Ok. Everyone is going to hate me after this blog. I could write an article on stopping Nicotine, or stopping Alcohol, or stopping over indulgence in sugar and the reaction would be general acknowledgement. Good advice Guy, I am not going to follow it, but good advice. Maybe someday.
However, take on the precious Caffeine and I am in for a world of hurt. Criticism abounds in this area. I looked at several research studies this morning on Caffeine consumption. One of them by Wikoff et al, written in 2017 titled “Systematic Review of the potential adverse effects of caffeine consumption in healthy adults, pregnant women, adolescents, and children.” This exhaustive research review found well over 10,000 scholarly publications on caffeine consumption. This research focused on the major health concerns of cardiovascular, behavioral, reproductive, developmental, bone, calcium and other acute effects. It is funny how many scientists, hopped up on caffeine, spend countless hours researching how the caffeine they are dependent on to do research will not hurt them.
Do not throw away those Starbucks cards just yet, they concluded that the consumption of <400mg of Caffeine per day in adults and a very modest amount in teens, children and pregnant women has not been found to cause any of these major health concerns. So the argument that Caffeine is bad for you is not accurate. It is not as bad for you as smoking cigarettes, that is for sure. Extreme over consumption is not that bad either, however, as with any substance over consuming will eventually cause system failure and death. You would have to get to at least 10g (that is grams) of Caffeine in a day to get to that level of catastrophe. To put that in perspective. That is 30 Starbucks Venti Coffee’s. Start this morning and drink 3 of those an hour for 10 hours straight, and you will most likely be in the hospital for a while. All that aside, Caffeine is not going to kill you. It might even give you some minor benefits, all of which you are probably an expert on at this point. However, there is a nuance in the research that you may want to consider. It is something that I have been wrestling with off and on again for a while. What got me going down this path was about 9 months that I spent completely Caffeine free. I started back on Caffeine for 9 months and now I have 18 months of comparison to make. The results are revealing. These are notes that apply to me, perhaps to you, but results will vary depending on the person – and that is exactly what the research indicates. Caffeine consumption impacts people in different ways, the amount that you can consume and get to negative side effects, is difficult to predict.
Here is what I discovered during my 18 months of comparison. I have concluded with absolute certainty the following facts (based on my person experience):
Caffeine destroys sleep patterns. If kept in check (only consuming before noon), it seems to be mitigated. However, rarely will I keep to that. The quick fix of a caffeinated beverage late in the afternoon is too tempting. Pretty soon, I am justifying more caffeine into the evening and my sleep pattern gets destroyed. I sleep better without Caffeine. Plain fact.
Caffeine increases anxiety. My anxiety levels increase, and the symptoms of anxiety are more pronounced with Caffeine. Heart rate goes up, blood pressure goes up, irritability manifests more acutely. My reaction to crisis is a sense of agitation and fight or flight. Without caffeine, I am calmer. Without Caffeine, my meditation is more relaxing, my evenings are more restful, my time with family is less on edge, with less irritability.
Caffeine increases useless calorie consumption. Caffeine increases metabolism and therefore increases my desire for sugary snacks. Even though I might have drank the 0 calorie version of a Red Bull, I am later for some strange reason stuffing my face with a cookie or a brownie or other sugary substance. Caffeine and sugar are interconnected.
Caffeine is addictive. Not at a major narcotic level of addiction, but it is addictive. More is required to experience similar benefits then previous usage. Also withdrawal symptoms are very real. They include headaches, nausea, extreme fatigue, depression and many other symptoms.
There are also many complaints from caffeine users regarding other physical complaints. Digestion problems, heart palpitations, frequent urination. It seems that these negative effects are more frequent with higher usages.
I suppose, like with many things, the key is in moderation. Moderate caffeine consumption does not produce ill effects. Finding out what is moderate for you is the key. Many people do not realize the sources of caffeine in their lives and the quantity in what they consume. 400mg is considered safe, with excess amounts showing definite negative side effects in most people. The problem is how difficult it is to regulate. A cup of coffee is supposed to have around around 100mg. However, no Starbucks drink ever had that little, most of them are at least 300mg. The average energy drink has at least 180mg, and that is for one serving. Then there are other sources that you may not even realize.
The point is that it is easy to become an over consumer of caffeine and to get into the unhealthy area. Negative side effects will start to persist and you may not even realize that they are caffeine related. It takes time to flush caffeine out of your system. For some it is 4 hours or less, but many can be as long as 12 hours. Every person reacts differently and will have different tolerance level. There is also allergies related to caffeine (it is a plant substance). Natural occurring caffeine is used by plants as a natural insecticide, so you could be slowly building toxicity in your system over time. In a society all freaked out about chemicals in food, caffeine is a naturally occurring chemical that directly impacts specific receptors in your nervous system. Perhaps worthy of consideration on how it might be impacting you.
If you are a person that can do things moderately and consistently, you probably have found a healthy tolerance level and may have found the exact amount that brings you benefit with little harm. Good for you. Most people are not that way, however. They over indulge, take short cuts all the time, sacrifice sleep for over consumption and find themselves over stimulated and directly dealing with the negative side effects of caffeine consumption. It is also possible you are intolerant to caffeine (which happens in about 2 out of 10 adults) and you feel bad all the time and you have not stopped to think – this substance I am pouring into my body constantly might be the cause?
I will get to my point. I have discovered that for me personally, caffeine is generally bad. It weakens my resolve around temptation of bad foods, it causes my sleep cycle to get disrupted, it makes me susceptible to anxiety and gets me in a addictive mindset that is not good for my physical and spiritual life. So I need to quit again. I have done it before and it is brutal. Headaches, night sweats, digestive issues, lack of focus and energy. I hate it. So I found a cool org that is equally concerned with the over caffeinating of our society. https://www.weancaffeine.com
They sell caffeine tablets in decremented increments so that you do not have to go cold turkey. So if anyone wants to join me in finding out what life is like caffeine free. I am starting this week. Just after I finish this Spike Shooter with a Redline Topper.
Guy Reams (568)
Yes, time and again we read the reports and hear the stories of people whose early demise was the result of caffeine, it is so sad. Lives destroyed and cut short. – when will it end?!!
I cant tell you how many times, at the end of an old person’s life, I’ve seen and heard doctors shake their heads and say “that coffee did him/her in.” Tragic. The sensless destruction of health.
Consider the source of this sarcasm 😉 . . . a caffeine addict. I mean c’mon, drinking coffee everyday is one area where zi am 100% consitent lol!
Ben
Did him in? Yeah, you are right. We can avoid the things that outright kill us, but what about the things that are quietly holding us back from reaching the full measure of our potential? If you discovered that Caffeine was inhibiting your progress would you cut it out? At some point you need to get to the next level, and the next level after that. Are you willing to do what it takes? Embrace the Suck.