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Habitual coffee intake shapes the microbiome, modifies physiology and cognition

nature.com

221–230 of 281 posts

Re: Habitual coffee intake shapes the microbiome, modifies physiology and cognition

#221
post #196

I drank a lot of coffee until I forgot to pack instant on a 3 day backpacking trip. Headache the whole time that I cured in 5 minutes by drinking a mt dew the minute we got back to civilization. Figured it wasn't worth it and weaned off. Then it turned out my rate of getting migraines dropped off considerably. But I love coffee, so I tried decaf. Migraines returned to being more frequent. So that was that. If I could…

PSA: decaffeinated coffee contains about 1/3 as much caffeine as regular - so far from caffeine free.

It depends of course but typically it’s more like 3% the caffeine of regular coffee

Re: Habitual coffee intake shapes the microbiome, modifies physiology and cognition

#222

What's cool is this effect exists even in decaf coffee, as someone who primarily drinks decaf black, for flavor and for a good night's rest as I'm sensitive to caffeine.

What kind of decaf coffee do you drink? There are differences between the cheap chemical Methylene way to create decaf coffee and the expensive co2 way to get rid of the caffeine. https://cleanlabelproject.org/wp-content/uploads/CLP-Decaf-C...

I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to methylene-decaffeinated coffee. I discovered in the early 1990s that I'd get sneezy almost every time I drink decaf office coffee, but my home decaf didn't do that to me.

Hasn't happened in a long time, probably due to (1) avoiding cheap decaf and (2) the banning of meth-coffee (heh) in the US.

Re: Habitual coffee intake shapes the microbiome, modifies physiology and cognition

#223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What stimulants have you landed on? And do you feel they're better for you? I'm pondering getting a coffee machine at home. 400 EUR is not a sizable investment and one I'd have forgotten about it 3 months but I'm getting cold feet when it gets to committing. Americano coffee definitely picks me up and is a full net positive for me. But that's only if I drink 2-3 times a week. Not sure how it's going to be if I start…

Especially if you like Americanos, chances are you'll be happier with filter coffee from good beans, rather than spending it in an espresso machine. Get an Aeropress, or Hario Switch, or Clever dripper. A kettle and some filters. For beans buy from roasters that do light/meduim roasts, and print a recent roasting date on the package/website. The only expensive item should be a grinder, look at 1zpresso Q/Air/X or Kin…

I would like to second this solid advice.

I have a very nice grinder: a solis caffissima digital coffee grinder. It is available under a different brand name in the US I think.

I make filter coffee with a very basic earthenware filter holder with melitta high quality yet very normal filters and sometimes I mix it up with an aeropress which offers a different type of taste because of the low acidity way of making coffee. I just drip the coffee into a nice thermos so I can make 4 cups in one go and just pour from the thermos.

My coffee is much nicer than I get in most places, both professional and at homes and it doesn’t cost me a lot in effort, money and, very importantly, workspace footprint.

Espresso machines require a lot of space and maintenance and trouble to make.

Having said all this, I am quite intrigued about all the stories about the negative effects of coffee. I just thought it was about influencing sleep, but I had never thought about the memory and mood effects. I will study this some more in the coming months.

Re: Habitual coffee intake shapes the microbiome, modifies physiology and cognition

#224
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I'm deep into specialty coffee and I love making and drinking coffee a lot , but three cups is already higher than what I drink on a normal day. Also, most of the time when I go above this threshold, I drink decaf.

I wonder how many grams of coffee beans they consider are in 1 cup though.

Yes, that's a missing but crucial information indeed.

To be more precise about my previous message, when I say a cup I mean between 15g and 18g of beans.

Re: Habitual coffee intake shapes the microbiome, modifies physiology and cognition

#225
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get yourself a moka pot, aeropress or French press. Fantastic coffee for very cheap. Highly unlikely that 2-3 times a week will last though - either religiously stick to once a week or be open to drinking it daily.

I have a moka pot but I guess I am doing it wrong -- maybe I should not fill its coffee compartment to the brim? is there other way of doing it? -- because the coffee that gets out destroys me: heart palpitations, slight arrhythmia, headaches, and energy crash. I can't drink too much caffeine but light doses (i.e. the Americano) actually help me and energize me. It's really weird. What's good about the aero-press and…

Look up Moka Pot Voodoo on YouTube. It'll sort you out.

Americano means nothing - its just diluted strong coffee (eg espresso, moka pot). You probably need to learn how much actual coffee your body can handle.

I handle very little, so have a 1 cup moka pot which takes 9-10g of ground coffee. And that's pushing my upper limit. My body can usually handle better a very unsatisfying 6-7g brewed. I need to find some good decaf... (though I have a line on Laurina coffee, which has half as much caffeine. Hopefully I can get some soon).

French press is just a really easy way to get a great cup of coffee. You don't even need one - you could just make cowboy coffee (grounds in hot water) and carefully decant it out at after 5-10 min. Look up James Hoffman french press method. His aeropress series is good too.

You also need to learn that all of this stuff that everyone says is just drug addict self-talk coping. You only actually get a boost at first, and then your body adapts and is in caffeine deficit and is just trying to get back to baseline with more coffee.

The healthiest way to do any of this would be to try as you said (but likely unsuccessfully) to limit your coffee intake to 2-3 days a week, so that you might actually get a kick rather than just sustain your addiction. Once a week as a special occasion might be more successful. It should be treated as a healthy person treats alcohol...

I'm not even joking with all this drug addict talk.

Re: Habitual coffee intake shapes the microbiome, modifies physiology and cognition

#226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially if you like Americanos, chances are you'll be happier with filter coffee from good beans, rather than spending it in an espresso machine. Get an Aeropress, or Hario Switch, or Clever dripper. A kettle and some filters. For beans buy from roasters that do light/meduim roasts, and print a recent roasting date on the package/website. The only expensive item should be a grinder, look at 1zpresso Q/Air/X or Kin…

Not gonna lie, this sounds like way too much work. What I am mostly looking for is some sort of an easy access to a diluted coffee like the Americano, really. I am OK with buying 1-2kg of beans because I am fairly sure that's going to last me 3-6 months. Cleaning the machine I've done in offices -- 3 minute job. But any more commitment just sounds tiring. I am not a coffee connoisseur by any stretch of the imaginatio…

In that case, if you stick to pre-ground coffee, just get an Oxo Rapid Brewer. It’s cheap, easy and fast to use and clean, and only requires a kettle. You’ll get decent coffee.

Re: Habitual coffee intake shapes the microbiome, modifies physiology and cognition

#227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quitting caffeine after decades of use was a bit of a mixed bag for me in the short term, but positive in the long term. Going caffeine-free made it much easier to lose weight as I have far less cravings for high carbs and sugar now, presumably this is related to the impulsivity impact talked about in the paper. Going caffeine-free also made me very depressed for a while with severe anhedonia, this lasted way longer…

I'm almost exactly 1 year coffee-free (not caffeine free, but significantly less because tea is much less addictive for me). Also positive in the long-term for me. Fewer digestive issues, less spiky dopamine sensitive or impulsiveness and performance during the day, better memory. I wish it weren't so. But damn was the 3-6 months of anhedonia awful. I still feel pangs of it.

How much coffee were you drinking before quitting? 3-6 months seems like a very long time. As far as I know, most withdrawal symptoms should end within 2 weeks, with the most intense symptoms ending within a few days

Re: Habitual coffee intake shapes the microbiome, modifies physiology and cognition

#228

I must be weird, but coffee (or caffeine) doesn’t really “wake me up” in the mornings and I could drink it in the night and still sleep well. Because of that I don’t drink coffee; I prefer tea

I think this description is often associated with ADHD memes. Falling asleep after a can of energy drink.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradoxical_reaction#Caffeine

This absolutely happens to my father, who uses coffee as a sleep aid but the science is sketchy.

It is documented but I don't know if it is scientifically valid

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivit...

I can't find it now but I once read that people who report the "paradoxical reaction" to stimulants have a significantly better outcome from stimulant medications, and both those values seem to have higher heritability than ADHD as a whole, possibly even linked to a single gene.

Re: Habitual coffee intake shapes the microbiome, modifies physiology and cognition

#229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This study is Irish, so I think they likely use 170ml cups? That means a normal mug of ~500ml is 3 cups. Perhaps they even use US coffee cup size, which is 118ml? Honestly, using an unit of measurement that varies from 118ml to 250ml in a scientific paper brings the whole paper into question.

> a normal mug of ~500ml woa where is half a liter of coffee a "normal" portion?

500mL is a pretty typical size for a travel mug/tumblr. I'd consider that two or three servings though.

Re: Habitual coffee intake shapes the microbiome, modifies physiology and cognition

#230
I am reading the comments and wonde about the spread of individual sensitivity.

I drink 3 to 6 Nespresso coffees daily, at various times, including shortly before going to bed. Sometimes I don't drink at all for a few days.

I don't feel any effects related to the number, or whether I drink it or not. Sure, this is subjective but when I compare myself to the stories of the commenters I start to wonder if there is any caffeine at all in what I drink.

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