I have a strong belief that the vast majority of writings like this could be replaced with the sentence: “If doing something makes you feel worse, you should stop doing it.”
The case against caffeine
111–120 of 251 posts
Re: The case against caffeine
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do think it would be nice if we had health advice that applied to all people.
Take your tetanus shot and don’t step on rusty nails. But, per GP’s point, maybe someone doesn’t get tetanus anyway.
> maybe someone doesn’t get tetanus anyway
Isn't that what the vaccine is for?
It's still a good idea to not step on dirty rusty nails. There are no exceptions here.
Re: The case against caffeine
#113I tried this! I went completely caffeine free for over a year and was... fine? But way more tired all the time, and generally having trouble focusing on tasks. In my particular case, I suspect caffeine is a self administered coping mechanism for mild ADHD tendencies, and without that I became much more sensitive to the food I was eating and my changing energy levels throughout the day. Eventually I realized I had sto…
i live with (more than mild) ADHD and this is something i only just realized about myself. i used to use medication, but keeping up with the schedules and appointments needed to maintain steady access to the medicine is _exactly_ the sort of thing i struggle with; these days i haven't been medicated for over ten years. i use caffeine (coffe & energy drinks), nicotine (vaping), and sugar (jelly beans) to be a functional member of society. i honestly didn't realize i was self-medicating until a doctor pointed it out to me a year ago.
i'm pretty certain my current habits are shortening my lifespan and that my life would be happier (and more productive) with medicine. at the same time, i have a partner who does use medicine and i watch the hurdles they face (with insurance, with pharmacy shortages, juggling schedules with multiple doctors, having withdrawal when availability doesn't line up) and i feel like i wouldn't stand a chance of juggling all of that.
Re: The case against caffeine
#114I had a very similar experience as this author. All throughout high school and college, I was prescribed Adderall. After graduation, I got a job, and realized Adderall wasn't good for me long term, so I switched to coffee. This alone helped with my anxiety, ability to sleep, and social interactions. After a while, I started to wonder if coffee is good for me also. So I quit cold turkey for a few weeks as an experimen…
Why were you on Adderall? ADHD? Personally I'd struggle to not have any stimulants even if I could have less.
Re: The case against caffeine
#115At least personally, I've found that starting to drink coffee has had a pretty dramatic positive impact on my depression. I wonder if the difference in experience could come down to the specific circumstances and nature of the issues that someone faces?
You're not going to suggest that different people have different baseline biochemistry and would benefit from different things in different ways? No! That's not allowed! All health advice must fit all people, and people who don't fit the health advice shouldn't be allowed to complain about it. /sarcasm, but I've seen serious versions of this argument
This is Dr. HN, but without the /sarcasm tag.
Re: The case against caffeine
#116High amounts shrink the brain, increase dementia risk. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1028415X.2021.19... And very few people drink 1-2 cups. The travel mugs and typical coffee place cups are close to this danger range.
"The association between coffee consumption and dementia was non-linear (Pnon-linearity = 0.0001), with evidence for higher odds for non-coffee and decaffeinated coffee drinkers and those drinking >6 cups/day, compared to light coffee drinkers"
So, reading the study, not drinking coffee is bad and drinking more than 6 cups a day is bad too.
Re: The case against caffeine
#117The user found out that he's overdosing on caffeine and cutting it late in the day. Caffeine takes 10 hours to clear from your system. I only drink a single cup of coffee every day, at 1 PM, to clear my afternoon better. It's not a substitute for sleep, lack of attention and your body has an upper limit. Don't abuse that limit, and you'll have none of the problems author described. I'm telling you as a person who dra…
Caffeine can take and usually takes way longer than 10 hours to clear from your system.
If you have 400 mg of caffeine in your body (max daily caffeine recommended by FDA), after 15 hours you will still have ~64 mg left. After 15 hours you still have the equivalent of 1 ounce of espresso in you.
Re: The case against caffeine
#118To add another anecdote: I drink minimum one small pot of coffee a day (a pour-over I make with my wife, 30g/450g beans/water), plus a moka pot or two in the afternoon, or a 15g pour-over. And 1-3 espresso shots if I go into the office. I consider the coffee experience positively euphoric. Almost spiritual. Certainly ritual. I would never give up the time of sitting with my wife for half an hour to an hour each morni…
> And 1-3 espresso shots if I go into the office. I consider the coffee experience positively euphoric. Almost spiritual.
As someone who doesn’t consume caffeine, this sounds a lot like addiction. You can keep the ritual and ditch the caffeine by drinking decaf if you want.
Re: The case against caffeine
#119What we really know for sure is this – sleep is good, anxiety is bad. So, if you aren't getting good sleep, find ways to fix it. And if you are anxious all the time, find ways to fix it. By one tradition that's thousands of years old – Yoga+Pranayama+Meditation (linking physical/mental_movement+breadth) and fasting + eating moderately (eat only if you are hungry and eat enough to quench hunger, and eat 'satvik' food)…
> By one tradition that's thousands of years old
It is hard to think of a major religious tradition that does not have most of these elements (fasting, moderation, practicing positive thought patterns) within it. The posture and movement bit is specific to that tradition - but even there I think things like "work and prayer" are not that different.
> Coming to coffee, all coffee is not made the same way and everyone don't drink the same quantity per day either. And it doesn't have the same impact on everyone's body.
Very much my reaction. Would having or not having a cup of coffee in the morning make a big difference to me? Hard to tell.
Also, if you have a lot of coffee coming of it suddenly can be a problem because caffeine is an anti-depressant. A coffee habit might be self-medication.
I find the tone of the article a bit annoying. It reminds me of people on LinkedIn going on about how much better they feel since they gave up alcohol.
Re: The case against caffeine
#120High amounts shrink the brain, increase dementia risk. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1028415X.2021.19... And very few people drink 1-2 cups. The travel mugs and typical coffee place cups are close to this danger range.
"High amounts" is a bit of an understatement, the study is talking about more than 6 cups of coffee daily, which is going to be in the 550-600mg range. Up to about 400mg a day is safe for adults[0]. 600mg is a lot of caffeine. For context, a Bang energy drink which is on the upper end of what you can get in a single drink, is 300mg. Most "energy drinks" are around 200mg less. I'm not sure anyone is surprised by the s…
Panera Bread was selling lemonade with 390 mg of caffeine in it.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2023/12/12/panera-ch...