7 ms·

The video and research highlights imply that 2 or more cups a day is more beneficial but personally I feel the dependency created by such large amounts of caffe

by reedlaw 11y ago

The video and research highlights imply that 2 or more cups a day is more beneficial but personally I feel the dependency created by such large amounts of caffeine would outweigh the benefits. Even at one cup a day an interruption such as travel causes withdrawal symptoms such as headaches. That means you'd have to always bring coffee with you or stay within easy reach of a cafe. Not much fun when your travel or activities don't include daily time out for coffee.

jacalata 11y ago
Not everyone experiences that kind of dependance, if you do then yea, it might be a problem.
- reedlaw 11y ago
  Anecdotally, I've found most people who don't experience withdrawal never cease consuming coffee long enough. People who drank enormous amounts daily and suddenly quit tend to experience severe withdrawal symptoms.
  - nmrm2 11y ago
    It's also a matter of how much you're drinking. I take two weeks off from drinking coffee each year (not because of the coffee, it just works out that way). I had horrible withdrawal the first year, and switched from 3ish cups of American style coffee to 3ish shots of espresso with water or milk. Same amount of liquid, but considerably less caffeine. I haven't had withdrawal problems since.
  - jacalata 11y ago
    But your first comment was about a habit of even one cup a day leading you to be unable to travel for fear of withdrawal. I don't think that's a massive amount, and I'm curious how long you think is "long enough" to induce withdrawal.
    - reedlaw 11y ago
      In my experience the symptoms start just a few hours after a missed daily dose. That was on one cup a day from a Moka pot. I've since cut back to 2-3 times a week. If I regularly skip days it doesn't seem to be as habit forming.
  - pmlamotte 11y ago
    I can attest to this. I was consuming over a gram of caffeine a day from a pre-workout drink, and 3 cups of starbucks pike's. It's a daily ritual at work to make the walk to Starbucks which ends up resulting in various technical discussions, so I ended up getting quite addicted to the caffeine. After only a few months I noticed my vision was getting blurry, lacking focus, and there was some visual swirling as if I was on LSD. Fast-forward another 9 months and colors were muted, all emotions were numbed, I was insanely irritable, and I felt completely distant from the world. I felt so numb to life that I was very close to seeking therapy due to increased thoughts of suicide. On weekends I never had caffeine, but one day I decided to try some tea. That little amount of caffeine was enough to kick me out of the withdrawals and and make me realize it was the caffeine that was causing it. It's been two months since I last had caffeine and I'm still going through withdrawals. For a while I had to take ibuprofen because the headaches were so severe, but now it's just a slight head pressure. Colors are popping, sunlight is gorgeous, I can focus on words in a sentence without my vision darting around. It's better, but I know there's still another month or two to fully reset. I'm getting back to feeling like I did in grade school though which is amazing to me. I've always drank large amounts of soda since middle school/high school, so I've likely always been impacted by caffeine like this at a smaller scale. I had actually tried stopping early on, but was sticking with decaf and only for two weeks which wasn't long enough to notice anything. For some added info, I have the A;C form of http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Rs762551 http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Rs762551 which supposedly makes me metabolize caffeine more slowly.
bmj 11y ago
I've not read a lot of scientific information about the benefits of coffee, so I wonder: is it strictly the caffeine in the coffee, or is it a combination of the caffeine and the other chemicals in coffee? I've (mostly) weaned myself from caffeinated coffee, but I still drink several cups of decaf every day. Do I still get some of the purported health benefits?
- reedlaw 11y ago
  Yes, according to the article.
snogglethorpe 11y ago
That seems a bit overwrought.... In my experience (and anecdotally from friends), the withdrawal symptoms are real, but not particularly severe. For me it's just very mild (as in I barely notice) headaches and a vague under-the-weather feeling; to others I probably seem a bit grumpy. After a day or two of abstaining, the symptoms disappear. Sure, it's vaguely annoying, but nothing more. When I travel or something and end up not drinking coffee for a while, it's simply not an issue.
- sudoherethere 11y ago
  For me symptom were extremely severe over several weeks. In end, I could quit coffee for good. Recently, I had some stomach troubles and doctor told me to cutback or completely stop drinking coffee to help stomach heal. I decided to go cold turkey. Figured it would speed up recovery. A bad mistake. Headaches and irritation was easy to control and disappeared within couple of days. But my body is so dependent on caffeine. I had constipation, I could not motivate myself to go workout in evenings, I felt the world was moving at different pace than me. I just felt all sorts of wrong and I keep on thinking it was just a pace it pass soon. Finally, I could not take it. Went back to drinking as much coffee as I needand life is great now.

by reedlaw 11y ago

jacalata 11y ago

Not everyone experiences that kind of dependance, if you do then yea, it might be a problem.

reedlaw 11y ago
Anecdotally, I've found most people who don't experience withdrawal never cease consuming coffee long enough. People who drank enormous amounts daily and suddenly quit tend to experience severe withdrawal symptoms.
- nmrm2 11y ago
  It's also a matter of how much you're drinking. I take two weeks off from drinking coffee each year (not because of the coffee, it just works out that way). I had horrible withdrawal the first year, and switched from 3ish cups of American style coffee to 3ish shots of espresso with water or milk. Same amount of liquid, but considerably less caffeine. I haven't had withdrawal problems since.
- jacalata 11y ago
  But your first comment was about a habit of even one cup a day leading you to be unable to travel for fear of withdrawal. I don't think that's a massive amount, and I'm curious how long you think is "long enough" to induce withdrawal.
  - reedlaw 11y ago
    In my experience the symptoms start just a few hours after a missed daily dose. That was on one cup a day from a Moka pot. I've since cut back to 2-3 times a week. If I regularly skip days it doesn't seem to be as habit forming.
- pmlamotte 11y ago
  I can attest to this. I was consuming over a gram of caffeine a day from a pre-workout drink, and 3 cups of starbucks pike's. It's a daily ritual at work to make the walk to Starbucks which ends up resulting in various technical discussions, so I ended up getting quite addicted to the caffeine. After only a few months I noticed my vision was getting blurry, lacking focus, and there was some visual swirling as if I was on LSD. Fast-forward another 9 months and colors were muted, all emotions were numbed, I was insanely irritable, and I felt completely distant from the world. I felt so numb to life that I was very close to seeking therapy due to increased thoughts of suicide. On weekends I never had caffeine, but one day I decided to try some tea. That little amount of caffeine was enough to kick me out of the withdrawals and and make me realize it was the caffeine that was causing it. It's been two months since I last had caffeine and I'm still going through withdrawals. For a while I had to take ibuprofen because the headaches were so severe, but now it's just a slight head pressure. Colors are popping, sunlight is gorgeous, I can focus on words in a sentence without my vision darting around. It's better, but I know there's still another month or two to fully reset. I'm getting back to feeling like I did in grade school though which is amazing to me. I've always drank large amounts of soda since middle school/high school, so I've likely always been impacted by caffeine like this at a smaller scale. I had actually tried stopping early on, but was sticking with decaf and only for two weeks which wasn't long enough to notice anything. For some added info, I have the A;C form of http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Rs762551 http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Rs762551 which supposedly makes me metabolize caffeine more slowly.

bmj 11y ago

I've not read a lot of scientific information about the benefits of coffee, so I wonder: is it strictly the caffeine in the coffee, or is it a combination of the caffeine and the other chemicals in coffee? I've (mostly) weaned myself from caffeinated coffee, but I still drink several cups of decaf every day. Do I still get some of the purported health benefits?

reedlaw 11y ago
Yes, according to the article.

snogglethorpe 11y ago

That seems a bit overwrought.... In my experience (and anecdotally from friends), the withdrawal symptoms are real, but not particularly severe. For me it's just very mild (as in I barely notice) headaches and a vague under-the-weather feeling; to others I probably seem a bit grumpy. After a day or two of abstaining, the symptoms disappear. Sure, it's vaguely annoying, but nothing more. When I travel or something and end up not drinking coffee for a while, it's simply not an issue.

sudoherethere 11y ago
For me symptom were extremely severe over several weeks. In end, I could quit coffee for good. Recently, I had some stomach troubles and doctor told me to cutback or completely stop drinking coffee to help stomach heal. I decided to go cold turkey. Figured it would speed up recovery. A bad mistake. Headaches and irritation was easy to control and disappeared within couple of days. But my body is so dependent on caffeine. I had constipation, I could not motivate myself to go workout in evenings, I felt the world was moving at different pace than me. I just felt all sorts of wrong and I keep on thinking it was just a pace it pass soon. Finally, I could not take it. Went back to drinking as much coffee as I needand life is great now.