
This is Your Brain On Caffeine - gibsonf1
http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_articles/your_brain_caffeine
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radu_floricica
Lately I'm using black tea to regulate my schedule. I find I'm at my lowest
around 4-5 in the afternoon, so cup or two help me get over it in an elegant
matter. I guess a short nap would be the same, but it's not so easy for me to
sleep in the afternoon.

I used to drink rather large quantities of coke. Since I stopped (and yes, it
took a week of headaches, though after I started drinking tea it got a lot
easier) I find not only I'm in better shape overall but I sleep much better at
night. I guess the trick is very small amounts and good timing.

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silentbicycle
The caffeine in tea seems to be absorbed more smoothly than coffee's. An amino
acid called theanine (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theanine>) helps
counteracts some of its negative side effects, especially the nervousness.

You can get theanine on its own as a relatively cheap nutritional supplement.
(It tastes distinctly like Japanese green tea, which is often shade grown in a
manner that greatly boosts the theanine content.)

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3pt14159
I've read a contradictory article in the past. Wish I could find it, but it
mapped out chronic usage of tobacco & caffeine on chess players. The findings
were pretty clear for both coffee & cigarettes: '+' to the mind '-' to the
body.

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jamroom
I simply cannot live without coffee... the very first cup in the morning is
one of the most enjoyable parts of my day ;)

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tungstenfurnace
Taking the article seriously, perhaps your statement could be rephrased "I
cannot live with caffeine withdrawal."

BTW, taking one or two caffeine pills (50mg) per day can see you through the
withdrawal period with no headaches.

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jimbob72
So I guess enjoyment of the taste and smell of coffee does not factor into it?

Or am I speaking like a true addict?

I have a particular appreciation for a well brewed cup of coffee, without it,
the day simply isn't going to go right.

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tungstenfurnace
Sure it factors. That's why pills help during the withdrawal, because they
don't trigger the full pleasure ritual, which includes taste, smell and
anticipation.

But note that every ounce of pleasure you extract from drinking coffee is
exactly balanced by the pain of withdrawing from it.

(And, in between, successive cups do not generate additive quantities of
pleasure.)

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zmimon
I've been deploying an alternating days routine (a day with, then a day
without) with caffeine to try and avoid dependence. Sometimes I'm not sure if
I'm getting the best possible outcome (good effects of caffeine without
dependence or developing tolerance) or the worst (dependent and tolerant but
torturing myself every second day). This article would suggest maybe the
former, but sometimes it feels like the latter :-)

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dbul
My personal experience: doing without coffee for a day or two has no effect.
Also somewhat oddly, there is one particular place I go where I get a `mocha
latte' and it wires the hell out of me. (It is a great time for coding.) Not
sure why.

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ScottWhigham
"What this means is that consuming caffeine regularly does not appear to
produce any net beneficial effects, based on the measures we examined."

Depends on your definition of "beneficial effects", I suppose.

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Flankk
I don't think so. As with any drug abuse, your body develops a tolerance to
caffeine. Over time, you develop a drug dependance on caffeine; you require
more caffeine to feel as awake as you did before your drug dependance
developed. Thus, there is no net beneficial effect.

~~~
cubix
The pleasure experienced while consuming products that happen to contain
caffeine is a beneficial effect, no matter what the study says.

~~~
tungstenfurnace
It certainly is. However, don't discount the corresponding hangover period.

Since there is no time-averaged gain in pleasure, presumably the benefit lies
in being able to _time_ the pleasure, say to compensate for mood changes due
to other factors.

