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A year without caffeine (part 2)

bryanalexander.org

111–120 of 130 posts

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#111

I personally have never been a caffeine user. I had always assumed that if I used it regularly, my body would eventually counteradjust so that I would require coffee just to bring me back to my original baseline level of alertness. Can anyone comment on whether this is the case?

I personally know, thats exactly the case. Also lack of sleep will make you go way below where your normal baseline would be.

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#112

I personally have never been a caffeine user. I had always assumed that if I used it regularly, my body would eventually counteradjust so that I would require coffee just to bring me back to my original baseline level of alertness. Can anyone comment on whether this is the case?

For me it's a sleep thing. If I enough/plenty of sleep then caffeine doesn't do much, otherwise it can help a lot.

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#113
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

While that may be the dominant theory it doesn't appear to be true. I follow a doctor out of NJ who uses dietary intervention to successfully treat a lot of diseases most doctors will say are "incurable", including ulcerative colitis, IBS, lupus, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes (the adult onset type). He has an entire newsletter devoted to the following: Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Aggresive dietary mo…

If you're a lone voice in opposition to the medical and scientific establishment, then to take you seriously I'd expect to be seeing some pretty extraordinary evidence.

Things that would make me more sceptical of your claims would include:

1. A glossy website with slick before/after photos that appears to be primarily an advertisement for your (expensive) courses.

2. Putting all of your evidence in a non-peer reviewed newsletter that you then charge $7 / month for. He's clearly heard of journals (he's even published in some of them, although none of them particularly prestigious) so why isn't he using them?

3. The invention of bogus mathematical equations to "back up" your claims (Health = Nutrients/Calories... please).

4. Any claim to be able to cure a wide variety of unrelated illnesses with a simple treatment (cf. allergies, asthma, acne, autoimmune disease (!), chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, diabetes, migraines, and, somewhat mysteriously, "others").

5. Any association at all with Mehmet Oz.

This guy doesn't even begin to pass the smell test.

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#114
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like the taste of coffee but don't feel like a need or want the caffeine boost. Decaf coffees don't taste the same though either. So once in a while I go for about a week or so of drinking coffee, then quit and pay for it with headaches.

Decaf taste depends a lot on the process. Out of the different kinds I've tried, CO2 distillate is best.

I switched to decaffeinated coffee a couple of years ago (why?[1]). I was drinking about 250mg worth of caffeine a day before I stopped. I had a week of bad headaches, interrupted sleep, night sweats and crankiness and I was done. It's not nice but it's only a week or so. I avoided taking painkillers to mask the symptoms as some contain caffeine (especially the "Express" versions) to speed up the body's metabolism and get them into the bloodstream quicker; suffering the full symptoms also serves as a reminder of why I was doing it.

Decaf still contains some caffeine, so my 5 cups a day are probably still giving me ~25mg or so of caffeine. I drink it because I like the taste of coffee although I'm considering giving it up completely. I'm not a coffee snob and I'm happy with the taste of instant coffee.

25mg is still less caffeine than is contained in a single can of Coke (36mg).

Years ago I stopped eating chocolate and drinking soda for both dental and health reasons (I want to avoid the increased risk of Type II Diabetes from large intakes of sugary drinks).

I still, once a week maybe, have a non-decaf coffee if decaf isn't available, but I try to limit myself to one that day as I do notice the buzz from having a full strength coffee again.

1. Primary driver was in preparation for some long distance cycling where I'd be getting 2. I cope with sleep deprivation very well, indeed I coped a lot better with lack of sleep than a lot of other people on the event. Having children is good training for sleep deprivation (or at least not getting more than 3 hours sleep in a single stretch).

3. My planned naps (one or two hours a day) staved off most of the problems but I did get caught out a couple of times. One was at night and so I loaded up with coffee (many locals along the route set up roadside stalls giving out free coffee and food to riders) to keep myself awake for the three hours to the next control where I slept; the other was during the day when it was nice and sunny so I had an hour long nap on some grass by the road side.

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Decaf taste depends a lot on the process. Out of the different kinds I've tried, CO2 distillate is best.

I switched to decaffeinated coffee a couple of years ago (why?[1]). I was drinking about 250mg worth of caffeine a day before I stopped. I had a week of bad headaches, interrupted sleep, night sweats and crankiness and I was done. It's not nice but it's only a week or so. I avoided taking painkillers to mask the symptoms as some contain caffeine (especially the "Express" versions) to speed up the body's metabolism an…

When I'm coming up to weightlifting competitions I wean myself off coffee (by progressively substituting regular coffee for decaf in my espresso machine) for the same reason: I want to increase the effect on mental energy, but not have the side-effects such as sweaty hands or shakiness.

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That means you adjusted back quickly, but it doesn't really answer the question. Which is: If you have coffee almost every day, does it still provide you an alertness boost?

I drink coffee everyday (somedays four or more espressos). I also stop drinking coffe for a few days at least twice every semester, just in case. Even at peak coffee, more coffee still stimulates my mind and makes me infinitely more focused. The only times coffee hasn't worked is when I'm genuinely sleep deprived, although I typically get 6-8 hours of sleep.

I would not conclude an effect of caffeine ingestion. You may be getting the alertness boost from placebo effect, conditioned response or even just the fact of taking a break. I get an alertness boost from getting up to fill a glass of water, for example. I don't have to actually drink from the glass to get the effect.

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a purely anecdotal case. Before my Junior year of college, I had drank about four cups (two coffee cups) of coffee every morning since I was twelve. That's about nine years of coffee consumption for me. I stopped one day a year-or-so ago, and besides the two-day migraine, it didn't have any noticeable effect on me thereafter. I still drink coffee every now and then, especially during points where I'm lodging w…

That means you adjusted back quickly, but it doesn't really answer the question. Which is: If you have coffee almost every day, does it still provide you an alertness boost?

> Which is: If you have coffee almost every day, does it still provide you an alertness boost?

I have been on and off coffee several times and my anecdote is that if you have coffee almost every day, it does provide you an alertness boost, but:

Your average alertness over the course of a day with coffee (when you're adjusted to it) and over a day without coffee (when you're adjusted to that) are about the same. The one with coffee just has more ups and downs. Without coffee it's more even. IMHO that evenness is a good thing.

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#118
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While that may be the dominant theory it doesn't appear to be true. I follow a doctor out of NJ who uses dietary intervention to successfully treat a lot of diseases most doctors will say are "incurable", including ulcerative colitis, IBS, lupus, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes (the adult onset type). He has an entire newsletter devoted to the following: Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Aggresive dietary mo…

If you're a lone voice in opposition to the medical and scientific establishment, then to take you seriously I'd expect to be seeing some pretty extraordinary evidence. Things that would make me more sceptical of your claims would include: 1. A glossy website with slick before/after photos that appears to be primarily an advertisement for your (expensive) courses. 2. Putting all of your evidence in a non-peer reviewe…

@Newsletter subscriber: Also some other very common quack sign: > Overly focused on nutrition and supplements for healing all kinds of maladies.

> Toxins everywhere

> Fear mongering

Seems very much you are wasting your 7$: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/your-disease-y...

His formula doesn't make any sense. Health=micronutrients/kcal is a useless approximation. Implies that if you reduce kcal by switiching to more micronutrient dense foods, you'll always be healthier. Which is untrue (there are problems such as starvation, hypervitaminosis, drinking saltwater would be a great idea...) and highly depends on a plethora of other factors.

It's pseudoscience.

(And I say that as a future MD who also does science based sports/nutritional consulting, so be assured I know of the importance of diet and exercise in disease&health.) There are far better sources out there.

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#119
post #18

This is pretty inspiring. It is always amazing to people how much diet and exercise affect their health, which I find amazing that they are amazed. Its fundamental. Of course the ulcers could have been cleared up with the right antibiotics [1] but regardless, Bryan is in a much better place than he was and it doesn't matter which path he took. [1] http://www.cdc.gov/ulcer/consumer.htm

It is always amazing to people how much diet and exercise affect their health This is true. It is equally amazing to me how much abuse the human body can take before it actually breaks down. Sometimes I think it would be better if the results of bad dietary or exercise habits revealed themselves faster - I suppose it would be more convincing and easier to undo the damage.

One has to remember that our bodies' ability to cope with all sorts of diets and environmental factors was most probably a very beneficial thing for prehistoric man. For them it wasn't possible to just change their diet or lifestyle, if their tribe didn't catch game in some time, coping with less nutrient food was essential. And vice versa, when they got some meat, it was good that the body stored fat so they could survive until the next kill. For us, it could be nice if bad lifestyle choices manifested themselves faster in our condition, but that would have killed our ancestors.

Re: A year without caffeine (part 2)

#120
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're a lone voice in opposition to the medical and scientific establishment, then to take you seriously I'd expect to be seeing some pretty extraordinary evidence. Things that would make me more sceptical of your claims would include: 1. A glossy website with slick before/after photos that appears to be primarily an advertisement for your (expensive) courses. 2. Putting all of your evidence in a non-peer reviewe…

@Newsletter subscriber: Also some other very common quack sign: > Overly focused on nutrition and supplements for healing all kinds of maladies. > Toxins everywhere > Fear mongering Seems very much you are wasting your 7$: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/your-disease-y... His formula doesn't make any sense. Health=micronutrients/kcal is a useless approximation. Implies that if you reduce kcal by switich…

> There are far better sources out there

Don't hold back on us, please.

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