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The case against caffeine

zantafakari.substack.com

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Re: The case against caffeine

#21

Post by martinky24 »

swader999 wrote: post #16
martinky24 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> After full covariate adjustment, consumption of >6 cups/day was associated with 53% higher odds of dementia compared to consumption of 1–2 cups/day So what they're saying is too much of a (good? fine? reasonable?) thing can be a bad thing? Not sure this supports a case against caffeine. You should look up what happens if someone consumes too much salt!

I think my edit addresses your point.

One travel mug is well within the safe range your own link describes...

If people are drinking 3 travel mugs a day... then sure...? Not sure what that changes.

Re: The case against caffeine

#22

Post by LexLeeter »

swader999 wrote: post #4

High 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.

6 cups a day is 48 oz of coffee. A travel mug and venti is 20oz. I don't know anyone who drinks more than 2 of those in a day.

Stop the hyperbole.

Re: The case against caffeine

#23

Post by johnny99k »

I only use Caffeine now when I'm really low on sleep and stop all intake after that. In high school, I would drink tons of caffeine every day.

I didn't realize until later in life that it contributes to my anxiety. I sleep much better without it and can actually get more work done. My anxiety is also reduced to almost nothing.

I think I got into a habit of just drinking coffee every day, that I didn't really think about it.

Re: The case against caffeine

#24

Post by Swizec »

Important to note: Not everyone has the same reaction to caffeine. And not all caffeine hits the same. What it’s mixed with matters.

The caffeine in tea, for example, doesn’t have as many anxiety inducing effects because you also get a bunch of L-theanine, which has a calming effect. To the point that many modern energy drinks have started adding it to their formula.

Personally I sleep fine with or without caffeine. Timing matters little. What really absolutely truly impacts my quality if sleep – physical activity.

Re: The case against caffeine

#26

Post by resiros »

I quit Coffee one month each year (Ramadan while fasting). It has the effect of resetting my tolerance to caffeine. The first coffee after Ramandan feels more like Cocaine than Caffeine, almost like a superpower. However, I have to say, I don't see any difference in sleep quality with or without coffee. I just make sure only to drink coffee in the morning.

Re: The case against caffeine

#27

Post by grecy »

After a decade of a cup or two a day, I switched to decaf, and then stopped that too.

I had no idea, but it wasn’t until I stopped that I realized I had been living life through a fog… kind of dulled down senses and reactions.

I love coffee, but I feel so much better without it I’ll never go back. I highly recommend everyone quit just to see how they feel. You might be surprised

Re: The case against caffeine

#28

Post by ikesau »

I think it's good to examine all habits that we have, and if this article gets you to consider the (potentially unknown) trade offs you're making, great!

but to really know what they are, RCT self-experiments are the best way to work out what's really going on.

gwern has a bunch of examples (https://gwern.net/zeo/caffeine) but you should tailor yours to the effects you're most interested in.

incidentally, does anyone here have a go-to tutorial for how to set one up, how to do power analysis, etc? i'm persuaded by why we should do RCTs, but I don't have the background in statistics to confidently run them myself.

Re: The case against caffeine

#29

Post by wzdd »

This isn't really against caffeine, it's against drinking multiple cups of coffee throughout the day. Tea is less anxiety-inducing that coffee (and lower in caffeine). Even if you stick with coffee, a cup in the morning won't mess with your sleep unless you are unusually sensitive.

Re: The case against caffeine

#30

Post by mastax »

debt wrote: post #3

If you're going to drink decaf, be sure to drink decaf prepared via the Swiss water method. It has the least additives, healthiest option and tastes pretty good.

The Ethyl Acetate (aka sugarcane) method is also good, as long as the resulting beans are complemented by the slight fruity flavor added by the process. There's a new plant in Colombia which makes some excellent coffees (provided they are roasted well).

It can be difficult to find roasters who actually care about their decaf coffee beans - they are more difficult to roast and some roasters still turn up their nose at it. Decaf beans stale faster (both before and after roasting) so it's even more important to get fresh beans from a good roaster.

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