Copious amounts of caffeine..good or bad?

[G8rChuck85]

I drink a lot of coffee! It gets me going in the morning, and keeps me going through out the day. I even drink it after dinner and before working out. I'm thinking about quitting completely, and drinking decaf green tea or something.

I've done a lot of reading on it and get conflicting reports. Any opinions on caffeine and health? Anyone addicted to caffeine and quit? I'm at the point where it's hard for me to focus and do my best work without a couple of cups.

[LeafUF]

I'm addicted and dont want to stop. So, I cant help you. I will recommend not going cold turkey.

I have two cups in the morning. And I will drink more throughout the day depending on how busy I am.

I drink caffeine before my workouts but try to keep away from it after 6pm. I have a hard enough time sleeping as it is.

[G8rChuck85]

It's turned into a crutch for me. I've tried cutting back, doesn't work. Tried drinking decaf and it's like drinking near-beer, doesn't work. I'm thinking about phasing it out over the next week and see how I feel.

[LeafUF]

Give green tea extract a chance. Might help get you over the hump.

If it helps I was able to cut back. I used to need three cups a morning to feel alright and now I just have two. I think I could get to one if I really wanted. But I just like coffee.

[Colorado_Gator]

Pro tip: Keep your favorite headache medicine handy. Caffeine headaches are nasty.

[G8rChuck85]

^ So true! I got them from just cutting back.

I'm thinking of going the green tea route, Leaf. I do need something to sip on in the mornings and at work.

[austingtr]

You have to taper down, if you really want to quit. Do it slowly or the headache will be mean.
I only drink one cup in the morning, and skipping just one will give me a headache.

[Dreamliner]

Based on some of the recent studies I've read I'm not entirely sure you can drink too much coffee. One recent study seems to suggest that SIX cups a day is good for warding off Altzheimer's.

[LeafUF]

Here is some motivation to help you cut back. It wont help me, I would rather drink coffee than put gas in my car if it ever came to it.

Bad weather in top-producing Brazil and Colombia led Bloomberg to project this week that coffee commodity prices could rise 40 percent. The bad news: they’re already up 60 percent compared with last year. Kraft (which makes Maxwell House), J.M. Smucker (Folgers) and Starbucks have all raised prices on packaged bean and ground coffee this year by as much as 12 percent.

[G8rChuck85]

Money wouldn't be an issue for me, it's free at work. I have decided to drink two (large) cups when I get up, to get me going. The rest of the day I'll try drinking water or green tea...Of course, I'm typing this whilst drinking coffee so I'll start tomorrow ;)

[Dreamliner]

Money wouldn't be an issue for me, it's free at work. I have decided to drink two (large) cups when I get up, to get me going. The rest of the day I'll try drinking water or green tea...Of course, I'm typing this whilst drinking coffee so I'll start tomorrow ;)

Yeah, there was a time when I drank coffee through the day. Broke myself of at least that much. I'm a two cups in the morning guy too.

[ATL_Gator]

2 cups in the AM here too.

I haven't really drank it through the day very much. My problem was that I was adding a TON of sugar and creamer to my coffee. That was a painful habit to break.

[maxgator]

A recent study found that those who drank a bunch of coffee daily - dont recall the cups 6-8 - had a significantly lower chance of having fatal prostate cancer.

Found it.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/05/17/coffee.prostate.cancer/index.html

[orangeblueorangeblue]

As I recall, though, that also increased the odds of another cancer - perhaps pancreatic cancer.

At any rate, everything in moderation has always been some good words to live by.

Obviously, you can drink too much coffee as there is a lethal dose of caffeine, but you'd probably die of water poisoning first.

[themistocles]

Caffeine is an addictive and poisonous drug that is very widespread today thanks to Coffee, Tea, Chocolate and so-called Soft Drinks. One of it's worst aspects is the bitter taste that frequently associates with detrimental acidifying sweeteners like cariogenic sugar or aspartame rather than beneficial alkalizing honey or stevia. Perhaps the most detrimental aspect is it's diuretic effect on 75-85% fluid humans causing dehydration which the body tells us about via pain of histamines and which Western Medicine mistakenly responds via anti-histamine or pain reducers rather than simply using the inexpensive solution of water. In fact, the widespread introduction of caffeine to Europe during the 15th and 16th Centuries was one important factor behind the spread of African slavery.

Caffeine also associates with certain beneficial effects such as increased acuity and heightened energy. Curiously, the Southern American Indians made widespread use of Black Drink derived from the Yopon Holley which contained considerable caffeine. This was one of only two primal nutrients that the Spanish adopted, the other being Maize/Corn.

Tea, depending on whether one uses Green or Fermented Black tea, also contains other beneficial ingredients such as anti-oxidents (Green, not Black).

The key, as in everything else is Balance or Moderation. Too much of almost anything usually proves detrimental, whereas a lesser amount frequently proves beneficial.

The responsibility lies with the individual and the group (e.g. block, city, county, school, state, nation, world), and it is up to each of us to take the "best" road for everyone, which is also the best road for each individual, because you can't help others unless you have your own self together.

[Dreamliner]

The good news on coffee continues to cascade. Latest study shows that coffee in the morning reduces risk of stroke. Last week the study was five cups of coffee a day warding off Altzheimer's.

[Gatorgrrrrrrr]

Cut back slowly or you might have rebound headaches or other effects from the caffeine....Monderation

[Dreamliner]

Read last week that fifty-year olds have THIRTY times higher levels of stress hormones and that round-the-clock caffeine consumption may be a culprit. I have a trainee who told me she was drinking about a pot of coffee a day, in addition to diet soft drinks and iced tea. I suggested that she gradually cut back on caffeine and eventually aim to confine caffeine to the early hours. She immediately reduced coffee to morning hours and that one change already has her sleeping better.

[96Gatorcise]

remember that 5-6 oz of coffee equal a cup. Even a small starbucks is 2 plus cups of coffee. This may change how much you think you drink. I personally drink between 6 and 9 daily.

[96Gatorcise]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/10/28/coffee-health-benefits-how-coffee-might-save-your-life.html
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-food/201110/why-does-coffee-make-us-feel-so-good
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665230/uh-wanted-harvard-prof-invents-a-caffeine-inhaler

[96Gatorcise]

this one is the best:

Caffeine: A User's Guide to Getting Optimally Wired

http://scienceblogs.com/developingintelligence/2008/02/optimally_wired_a_caffeine_use.php

[LeafUF]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/10/28/coffee-health-benefits-how-coffee-might-save-your-life.html

A new study suggests that drinking coffee significantly reduces our skin-cancer risk. There’s a raft of other research that’s piling up evidence that regular cups of joe—six-ounce servings packed with antioxidants, polyphenols, and other health-boosting chemicals—can prevent everything from diabetes to depression to cirrhosis of the liver to stroke. (Intracranial aneurysms, not so much.) Scared of superbugs? Pour yourself another cup.

[Dreamliner]

My problem is that it almost has to be Starbucks these days. I was never picky about the coffee I drank ... until I sampled French Roast. Seems that I'm wired for dark roasted and acidic. Seriously, how are you going to keep them on the farm when they've seen Paree ?

[LeafUF]

I am all about drinking good coffee and only good coffee. However, I think Starbucks tastes like burnt crap. Hate the stuff.

[Dreamliner]

That's what I'm talking about though. I like burnt coffee (with a little acid in it).

Basically, I like everything burnt. I ever prefer seared bread to toast.

[96Gatorcise]

It is a quarter to 4 Who's drinking coffee? This guy is......mmmmmm!

[LeafUF]

I am having my 4th cup actually

[96Gatorcise]

I am having my 4th cup actually

I passed up 4 cups 10 hours ago...lol

I have a 4 cup brewer and every morning I make a full pot and fill up my large mug to start my day. HOT, BLACK COFFEE

[LoyalGatorFan]

As had already been stated, caffeine has good and bad properties, just like almost everything else we consume...

A couple of bad ones are it is a diuretic (makes you dehydrated) and it can also cause heart palpitations/arrhythmia....caffeine has also been known to cause panic/anxiety attacks....

A couple good things are it is a nerve stimulant, and like others have already said it can lower the risks of strokes, Alzheimers, etc...

I know this is common knowledge but dont forget caffeine is not just coffee...tea and soda as well have caffeine so if you drink all of those each at least once a day then I would try to scale back...

[LeafUF]

4 is about my tops in a given day. I have 2 every morning and since I work from home if I need a pick me up mid day I make a few more.

[Potzer01]

How do we have both of these threads going at the same time?

Caffeine ---> Kidney Stones
http://www.gatorcountry.com/swampgas/showthread.php?t=213085