5 ms·

I find it amusing that the guy who has two double-shot lattes a day just likes coffee, but the guy who takes the same amount of caffeine in pill form has 'quite

by lsc 16y ago

I find it amusing that the guy who has two double-shot lattes a day just likes coffee, but the guy who takes the same amount of caffeine in pill form has 'quite an addiction' when they are both consuming the same amount of the drug in question.

lwhi 16y ago
If you're not drinking coffee for the taste and experience - stop drinking it. In my opinion, there's no point in sustaining an addiction without any of the main benefits.
- beedogs 16y ago
  If you enjoy the taste so much, you should find yourself a delicious decaffeinated coffee.
  - nollidge 16y ago
    > you should find yourself a delicious decaffeinated coffee. Decaf coffee is universally worse than caffeinated. It's impossible to remove the caffeine from coffee beans without also removing a good deal of the chemicals that contribute to the flavor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaffeinated_coffee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaffeinated_coffee
corin_ 16y ago
Amusing, yes, but not illogical. If I'm away for work chances are I'll be at a starbucks 4 times a day, sometimes same at home. I love it. But I've never had a caffeine pill, and if I don't drink coffee I don't notice any difference. (Exception being that if I'm massively underslept one morning a coffee does have a really good impact on getting me to feel less shit.)
drivebyacct2 16y ago
>I find it amusing that the guy who has two double-shot lattes a day just likes coffee, I find it amusing that you say that, since I never implied any such thing. My father drinks coffee every morning and is a grump without it. He's just as much of an addict as someone who takes coffee pills. Trust me, I'm not one to use the "addiction" word as a scare word or to pass judgement. Though I do find it funny how often HN is anti-drug about things that are less dangerous and addictive than some recreational drugs.
- lsc 16y ago
  >I find it amusing that you say that, since I never implied any such thing. really? because four servings of coffee a day doesn't seem that much over the median dose, at least among people I know, if you adjust for body size. When I'm on, I consume more caffeine than that. So, to me, suggesting that someone has a problem when the dosage is that close to the median suggests that you are criticizing the delivery method more than the dosage. While technically speaking many people (myself included) are 'addicted' to caffeine, I think comparing coffee dependence to something like alcohol dependence does not make a lot of sense; If I started every morning with a nice glass of scotch and finished a fifth every time I had real work to do, I'd likely be dead at this point. If I stop drinking caffeine, I sleep a lot and have a hard time getting work done. Some people get headaches. Withdrawal from long-term Alcohol abuse, on the other hand, often comes with hallucinations and sometimes death. Caffeine dependency isn't in the same class at all. In fact, while I agree that caffeine can be addictive, I'm not at all convinced that caffeine dependency is a bad thing.
  - drivebyacct2 16y ago
    I'm not criticizing the medium at all. In terms of health benefits, eating a caffeine pill is healthier than consuming the equivalent amount of coffee. No doubt alcohol withdrawl is worse, but if we're performing comparative metrics, I can vaporize cannabis for two months straight and stop all of the sudden without so much as a thought. I drank a twelve pack of coke across 4 days and had headaches for that Friday and Saturday. I just don't know what you want me to say. It's not an addiction? Okay. Do you feel better? It's a chemical stimulant that you notice when you stop consuming it. You consume it so that you stay functional. You can sugar coat it or say that it's not like being addicted to alcohol, but it doesn't change the fact that if you cut it out for a few weeks, you'd be more productive without the cost, dependency or negative side effects of coffee. The fact that you KNOW that, and continue to drink it, quite frankly supports the notion that it's an addiction.
    - KVFinn 16y ago
      People don't consume it just to stay functional, there are positives associated with caffeine that may outweigh the negatives. In particular, if you have any dementia in the family, it is one of the only known effective ways to reduce that risk. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21422521 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21422521 http://iospress.metapress.com/content/d885346618q57103/fulltext.html http://iospress.metapress.com/content/d885346618q57103/fullt... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19158424 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19158424 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20182054 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20182054 The most stunning result: http://health.usf.edu/nocms/publicaffairs/now/pdfs/JAD_Arendash_Caffeine.pdf http://health.usf.edu/nocms/publicaffairs/now/pdfs/JAD_Arend...

by lsc 16y ago

lwhi 16y ago

If you're not drinking coffee for the taste and experience - stop drinking it. In my opinion, there's no point in sustaining an addiction without any of the main benefits.

beedogs 16y ago
If you enjoy the taste so much, you should find yourself a delicious decaffeinated coffee.
- nollidge 16y ago
  > you should find yourself a delicious decaffeinated coffee. Decaf coffee is universally worse than caffeinated. It's impossible to remove the caffeine from coffee beans without also removing a good deal of the chemicals that contribute to the flavor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaffeinated_coffee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaffeinated_coffee

corin_ 16y ago

Amusing, yes, but not illogical. If I'm away for work chances are I'll be at a starbucks 4 times a day, sometimes same at home. I love it. But I've never had a caffeine pill, and if I don't drink coffee I don't notice any difference. (Exception being that if I'm massively underslept one morning a coffee does have a really good impact on getting me to feel less shit.)

drivebyacct2 16y ago

>I find it amusing that the guy who has two double-shot lattes a day just likes coffee, I find it amusing that you say that, since I never implied any such thing. My father drinks coffee every morning and is a grump without it. He's just as much of an addict as someone who takes coffee pills. Trust me, I'm not one to use the "addiction" word as a scare word or to pass judgement. Though I do find it funny how often HN is anti-drug about things that are less dangerous and addictive than some recreational drugs.

lsc 16y ago
>I find it amusing that you say that, since I never implied any such thing. really? because four servings of coffee a day doesn't seem that much over the median dose, at least among people I know, if you adjust for body size. When I'm on, I consume more caffeine than that. So, to me, suggesting that someone has a problem when the dosage is that close to the median suggests that you are criticizing the delivery method more than the dosage. While technically speaking many people (myself included) are 'addicted' to caffeine, I think comparing coffee dependence to something like alcohol dependence does not make a lot of sense; If I started every morning with a nice glass of scotch and finished a fifth every time I had real work to do, I'd likely be dead at this point. If I stop drinking caffeine, I sleep a lot and have a hard time getting work done. Some people get headaches. Withdrawal from long-term Alcohol abuse, on the other hand, often comes with hallucinations and sometimes death. Caffeine dependency isn't in the same class at all. In fact, while I agree that caffeine can be addictive, I'm not at all convinced that caffeine dependency is a bad thing.
- drivebyacct2 16y ago
  I'm not criticizing the medium at all. In terms of health benefits, eating a caffeine pill is healthier than consuming the equivalent amount of coffee. No doubt alcohol withdrawl is worse, but if we're performing comparative metrics, I can vaporize cannabis for two months straight and stop all of the sudden without so much as a thought. I drank a twelve pack of coke across 4 days and had headaches for that Friday and Saturday. I just don't know what you want me to say. It's not an addiction? Okay. Do you feel better? It's a chemical stimulant that you notice when you stop consuming it. You consume it so that you stay functional. You can sugar coat it or say that it's not like being addicted to alcohol, but it doesn't change the fact that if you cut it out for a few weeks, you'd be more productive without the cost, dependency or negative side effects of coffee. The fact that you KNOW that, and continue to drink it, quite frankly supports the notion that it's an addiction.
  - KVFinn 16y ago
    People don't consume it just to stay functional, there are positives associated with caffeine that may outweigh the negatives. In particular, if you have any dementia in the family, it is one of the only known effective ways to reduce that risk. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21422521 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21422521 http://iospress.metapress.com/content/d885346618q57103/fulltext.html http://iospress.metapress.com/content/d885346618q57103/fullt... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19158424 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19158424 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20182054 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20182054 The most stunning result: http://health.usf.edu/nocms/publicaffairs/now/pdfs/JAD_Arendash_Caffeine.pdf http://health.usf.edu/nocms/publicaffairs/now/pdfs/JAD_Arend...