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Author: [[Stephen Cherniske]] Full Title: Caffeine Blues Category: #books One large cup of coffee later, the headache was gone. Within an hour, I was a new man, pain free and alert. It was hard for me to admit that I was addicted to coffee, but the hell I had been through the day before was clearly a drug overdose, and the worse hell I had faced that morning was clearly a drug withdrawal. Quite simply, I was feeling better because I had my fix. This realization was frightening and unacceptable to me, so I decided then and there to kick the caffeine habit. What I quickly learned was that everyone has been snowed—researchers, doctors, journalists, and especially the public. The deception has been well coordinated by an industry whose goal is quite simple: to get as much caffeine into your body as possible. A Clear and Present Danger Cardiologists report that caffeine raises blood pressure. Endocrinologists acknowledge that it contributes to adrenal exhaustion.
- Caffeine gives you energy. Wrong. Caffeine does not provide energy—only chemical stimulation. The perceived “energy” comes from the body’s struggle to adapt to increased blood levels of stress hormones. In most cases, this induced emergency state leads to well-defined side effects collectively known as caffeinism. Ironically, caffeinism is characterized by fatigue. 2. Caffeine gives you a “lift.” Wrong. Using coffee for mood enhancement is a short-term blessing and a long-term curse. While the initial adrenal stimulation may provide a transient antifatigue “lift,” caffeine’s ultimate mood effect is a letdown, either subtle or profound. Advertisers and coffee “institutes” have kept this side of caffeine from public view. In Chapter 4, you’ll find clear and unequivocal evidence of caffeine’s role in depression and anxiety. What’s more, caffeine is positively linked to panic attacks, a psychiatric disorder affecting an estimated 5 million Americans. 3. Caffeine sharpens your mind. Wrong. While caffeine users may feel more alert, the experience is simply one of increased sensory and motor activity (dilated pupils, increased heart rate, and higher blood pressure). The quality of thought and recall is improved no more than the quality of music is improved when played at a higher volume or speed. In Chapter 4, you will find a convincing argument, backed by clinical research, that caffeine actually decreases overall mental acuity. Caffeine Is Literally a Pain in the Neck You’ll learn that many of our physical experiences of tension and pain are directly related to the level of stress hormones in our bodies—and that caffeine acts as a pain trigger because it elevates blood levels of these biochemicals. Susan listed four cups of coffee per day on her diet diary, and I soon learned that her “cup” was a sixteen-ounce mug. She was thus consuming over 900 milligrams of caffeine per day from coffee and, ironically, another 190 milligrams in her over-the-counter painkiller. Using the Off the Bean program outlined in Chapter 10, she gradually reduced her caffeine intake to almost zero. Three weeks later, she was pain free for the first time in twenty years. This case is not an isolated incident. Over the years, I have counseled hundreds of patients who could trace the beginnings of their chronic pain to a time when they started drinking large amounts of coffee. CHAPTER 1 Coffee and Caffeine: A Dose of Reality
AI Summary
Caffeine Blues by Stephen Cherniske presents wisdom from the contemplative traditions.
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