needed are four groups: one given real coffee/told it's real coffee, one given decaf/told it's real coffee, one given decaf/told it's decaf, and one given real coffee/told it's decaf. And it seems to me that their study population (of fifteen) is way too small to have confidence in the results... plus these were 15 healthy volunteers... what's needed is a much larger group that is more randomly selected.

  • Could it be that "decaffeinated" != caffiene-free (Score:5, Informative)

    by QuietRiot ( 16908 ) <cyrus.80d@org> on Monday November 18, 2002 @11:08PM (#4703610) Homepage Journal
    Here's How this stuff works [howstuffworks.com] - decaffeination anyway.

    More info and how to Kick the habbit [sallys-place.com], amongst other infos.

    The caffiene in your cola/other drink often comes from the coffee decaffeination process.

    Perhaps the reason your heart keeps beating is that these processes do not remove all the caffiene? I tend to believe other magics are at work here (chemicals), but they don't discount that in the article....

    • Re:Could it be that "decaffeinated" != caffiene-fr (Score:4, Funny)

      by jafuser ( 112236 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @02:00AM (#4704228)
      Perhaps the reason your heart keeps beating is that these processes do not remove all the caffiene? I tend to believe other magics are at work here (chemicals), but they don't discount that in the article....
      What will really get your heart beating is 200mg of caffeine with 8mg of ephedrine =)

      I have tried it in the past when I'm having trouble making it through the day and caffeine alone doesn't work. Though the last time I tried it, my resting pulse (sitting still at my desk for hours) was 120... not healthy I'm sure, but I didn't have any problems staying awake...

      Somehow the two together seem to have a more powerful effect than the sum of each... Definitely not recommended for those who are not in good physical health...

  • Insoluble in liquid C02? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Simon Field ( 563434 ) on Monday November 18, 2002 @11:12PM (#4703623) Homepage


    I wonder which caffeine extraction method was used?

    Liquid C02 under pressure is often used to extract the caffeine. But there are other methods.

    It might be interesting to see if the same results come from decaffeinated coffees made by different methods. It might also be interesting to see if the study controlled for the effects of smell and taste. People who don't drink coffee might find their heart races when forced to drink something that is definitely an acquired taste.

    It might also be that removing caffeine and two other alkyloids (theophylline and theobromine, although I am unsure how prevalent those are in coffee) which are diuretics and vasodilators might allow other ingredients to have the opposite effect (previously mitigated).

    • Re:Insoluble in liquid C02? (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      all three alcoloids are METHLYXANTHINES caffiene from coffee, theophylline from tea or yerba mate and theobromine from cocao. all have the same effects, but in various ratios-- theophylline is the most powerful broncho- dilator, caaffiene is very good at constricting cerebral blood vessals (which is why it makes headaches go away)etc
    • Liquid C02 under pressure

      Isn't that redundnat since liquid CO2 does exist except under pressure. (By which I assume you mean pressure greater than one atmosphere, and not just a non-vacuum).

  • Mountain Dew? (Score:4, Funny)

    by gehrehmee ( 16338 ) on Monday November 18, 2002 @11:23PM (#4703670) Homepage
    Aurrgghh... ewwwwwwwwwwwww..... I'll take the Crab Juice.

  • junkies... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by iamjim ( 313916 ) on Monday November 18, 2002 @11:47PM (#4703745)
    Shouldn't this have been posted a little later in the evening (morning)

    Anyway: I do not drink coffee yet I function with little more than 4 hours of sleep. My beverage of choice is water. After realizing many years ago that soda rotted your teeth and had WAY too many calories per can (most juices too) I kicked the habit. I enjoy the occasional cappaucino now and then, but nothing like I used to with nightly visits to Dunkin D's during college.

    My question for the everyone: how effective is self-determined sleep depravity? I tend to just "keep myself awake". Sure, I get to the point to where I can no longer function and pass out - in fact if I go to bed before this point I tend to not be able to sleep because I can still be doing "more productive" things with my time.

    Are there signs that I am not getting enough sleep? I know it is time to go to sleep when I start slurring my words, which generally happens in the 30-40th hours of being awake.

    I am asked how I do it, my answer is that I just do. I just have stuff to do and believe that sleep is a waste unless I need it. Do you find yourself doing this? Is this common among people you know?

    I DO get a kick seeing all of the drones "needing" their coffee in the morning - people don't realize they are hooked on the caffine. More addictive than crack!
    • Well your so busy, that you think sleep is a waste... sure. I'll be asleep while you do all that important slashdot reading.

      Andy

    • Re:junkies... (Score:4, Funny)

      by hound3000 ( 238628 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @01:07AM (#4704035) Journal
      I DO get a kick seeing all of the drones "needing" their coffee in the morning - people don't realize they are hooked on the caffine. More addictive than crack!
      Okay, yes, I may be addicted to caffeine. But no more so than my grandfather who drinks coffee with every meal, including pizza and Taco Bell. The look on their faces at Taco Bell when you point out to them that coffee *IS* on the menu... Priceless.
    • My beverage of choice is water.

      Me too ... Water Joe! That's right: water plus caffeine minus sugar!

      Here at the UnivMich, you can get it at the party store just north of Williams and State, the Main St. party store downtown (kitty corner NW of the Courthouse) and Meijer's (but not Krogers...) in both 16- & 32-oz. sizes.

      The power of caffeine without the spike/crash of sugar!

    • Re:junkies... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by jfengel ( 409917 )
      It's not simply a matter of being addicted to caffeine. You need only 4 hours of sleep per night. Congratulations. You're a member of a distinguished crowd, including Thomas Edison and Leonardo da Vinci.

      But not everybody can get by on that much, even those who have never touched caffeine. Most pople are dangerous in automobiles after only 20 hours without sleep.

      Be careful in generalizing your experiences.
    • how effective is self-determined sleep depravity?

      Judging from my dreams, pretty damn effective!

      (I think you mean "deprivation.")

    • I DO get a kick seeing all of the drones "needing" their coffee in the morning - people don't realize they are hooked on the caffine. More addictive than crack!

      Hah. Some of use are quite aware we're hooked on the caffine. In fact, I imagine that most coffee addicts are also aware of that.

      And drones? Just because you don't share a vice, try not to be all high-and-mighty on those who do.

    • when i was an undergrad, i knew a guy who would do this sort of thing, essentially for the same reason. he worked his ass off all the time and would hold off sleeping for as long as he could. after several years of this (while i knew him. i don't know how long he was doing it beforehand), he started having health problems. his doctor told him, "if you don't start getting 8 hours a night, you will die." mind you, he was 20 years old. he claimed he was not sleeping in order to be productive, but at the same time he was consistently a dumbass and took an excessively long time to do his problem sets. i'm not saying there was necessarily causality there, but i sure as hell don't do my best thinking after 4 hours. on a related note, i consistently got little sleep as an undergrad and life sucked. i consistently got lots of sleep as a grad student, and i felt great most of the time. doesn't quality of life count a heck of a lot more than dubious gains in productivity?

  • IV (Score:2)

    by droyad ( 412569 )
    Now Caffine by IV would be nice as mentioned in the article. Leaves both hands free for typing
    • OK, now I know I have a problem -- I read that as a Roman Numeral 4 after all the mentions of 4:00 and 4:27. I think I need some caffiene...

  • That's easy (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Jerf ( 17166 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @12:31AM (#4703906) Journal
    In related news, scientists report no progress in determining why the best computer code is written at 4:27 AM on a tuesday morning surrounded by a box of Mountain Dew.

    If the scientists would just get a good night's sleep and return to the code the next day, they would discover that the reason they are having difficulty figuring out why the code is so good at 4:27 AM is that the code is complete garbage when seen in the light of day.

    Unless you're one of the single digit percentage people in the world with truly unusual sleep needs, if the code you're writing at 4:27 AM is the same quality as the code you write during normal hours, your code must be seriously shitty all the time!

    Sleep! Most of us need it, and I often wonder how many of those who don't are just fooling themselves...

    Take this post for instance. What I ought to do is just hit CTRL-W to close the tab and go to bed, 'cause this is worthless flamebait. Instead, because my judgement is impaired because it's late where I am, I'm going to post this and subject myself to CowboyNeal-only-knows how many self-styled "sleep masters" explaining how they need only 10 minutes of sleep a week. Learn from my incipient disaster... sleep!

    • Hah! Sleep masters? 10 minutes a week? More like 10 minutes a month. Bow before my leetness.
      On a serious note, I love it when I can take a 10-15 minute nap and be refreshed (not for another 18 hours or anything, but it'll get me through the rest of the day). Only problem is, I'm usually too comfortable to actually get up after 15 minutes, and still tired - it takes about 5 minutes for me to wakeup from said nap.

  • For the biologist out there ... or wannabes (Score:5, Interesting)

    by foniksonik ( 573572 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @02:43AM (#4704328) Homepage Journal
    Coffee with or without the caffeine contains significant numbers of expectorant and diuretic alkaloids, ie: oils and along with caffeine these are known to strip out calcium from the body... calcium being the major nerve insulator with it's major contribution being the meyelin sheath surrounding nerve bundles. So if you drink a lot of this stuff that sucks off calcium from your nerve bundles you end up with 'twitchy' nerves that arn't insulated enough and start 'cross-talking' and causing lots of electrical feedback loops/shorts... ...kind of like when you play the bass too loud for too long on unprotected audio cables (oxidation), the signal gets a little scratchy and fuzzy.

    • good information. going along with your diuretic comment, it makes you pee a lot too. caffeine really has no effect on me to give me engery and stay awake, rather if i have enough of it, i get shaky (hence you comment), my heartrate increased dramatically (scary), and i pee a lot. it's the constant need to urinate that keeps me awake. i drink coke or pepsi on late night car trips because if i hold the sensation to pee, i'll stay awake. of course i make a lot of pit stops on the way, but it works well. i can sleep fine after drinking a lot of coke as long as i don't haev to pee.

  • 4:27? (Score:2, Funny)

    by leviramsey ( 248057 )

    It just takes seven minutes for the THC to kick in, man...

    • Haha! Yeah, I fondly remember some of the little things I wrote in Pascal at 4:20AM after a nice bowl through a chilled bong. Anyone else coded while high?
      • All the time, and I do my physics and math homework after smoking a blunt or two. I find it not only improves my concentration, it also brings out that creative edge that puts me ahead (and I am the top student in all my current classes). As long as I drink a few mugs of coffee to keep the pasties (and the burn-out) away I'm good to go for hours. I think this 4:27 news should be added to the proof that weed does not kill braincells, lower IQ, or any other preposterous claims that weed is harmfull in anyway.

        "I did not inhale" --Billy C.
        "I did inhale, and I held my breath" --Me :)

  • Wait... (Score:5, Funny)

    by minesweeper ( 580162 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:34AM (#4704472) Homepage
    So does this mean that my regular ol' decaf soap I've been using all along has the same effects as caffeinated soap [thinkgeek.com]?

    This is indeed a disturbing development...

  • Coding at 4:27 (Score:2, Insightful)

    by ivan256 ( 17499 )
    The reason that some people write their best code at 4:27 in the morning is because they slack off and don't do their homework until 4:00 AM the night before it's due, and it therefore becomes the only code they're writing. If it's the only code, it must be the bset code.

    Look at it again in 6 years when you know what you're doing and see if it still seems so good. I know I'm embarrased by what I though was good code back then.

  • Well.... (Score:2, Funny)

    by flatface ( 611167 )
    The coffee buzz DOES have its own set of downsides. By saying that, I mean spending 90% of the time in the bathroom. Especially a bad thing since Canada severely limits the legal amount of caffeine in beverages (and only allowing it in cola-coloured drinks or something like that) Next time I want a caffeine buzz, I'm going to order some from Thinkgeek or something.. The 12-cups-of-coffee-in-one-day buzz almost killed me.

  • How? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Omkar ( 618823 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @09:56AM (#4706143) Homepage Journal
    How did they prepare the espresso? Anyone who's had different types of coffee knows this makes a difference. After visiting Italy and tasting true italian espresso, I can't really tolerate 'normal' coffee. I'm no biologist, but wouldn't the method and conditions (temp, pressure) of preparation influence the compounds in the coffee? What about serving conditions?
    • > After visiting Italy and tasting true italian espresso, I can't really tolerate 'normal' coffee.

      So get an espresso machine. Espresso is extra-roasted, ground extra-fine, then packed nice and tight, with hot water forced ("pressed", thus the name) through it quickly. Ounce for ounce, it is a lot stronger than regular coffee, but not enough for a shot of espresso to contain as much caffeine as a cup (and we're talking 6 oz cups) of drip coffee.

      Good espresso tends to be mellower because they maintain the machine well, and roast and grind it just right. It's not exactly like they grow a lot of coffee in Italy. Drip coffee is kind of harsh, but it's really a coffee purist's way of having coffee (drip, vacuum, bodum, what have you, all basically the same). Most espresso tends to just taste burnt to my snobby pallate.

      As an aside, I rarely drink soda. Liquid candy ... jesus christ people, use some of that superior intellect and understand what all that sugar alone is doing to you. When you're all 30 and 300 lbs, the connection might become obvious.

  • Placebo? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by chaidawg ( 170956 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @06:19PM (#4711071)
    I wonder if there is any chance that this can be attributed to the placebo effect. I would think that people not getting caffine were not told of the fact. They expected caffine effects, they got them.
    • I was thinking that. In fact, it honestly wouldn't surprise me if even people who know they're drinking decaf get a bit of a rush for the simple reason that the idea "cup of coffee" = "waking up" is very deeply embedded in our culture. This may be even more true of people who switched from regular to decaf -- there's a Pavlovian response to the taste of coffee. I drink regular, but I know I get a "waking up" rush from my first cup of coffee in the morning almost immediately, well before the caffeine has had any chance to circulate through my system.
  • ...why the best computer code is written at 4:27 AM on a tuesday morning...

    Am I the only one who is driven insane by hearing or reading 'A.M.' and 'in the morning' in the same sentence? I mean, obviously no one is writing code at 4:27 AM in the afternoon.
  • Im my mind there is nothing like a really good cup of hot, strong, rich coffee. Makes mornings worthwhile (and other times when work needs to get done).

    Try Kona Mountain Coffee [konamountaincoffee.com], estate grown. Expensive but worth it. And take the tour [konamountaincoffee.com] if you're on the Big Island!

  • Coffee may help reduce plaque on teeth, as reported here [ada.org] and here [nature.com]. But I guess this involves drinking your coffee like a real man :P

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