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A few years ago I traded being permanently sleep deprived and drinking tons of coffee (which I love) for always sleeping 8 hours per night. My productivity has been very consistent and stronger than ever since. No more boom and bust cycles.
The headaches are unimaginable. The energy levels are lower than being hung-over.
Short-term memory works in a state siimiliar to that when you have 70% packet loss in multiplayer video games. Everything is annoying and you just want to disintegrate people.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Caffeine can certainly interfere with one's ability to maintain a consistent sleep cycle.
True, and I believe partly because people underestimate some time-related aspects. They seem to vary a lot person to person, but a few bits: 1. Peak blood caffeine levels come about an hour after ingestion, at least for coffee. So a 3pm coffee, for example, is really hitting its peak closer to 4pm. 2. Biological half-life is anywhere from 3 to 6 hours, and that's counting from peak blood levels, so it's more like 4-7…
This is interesting, but the article just explains the benefits of coffee. What are the downsides? I would like to hear why he quit.
Caffeine:
Stimulant/Vasoconstrictor/dopaminergic
half-life: ~5 hours
Fat + water soluble
Ideal dosage Benefits: boosts working memory, reduces re-uptake and increases production of dopamine, improves alertness, attention span, memory retrieval, acetylcholinesterase inhibitor.
Downside: increased blood pressure and sustained high levels of heart rate, adesonine reuptake inhibitor and mildly addictive through dopaminegic pathways, acetylcholinesterase inhibitor.
Synergistic with: theanine, sulbutiamine
Possibly: antioxidant effect+, MAO A and B inhibitor+ , protective vs Parkinson's+, damaging to hippocampus- , damaging to short term retrieval of unrelated tasks-
Decision: Minimize usage to less than weekly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_coffee From that we learn that coffe is linked to increased levels of smoking and lack of exercise -- AND: A May 2012 study by the New England Journal of Medicine found that, during the course of their study, coffee drinkers "who drank at least two or three cups a day were about 10 percent or 15 percent less likely to die for any reason during the 13 years of the study."…
"Edit: I should add that no chemical is good for everyone, not even caffeine." I don't think it's the caffeine that causes all these benefits. (Though, being an avid hacker myself, I of course can think of a few benefits of that particular chemical.) Also, 'water' falsifies your statement. ;)
I also abstain from alcohol for 4-5 months per year in order to keep myself a cheap drunk.
Obviously, those two time groupings never overlap.
I de-caffinate for about 2 to 3 months per year. It's 2 weeks of hell followed by refreshment. I also abstain from alcohol for 4-5 months per year in order to keep myself a cheap drunk. Obviously, those two time groupings never overlap.
I gave up caffeine a few years ago. I get far fewer headaches, and I've noticed while soldering my hand is now rock solid, no trembling. For me at least caffeine wasn't giving me any kind of boost, just fighting off the withdrawal symptoms. I think that's a problem for most people, they think coffee is giving them a boost, but really it's just that they feel relatively better because without it they are suffering wit…