Feb 19 2007

Caffeine Addicts

We live in a world where 90% of the populace could be better off decaffeinated. The rise of modern society has been closely followed by the rise in coffee consumption, especially so in the United States. Starbucks, Seattle’s Best, Caribou, Folgers and a whole herd of other “enablers” have made a fortuitous living off this craze. It almost seems that these days in order to be productive, or at least look productive, you must have a cup of coffee in one hand. Granted it is very stimulating and enjoyable to drink a cup of coffee, but honestly how addictive is it? Though not a very objective way to analyze the effects, I know a lot of people who are completely and utterly dependent on their morning cup of joe to jump-start their day, the lack of which causes them to be irritable, moody and sometimes even downright anti-social.

Some of you might argue that coffee drinking has some health benefits. It does, as numerous studies have shown, from reducing liver damage by alcohol to lowering risks of Type II diabetes in women. What the coverage of these studies fail to adequately state is the quantity of coffee consumption that leads to the discovered benefits. Still others might argue that coffee stimulates the brain so overall creativity and productivity is boosted. Well, yes, momentarily, what happens when the effects of the coffee wear off, the solution for addicts, drink more!

The bottom line is that addiction is bad, irrespective of what the person is addicted to.  To read more about this and to maybe find a few ways to lean you off the “juice” check out Steve Pavalina’s “How to Give Up Coffee“.