Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A year without caffeine (part 2)

bryanalexander.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 130 posts

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#31

Post by tygorius »

brador wrote: post #9
pretoriusB wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can't imagine normal healthy people routinely taking a drug and teaching their children to take one. And yet this happens with coffee all the time. Many are even proud of their addiction ("coffee snobs"). It also happens with sugars, salt, corn syrup and tons of other stuff. Lots of things can be a "drug". Coffee, when drank in moderation, is actually absolutely beneficial to one's health.

Salt and corn syrup are drugs? Explain please.

I can't speak to salt, but the classic explanation for sugar and high fructose corn syrup is Robert Lustig's UCSF presentation[0]. Midway through he discusses the differences between HFCS and sugar in how they metabolized, including the brain aspects. (Hint: consider the long-term effects of alcohol up there.) Definitely worth the 90 minute investment of attention.

[0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#32

Post by jperras »

benjaminwootton wrote: post #29
jperras wrote: post #22

The title seems a tad misleading. The author describes some relatively major lifestyle changes (huge changes in diet, sleeping habits, large increase in aerobic/anaerobic physical activity), of which the elimination of caffeine is but a small part. I used to have some very bad problems with acidity as well, to the point where my doctor thought I might have had acute ulcerative colitis, but what fixed it for me was sl…

If you don't mind, could you explain what your problems with acidity were? I've had a few issues over the last year or so and I'm only just making the link back to an acidic diet (diet coke, spicy food and chocolate being the main ones!)

When I was in university it got to the point where drinking tap water was difficult; forget orange juice, coffee and pasta sauce. In addition to the physical pain of consuming anything that was remotely acidic, the frequent (6-8/day) bowel movements of sometimes very bloody stool is what finally made me go visit my doctor.

Those days I was pulling all-nighters every week or so, sleeping 4-5 hours on nights where I actually went to bed, ate complete crap (typical university student), and hadn't done any sort of exercise other than walking to-and-from class for a solid 12 months. Yes, I was drinking 3-6 cups of coffee and/or energy drinks a day, but it was when I fixed all of the other stuff (mainly sleeping & eating better) that I started to not feel like death every day.

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#33

Post by jessriedel »

jperras wrote: post #22

The title seems a tad misleading. The author describes some relatively major lifestyle changes (huge changes in diet, sleeping habits, large increase in aerobic/anaerobic physical activity), of which the elimination of caffeine is but a small part. I used to have some very bad problems with acidity as well, to the point where my doctor thought I might have had acute ulcerative colitis, but what fixed it for me was sl…

FYI, the dominant theory is that ulcerative colitis is an autoimmune disease, and the inflammation in the colon has nothing to do with what is eaten. Instead, it's due to the immune system deciding to attack the intestinal tissue. It might be provoked indirectly by things like stress, but coffee or other food are not thought to trigger flare-ups.

(That said, some people find they can reduce their discomfort by modifying their diet once a flare-up begins. But there is no evidence that diet either provokes flare-ups or induces remission.)

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#34

Post by randallsquared »

ahelwer wrote: post #16
desbest wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a heroin addict who filmed himself going cold turkey for his family, and at the end of the video, was himself on camera, having a brain hemorrhage. Very unlike caffeine.

Anecdotal evidence I know, but I was a three cups/day guy for a while then quit cold turkey. After about a week of feeling a bit fuzzy and irritable I was back to normal. Is this atypical or something?

No, I don't think it is atypical; that's what quitting caffeine is like for me, too. There are some people who have a terrible time, though.

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#35

Post by DanBC »

herdrick wrote: post #15
desbest wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a heroin addict who filmed himself going cold turkey for his family, and at the end of the video, was himself on camera, having a brain hemorrhage. Very unlike caffeine.

Actually, withdrawal from heroin is a trivial matter. http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/3212846/withdrawal-from-... Unlike alcohol, for example.

Trivial is perhaps a bit too dismissive.

But, yes, drug and alcohol detox units save the beds for alcoholics (who can die during detox) and not for heroin addicts (who tend not to die during detox).

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#36

Post by jessriedel »

desbest wrote: post #5
geoka9 wrote: post #3

Reading this gave me chills - the symptoms of withdrawal described here are not unlike those of a heroin addict gone cold turkey. I can't imagine normal healthy people routinely taking a drug and teaching their children to take one. And yet this happens with coffee all the time. Many are even proud of their addiction ("coffee snobs").

There was a heroin addict who filmed himself going cold turkey for his family, and at the end of the video, was himself on camera, having a brain hemorrhage. Very unlike caffeine.

Opiate withdrawal can be extremely unpleasant, but the direct health risks are very low. Things like methadone exist to make things psychologically easier and reduce the rate of relapse. As mentioned, alcohol withdrawal is actually much more dangerous.

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#37

Post by jperras »

jessriedel wrote: post #33
jperras wrote: post #22

The title seems a tad misleading. The author describes some relatively major lifestyle changes (huge changes in diet, sleeping habits, large increase in aerobic/anaerobic physical activity), of which the elimination of caffeine is but a small part. I used to have some very bad problems with acidity as well, to the point where my doctor thought I might have had acute ulcerative colitis, but what fixed it for me was sl…

FYI, the dominant theory is that ulcerative colitis is an autoimmune disease, and the inflammation in the colon has nothing to do with what is eaten. Instead, it's due to the immune system deciding to attack the intestinal tissue. It might be provoked indirectly by things like stress, but coffee or other food are not thought to trigger flare-ups. (That said, some people find they can reduce their discomfort by modify…

Good to know. My doctor suspected that I might have ulcerative colitis, but luckily it was not the case. I was highly symptomatic due to my incredibly poor lifestyle habits that I described elsewhere in this thread, so suspecting that I might suffer from UC/Crohn's disease wasn't completely out of left-field.

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#38

Post by omegant »

mtrimpe wrote: post #11
yawgmoth wrote: post #6

Sort of an odd question, but have you found that the flora of your mouth changed when you cut out all of the acidity and sugary drinks? Less plaque \ bad breath? How long does it take you to go from first opening your eyes when you awake, to being 'normally awake'? One of my big things is to get out of bed ASAP and get a dose of caffeine right away (powdered, usually). It's a fairly small dose (50mg) but I found that…

I quit caffeine cold-turkey about a month ago and when I was still drinking caffeine I was much like you brewing a killer espresso at home or having an energy drink on the way to work. The basic gist seems to be that caffeine allows you to not have a healthy morning ritual. After you quit you'll have to learn to have a decent breakfast and ideally some exercise as well, since otherwise you'll most likely just be a zo…

Well I don't drink coffee (i can't remember if I've ever finished a cup), and I love to sleep (not an early bird). I can tell you that I have to wake up at Retty early hours (like 5 in the morning or earlier, never the same hour) due to my work, and I never feel sleepy the way coffee drinkers do. Neither I need to exercise. I am also aboe to have heavy breakfasts very early, unlike coffee drinkers who usually can't eat more than a toast. I don't know that many people who doesn't drink coffee, so I don't know if my experience is common or not.

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#39

Post by samratjp »

jperras wrote: post #22

The title seems a tad misleading. The author describes some relatively major lifestyle changes (huge changes in diet, sleeping habits, large increase in aerobic/anaerobic physical activity), of which the elimination of caffeine is but a small part. I used to have some very bad problems with acidity as well, to the point where my doctor thought I might have had acute ulcerative colitis, but what fixed it for me was sl…

He wrote a first part here - http://bryanalexander.org/2013/01/04/a-year-without-caffeine... (this was on HN earlier and sets the context for the caffeine free lifestyle).

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#40

Post by pkulak »

geoka9 wrote: post #3

Reading this gave me chills - the symptoms of withdrawal described here are not unlike those of a heroin addict gone cold turkey. I can't imagine normal healthy people routinely taking a drug and teaching their children to take one. And yet this happens with coffee all the time. Many are even proud of their addiction ("coffee snobs").

Hey now, let's not lump all addiction together. I'm a coffee snob (I drink 2 2-oz shots a day), but I'd say that 60% of it is because I love the taste of coffee. The other 40% is the ability to regulate my alertness better and that it's tough to find good decaf coffee.

I've quit caffeine several times. Each time I get headaches each morning (which can be controlled fine with aspirin) for about a week. Then I'm done. I've always gone back though after a couple months. I'm also addicted to chapstick. Those are my two addictions and I'm fine with them.

Post reply on HN