geb@dsl.pitt.edu (Gordon E. Banks) (02/20/90)
In article <2569@leah.Albany.Edu> ss6349@leah.albany.edu (Steven H. Schimmrich) writes: > > Forgive me if this has been covered before but I'm not a regular reader of >this group. > I have some questions about caffeine. I've been a heavy consumer of coffee >and Pepsi, Coke, etc. which all contain caffeine. This past weekend, because >of erratic sleeping habits, I decided to try eliminating caffeine from my >diet. I've been irritable, very sleepy (much more so than normal), have been >suffering from headaches, and have had actual cravings for coffee. Is this >normal? Is caffeine addictive in any way? Is it all psychosomatic? Can anyone >give me any references as to the effects of caffeine? How much caffeine is >there in a mug of brewed coffee, instant coffee, a can of Pepsi, Coke, etc.? Caffeine is addictive and what you are experiencing is normal withdrawal symptoms. You can find the information on caffeine content in any medical library (ask the librarian for the reference). You should not go cold turkey, but rather cut back slowly, say 10% every two days until you are on sanka and caffeine free coke. They say Mountain Dew has the most caffeine of any pop. I do know a few mountain dew addicts, so it may have been a smart move on the part of the company (the stuff sure doesn't taste that good!).
vy10+@andrew.cmu.edu (Vannevar Y. Yu) (02/20/90)
>... mountain dew...
I believe that Jolt Cola has the most caffeine as far as softdrinks/pop
are concerned: "Twice the caffeine and all the sugar".
Does anyone have a caffeine chart available?stjohn@ingr.com (Lisa St John) (02/21/90)
In article <2569@leah.Albany.Edu> ss6349@leah.albany.edu (Steven H. Schimmrich) writes: > >I've been irritable, very sleepy (much more so than normal), have been >suffering from headaches, and have had actual cravings for coffee. Is this >normal? Is caffeine addictive in any way? Is it all psychosomatic? Can anyone Your symptoms sound exactly like caffeine withdrawal. Yes, it is addictive because it is a drug. No, it is not psychosomatic. I am particularly sensitive to caffeine and it took me about a month to slowly wean myself from it. However, I have been caffeine free for a year and I have no problems now. I do, however, drink caffeine occassionally and experience no major problems (just the usual jitters). >give me any references as to the effects of caffeine? How much caffeine is There is a book that I read from my library that is actually what caused me to give up caffeine. It is titled _Caffeine: The User's and Abuser's Guide_. I don't recall the author. It is a very thorough book detailing all the bad stuff about caffeine and all the other things that can be in coffee and how it all effects the body. * - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * | Lisa St. John ph# 205-730-7629 * Opinions | | o ___ o Intergraph Corporation, Huntsville, AL * are | | _ /-_ __ _ /-_ stjohn@ingr.com ( internet ) * all | |(_)>(_) _ (_)>(_) uunet!ingr!b17c!lsj!stjohn ( uucp ) * mine | * - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - *
reiser@pmafire.UUCP (Steve Reiser) (02/21/90)
In article <2569@leah.Albany.Edu> ss6349@leah.albany.edu (Steven H. Schimmrich) writes: > > Forgive me if this has been covered before but I'm not a regular reader of >this group. > I have some questions about caffeine. I've been a heavy consumer of coffee >suffering from headaches, and have had actual cravings for coffee. Is this >normal? Is caffeine addictive in any way? Is it all psychosomatic? Can anyone >give me any references as to the effects of caffeine? How much caffeine is >there in a mug of brewed coffee, instant coffee, a can of Pepsi, Coke, etc.? Caffeine is medically classified as a mild habit-forming drug. Addiction is called caffeinism and is usually evident in those consuming over 500 mg/day (3-8 cups/day depending on its strength) . Caffeine is similar to adenosine in the brain ( a vasodilator). Caffeine blocks out adenosine causing blood vessels to constrict which is why it is used in many headache remedies. It takes 15-45 minutes to reach peak levels in the blood and is usually eliminated in 5-6 hours. Concentration and accuracy in simple tasks are improved, reaction time is shorter, and endurance is improved by enhanced metabolism of fatty acids. On the negative side, there are indications that it impairs short term memory, and delicate handwork is impaired above 150 mg/day. Caffeine contents: Drip coffee 60-180mg; perk coffee 40-170mg; instant coffee 30-120mg; decaffeinated coffee 2-5mg; instant decaf 1-5mg Most teas are 60-80mg one ounce of chocolate can have 5-35mg Mountain Dew 54mg Coca-Cola 45.6mg Pepsi-Cola 38.4mg Jolt Cola about 100mg NoDoz 100mg Vivarin 200mg Steve -- Steve Reiser (reiser@pmafire.UUCP or ...!uunet!pmafire!reiser) ************************************************************************ * ACROMANIACS ANONYMOUS: FIGHT GRAVITY --> CLIMB! * ************************************************************************
sbishop@desire.wright.edu (02/21/90)
In article <8ZsKMty00WBKQ1648C@andrew.cmu.edu>, vy10+@andrew.cmu.edu (Vannevar Y. Yu) writes: >>... mountain dew... > > > I believe that Jolt Cola has the most caffeine as far as softdrinks/pop > are concerned: "Twice the caffeine and all the sugar". > > Does anyone have a caffeine chart available? RE: Caffeine addiction, I drank tea and caffinated beverages for quite a few years, during which I suffered heavily from migraine headaches. I read some literature that suggested caffeine might be one of the triggering factors. I quit ANY caffeine except for occasional chocolate. (I'm a chocoholic) The migraines are now VERY rare and can usually be attributed to something I've ingested that contains caffeine. Any of you migraine sufferers out there take note. Try staying off the stuff for at least a month before you get it all out of your system. Then drink something with caffeine such as pop or coffee. You will have a migraine about 24 hours later if you are caffeine sensitive.
markv@gauss.Princeton.EDU (Mark VandeWettering) (02/22/90)
[ a heavy caffeine consumer writes... ] >I've been irritable, very sleepy (much more so than normal), have been >suffering from headaches, and have had actual cravings for coffee. Is this >normal? Is caffeine addictive in any way? Is it all psychosomatic? Can anyone >give me any references as to the effects of caffeine? How much caffeine is >there in a mug of brewed coffee, instant coffee, a can of Pepsi, Coke, etc.? Caffeine has been found to be heavily addictive. I should know, I pump tons of the stuff in my body each year. The symptoms you describe are very typical of the ones that I have while in caffeine withdrawal. If you can actually go a couple of weeks without going back on the stuff, then I usually am free of it for a while. Then one day, you drink a single can of Coke and you are wired for the stuff again. I normally drink large amounts of liquids anyway, so I tend to get "rehooked" fairly often. Its amazing, but after a while you can really note some of the effects of caffeine. In mild doses it seems to elevate my mood considerably, which is probably also part of the addiction. In large doses it causes my back to have muscle spasms, irritability and nervousness. Someone else can give you hard data on dosages, I recall that when I was interested, I figured I consumed 6 times the maximum recommended dosages every day for a year. Ouch.
denbeste@spdcc.COM (Steven Den Beste) (02/22/90)
In article <1990Feb21.153415.9369@pmafire.UUCP> reiser@pmafire.UUCP (Steve Reiser) writes: >Caffeine is medically classified as a mild habit-forming drug. Addiction >is called caffeinism and is usually evident in those consuming over 500 >mg/day (3-8 cups/day depending on its strength) . Caffeine is similar to >adenosine in the brain ( a vasodilator). Caffeine blocks out adenosine >causing blood vessels to constrict which is why it is used in many headache >remedies. Actually, since caffeine withdrawal is one of the major causes of headaches, a nostrum containing caffeine makes that headache go right away, yessir!
starkid@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Lance Sanders) (02/23/90)
On 20 Feb 90 03:46:34 GMT, ss6349@leah.Albany.Edu (Steven H. Schimmrich), in message <2569@leah.Albany.Edu> writes: > Can anyone give me any references > as to the effects of caffeine? A report presented several years ago at an annual meeting in St. Louis of the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology found that caffeine consumption can double the amount of calcium a person loses through urination. Calcium loss was seen in all but two of 135 volunteers who were tested. Biochemist James T. MacGregor, Ph.D., at the U. of California, Berkeley, has found that even slight folic-acid deficiencies (folic acid is one of the B vitamins found in spinach and other leafy greens) can be genetically damaging for coffee drinkers who consume five to six caffeinated cups a day. The combination nearly doubles the normal amount of chromosome damage. [ Note: include tea and colas ] Caffeine should especially be avoided by pregnant women and people prone to panic attacks. Caffeine stays in a smoker's bloodstream only half as long as in a non-smoker's. When a smoker quits, metabolism slows down within about three days, and three cups of coffee will produce about twice the caffeine blood level as before. [ Drs. Neal Benowitz, Sharon Hall; U. of California Medical School at San Francisco ] Caffeine may make it more difficult for some women to get pregnant. A team of researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Services in Research Triangle park, N.C., surveyed 104 healthy women in their late 20's and early 30's who had unsuccessfully tried to become pregnant for three months. About 97 of the 104 women drank caffeinated beverages: brewed and instant coffee, tea and soft drinks. 54 drank more than one cup of coffee or its equivalent per day, and 50 drank less. Caffeine may depress the fertility of only "a susceptible subgroup of women". Studies at the U. of Texas and Emory University found that caffeine can increase pressure in the eye, which can aggravate problems related to glaucoma (a disease in which fluid buildup increases pressure in the eye). The high pressure can damage the optic nerve, resulting in serious vision loss. 50 people were divided into three groups: (1) young healthy adults who drank 16 ounces (two cups) of caffeinated coffee. (2) young adults who got for cups. (3) all older adults with glaucoma who drank two cups. Results? Significant increase in eye pressure among the healthy adults who drank two cups. The pressure increased in those who drank four cups and the glaucoma aptients who had only two cups. Verdict? Anyone with glaucoma should limit themselves to drinking no more than two cups of caffeinated coffee per day. Any individual with family histories of glaucoma should do likewise. Researchers at the Erasmus U. Medical School in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, found that boiled coffee, in which ground coffee is placed directly in water, significantly increases cholesterol levels, but filtered coffee does not. 107 young adults with normal blood cholesterol levels were divided into three groups. For three weeks, all received filtered coffee. Then they were randomly divided into three groups: one which drank four to six cups a day of boiled coffee, one, the same amount of filtered coffee, and the third, no coffee. The boiled coffee group showed a 10 percent increase in total blood cholesterol. Those drinking filtered coffee or no coffee at all showed no increase. The difference is being attributed to the fact that filters trap most of the fats in coffee. The Netherlands study came a week after one by Stanford U. (Dr. Robert Superko, lead researcher) which showed that decaffeinated coffee raises the level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad" lipoprotein). Of 180 healthy middle-age men who drank three to six cups of black coffee a day for two months, cholesterol levels remained the same among caffeinated and non-coffee drinkers, while LDL levels rose an average of 7 percent for decaffeinated drinkers. A 7 percent LDL rise translates to approx. a 12 percent rise in heart attack risk. Used specifically as opposed to chronically, caffeine can be beneficial. In limited amounts, caffeine in most people acts as a mood elevator and boosts physical and mental performance, though Nancy Clark, a sports nutritionist from Brookline, Mass., says that recent studies indicate a physically fit, carbohydrate-loaded competitor derives no performance lift from caffeine. A one to two cup per day limit of caffeinated coffee appears to be a safe, upper limit. Moderate consumption is defined as about 200 milligrams per day (about two cups of coffee). Colas contain 30 to 70 mg., tea about 15 to 30 mg., and cocoa 5 to 20 mg. per cup. ---------------------------- Lance Sanders starkid@ddsw1.MCS.COM "Never does nature say one thing FidoNet: 1:115/743.0 and wisdom another." GEnie: L.Sanders6 ---Juvenal Voice: (312)667-5958
geb@dsl.pitt.edu (Gordon E. Banks) (02/23/90)
Add another piece of data: Caffeine given 100mg q2h increased metabolic rate of dieters by 10%. Almost makes me want to start taking it.
andrea@hp-sdd.hp.com (Andrea K. Frankel) (02/24/90)
Add another question: is there anything substantiated about caffeine
worsening fibromyalgia aka (Primary Fibrositic Syndrome)?
Some of the literature from the Arthritis Foundation suggests limiting
stimulants, but I couldn't tell whether that was just an intuitively
reasonable suggestion (given the relationship between stress and PFS),
or whether there were published studies.
Andrea Frankel, Hewlett-Packard (San Diego Division) (619) 592-4664
"wake now! Discover that you are the song that the morning brings..."
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