
Daily caffeine 'protects brain' - jlhamilton
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7326839.stm
======
uuilly
This reminds me of "The Suit is Back" phenomena pg expressed in his submarine
essay. I see so many articles that say coffee is healthy that it actually
makes me question it more.

~~~
henning
(possibly misinterpreted) medical research is on par with PR
fluff/astroturfing, huh?

~~~
uuilly
Yes and no. Not all medical research is created equal. The tobacco industry
has done a lot of "research" that's not scientifically honest. Google news
used to be my home page and once a week in the health section there was an
article about coffee. My mom is a coffee junkie and she always talks about the
latest coffee health story in the washington post. I'm not levying a formal
accusation of foul play, I'm just saying that coffee articles get a
disproportionate amount of play for their importance in human health.

~~~
h34t
(1) Because of how much money coffee generates for its producers and
(especially) retailers, I’d guess there are a lot of industry funds being
slushed around for research and PR.

(2) Even so, it would be possible to account for far more articles about
coffee than would be “proportional” to the magnitude of its health effects,
simply because of how wildly popular it is, and its role as a modern ‘social
icon’ of sorts.

Put (1) and (2) together and you get the media equivalent of a caffeine
addiction.

~~~
uuilly
Right on. Combine that with an ambient fear that coffee is bad for you and we
may have an explanation.

~~~
jawngee
My gut tells me this whole caffeine craze is going to be a major health
concern in 10-20 years. The amount of caffeine people consume versus 20 years
ago is absolutely insane.

I used to drink the equivalent of 12 shots of espresso a day. In fact, I could
rock out a cup of nasty NYC bodega sludge and fall asleep 20 minutes later.
Now I can't drink it at all lest I have a panic attack, save a small decaf in
the morning to fool my brain.

Caffeinism, caffeine allergy and caffeine induced organic mental disorder are
real things.

I also wonder if there is any causality between the decline in the number of
smokers and the rise in the amount of caffeine we consume.

~~~
mechanical_fish
_I also wonder if there is any causality between the decline in the number of
smokers and the rise in the amount of caffeine we consume._

That wouldn't surprise me at all. The idea that people with addictions often
substitute one addictive behavior for another is conventional wisdom in
counseling circles, I believe.

But I'm a former cancer researcher, I know people who have drunk themselves to
death, and I have friends who counsel heroin addicts. So trust me when I say
this: Caffeine is an _excellent_ alternative.

At least you were able to stop drinking caffeine, and we're pretty sure that
your liver or lungs aren't going to explode in ten years from the espresso
abuse.

------
fendale
First its bad for you, then its good - I wish they would make up their mind!

I actually don't like the taste of coffee, which makes me a bit of a weirdo
apparently, but I believe you can get your caffeine hit from tea instead (or
red bull if your really brave!) - but I tend to avoid those too. I would hate
to think that I need a hit of caffeine through the day just to keep me awake.

Feel sleepy in the mornings? Goto the gym before work.

Feel sleepy in the afternoon - go for a walk or get away from your desk for a
while. I always find those two things wake me up better than anything else.

~~~
tricky
amen on the afternoon walks... i recently kicked an 8 cup a day habit and,
besides afternoon grogginess, I feel frikin' great. Getting up and walking
around usually does the trick better than a bump of caffeine any day.

------
alaskamiller
i worked a barista for a year at yahoo hq when i was much younger. they gave
out free espresso drinks (how i wish my fortune 100 company would do the same)
and other stuff so there were always customers waiting to get their morning
go-juice.

the problem was that the heavy drinkers became extremely dependent on caffeine
to function properly. some would literally shake from having deprived of
coffee while others would tell me to low-fat milk when mixing their caramel
machiattos with whipped cream because they want to lose weight.

i myself never touch coffee products.

~~~
icky
> while others would tell me to low-fat milk when mixing their caramel
> machiattos with whipped cream because they want to lose weight.

Magic milk! :)

------
ericb
It seems like, excepting for artificial foods like twinkies, doritos, coke,
etc, there's a trend toward stronger-flavor being more nutritious. I'm
thinking of coffee, broccoli, liver, chocolate, red wine, and even produce.
Modern-day produce is sold by the pound and bloated with water, unless it's
organic. I notice, probably because of this, organic produce has a stronger
taste. I remember an NPR program discussing how, per pound, produce is less
nutritious now than 50 years ago.

------
Prrometheus
Then my brain is a Sherman Tank.

------
obdurak
In a related topic, it seems that pulsed microwaves (such as GSM signals)
increase the blood-brain barrier permeability. Could that explain their
cognitive effects? Could caffeine protect from GSM hazards?

