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Why quit coffee if it has health benefits?

VyseofArcadia 3y ago
Great question! A couple of reasons. The simplest is that I dislike being dependent on any substance. A more nuanced reason is that I want to be able to use caffeine as a tool. A cup of coffee is the largest dose of caffeine that I am comfortable taking at any one time. If I already have caffeine tolerance at the level of a daily coffee habit, caffeine has lost much of its utility to me. However, if my tolerance is lower than that, I can really feel it when I do occasionally have use for a cup of coffee (e.g. the day before code freeze.) Currently my caffeine intake is a cup of tea[0]. This is at the level where I don't hate myself if I miss it[1], and I can still use coffee as a tool on occasion. Also, you can pry my tea out of my cold dead hands. [0] Note that how much caffeine a cup of tea has is much more nuanced than "black vs green". Cultivar, terroir, steep time are much more important to caffeine levels than how the tea is processed. In fact if anything, green tea cultivars have been shown to have, on average, very slightly more caffeine than black[2]. [1] I feel it, but it's not 3-5 days of migraines [2] Y. Zuo et al, Simultaneous determination of catechins, caffeine and gallic acids in green, Oolong, black and pu-erh teas using HPLC with a photodiode array detector, Talanta 57 (2002) 307–316
- freedomben 3y ago
  Agreed. I would also add that something can simultaneously provide health benefits in one area and costs in others. If the costs outweigh the benefits, quitting makes sense despite the benefits.
- happypumpkin 3y ago
  > I want to be able to use caffeine as a tool. Same here. All my daily coffee drinker friends say coffee has no effect on them. I drink it ~4-6 times a month (when I'm very busy) and I can feel the effects from one cup almost all day. More than two cups actually is quite uncomfortable.
zeroonetwothree 3y ago
You could drink decaf I suppose. I’m skeptical of the alleged health benefits from coffee but at least it’s unlikely they come from caffeine itself.
triceratops 3y ago
Why quit coffee even if it's health neutral? Coffee is amazing.
gwbas1c 3y ago
Insomnia: Sometimes I'm still wired at midnight from the 1 cup from my Kerrig at 8AM. I get weird swings in my caffeine tolerance, so I only consume caffeine 1-2 times a week, or less. Caffeine can also cause weird mood swings. Its effects are similar to cocaine, just somewhat muted because the delivery mechanism is slower.
danielscrubs 3y ago
On caffeine I am very skittish, cannot take naps and sleep quality suffers which affects my memory and optimism.

Great question! A couple of reasons. The simplest is that I dislike being dependent on any substance. A more nuanced reason is that I want to be able to use caffeine as a tool. A cup of coffee is the largest dose of caffeine that I am comfortable taking at any one time. If I already have caffeine tolerance at the level of a daily coffee habit, caffeine has lost much of its utility to me. However, if my tolerance is lower than that, I can really feel it when I do occasionally have use for a cup of coffee (e.g. the day before code freeze.) Currently my caffeine intake is a cup of tea[0]. This is at the level where I don't hate myself if I miss it[1], and I can still use coffee as a tool on occasion. Also, you can pry my tea out of my cold dead hands. [0] Note that how much caffeine a cup of tea has is much more nuanced than "black vs green". Cultivar, terroir, steep time are much more important to caffeine levels than how the tea is processed. In fact if anything, green tea cultivars have been shown to have, on average, very slightly more caffeine than black[2]. [1] I feel it, but it's not 3-5 days of migraines [2] Y. Zuo et al, Simultaneous determination of catechins, caffeine and gallic acids in green, Oolong, black and pu-erh teas using HPLC with a photodiode array detector, Talanta 57 (2002) 307–316

freedomben 3y ago
Agreed. I would also add that something can simultaneously provide health benefits in one area and costs in others. If the costs outweigh the benefits, quitting makes sense despite the benefits.
happypumpkin 3y ago
> I want to be able to use caffeine as a tool. Same here. All my daily coffee drinker friends say coffee has no effect on them. I drink it ~4-6 times a month (when I'm very busy) and I can feel the effects from one cup almost all day. More than two cups actually is quite uncomfortable.

zeroonetwothree 3y ago

You could drink decaf I suppose. I’m skeptical of the alleged health benefits from coffee but at least it’s unlikely they come from caffeine itself.

triceratops 3y ago

Why quit coffee even if it's health neutral? Coffee is amazing.

gwbas1c 3y ago

Insomnia: Sometimes I'm still wired at midnight from the 1 cup from my Kerrig at 8AM. I get weird swings in my caffeine tolerance, so I only consume caffeine 1-2 times a week, or less. Caffeine can also cause weird mood swings. Its effects are similar to cocaine, just somewhat muted because the delivery mechanism is slower.

danielscrubs 3y ago

On caffeine I am very skittish, cannot take naps and sleep quality suffers which affects my memory and optimism.