Day Twenty: Curse You, Coffee

I don't think that I kicked my coffee addiction. I think that sometimes I get a bad cup which ruins the thought of coffee for me, so I stop drinking it...for about 24 hours. Then, I get a really good cup and am hooked again. I also think that my coffee addiction is turning into one of a caffeine addiction. Throughout the time that I've consumed coffee, the caffeine never had an effect on me; I drank it for the taste. Now, though, I get a jolt of energy from the cup, and I like to have it to get my day going. Thanks a lot, Einstein Brothers; if it wasn't for your stupid bagel with shmear and medium coffee combo fitting into a meal on the meal plan, this never would have happened!

Today, we enter part two of my not wanting to "free write", so we'll just read an article instead! The article, "Should you decaf your life?" by Linda Mooney discusses coffee/caffeine addiction and it's health benefits. "Moderate doses of caffeine may offer certain health benefits, research suggests. A daily cup or two of coffee or tea may spare you from a painful bout of gallstones, ease your asthma, or even help you lose weight. Coffee, tea, and chocolate also contain antioxidants that offer health benefits of their own, such as a lower risk of both cancer and heart disease." Well that's exciting: I may not get cancer if I drink coffee!

"Some of us are more sensitive to caffeine than others, says James Lane, PhD, associate research professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University in Durham, NC. If you're the sensitive type, even low to moderate doses of caffeine may cause you to have difficulty concentrating as well as nervousness, trembling, irritability, insomnia, even disorientation. If those symptoms sound familiar, gradually cut back on the coffee, tea, cola, or hot chocolate until they subside, suggests Neal Benowitz, MD, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco." I attest to the insomnia brought on by coffee! I still don't like to sleep (which is why I stay up until the wee hours of the night, and wake up in the wee hours of the morning), but coffee keeps me that way. It's not all coffee's fault though; I only drink it because I want to stay awake. It's just doing it's job for me.

This is the article's list on the affect caffiene has on the body:

•  Levels of stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine rise. 
• Caffeine blocks adenosine, a brain chemical that helps you relax and go to sleep.
• again, it helps me fuel my desire to stay up
• Your heart rate, blood pressure, and adrenaline levels rise.
• I always get a boost of adrenaline after my coffee and feel like doing dare-devil activities
• Caffeine stimulates your bladder to excrete more urine, which can lead to mild dehydration.
• I pee...a lot. Not just "a lot"...A LOT a lot.
• Caffeine prompts the release of small quantities of the feel-good hormone dopamine.
• So true. I always get a little perk of jolly after I have coffee
• Fatty acids enter into your bloodstream, boosting energy levels.
• I definetly get a new sense of energy from my cup of coffee
• Your large intestine becomes more active, because caffeine acts as a laxative. 
•   Yeah...coffee makes me poop. 

My name is Zoe Annarino, and I am a coffee addict. I wish I weren't just because it wastes money (I could be drinking good ol', free water), but I could be addicted to heroin or something worse. I'll take what I can get. I hope that one day I'll get to the point of wanting to drink nothing by water, but for now, I'll take my coffee black with 2 Equal's and 2 Sweet and Low's.


Mooney, Linda. "Should You Decaf Your Life?." Prevention 52.7 (2000): 130. Academic Search    Complete. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.