Thursday – I (heart) Caffeine
Apr. 23rd, 2009 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ninanevermore.
.
.
The past two weeks have been emotionally draining for me. I'm convinced that if were not for the benefits of caffeine, I would have collapsed. Caffeine keeps me going. I don't just like it, I love it. I don't just want it, I need it. If it sounds like I'm an addict, I will point out to you that I also feel this way about the food I eat and clean air I breath. It's a fact of life that there are certain things a person needs to live.
I get my caffeine from 3 sources in any given day: coffee caffeine, tea caffeine, and soft drink caffeine. Just as I think it's important to eat a varied diet, I think a wide variety in your source of caffeine must also be a good thing.
A lot of people see me getting a cup of coffee in the morning and say, "I don't drink the stuff. I drink water." Then they refill their water bottle at the cooler and look smugly in my direction.
Look, I drink water, too. It's in my coffee, for one. Hot water filters through the grounds and comes out darker, richer, more exciting, and full of anti oxidants and happiness. I know there is water in my coffee, because if I spill it on myself my clothes get wet. If you want to drink boring water without any added benefits, knock yourself out. Just don't expect me to follow your bad example.
When it comes to tea, I'm a Texas girl so I like it iced. In the summertime in Houston the temperature can be 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity can be close to 100%, so sipping a hot beverage on a Houston afternoon has no appeal. I drink coffee early in the day when it's still tolerable.
When I'm not drinking the natural goodness of coffee and tea, I like the canned convenience of a fizzy soft drink. For years, my caffeinated beverage of choice was diet Coke. At my peak, I think I drank 8 cans of the stuff a day. No kidding. Since I recycle my aluminum cans, though, I could do this and still feel virtuous. When someone told me I should drink water, instead, I would point to the label and show them that the first ingredient on the list was (carbonated) water, to indicate to them I was drinking plenty of water and they should shut up.
Here's my problem with water: parts of my body don't like it. My tongue tastes it and says, "Hey, where's the flavor I need?" while my brain says, "Are you trying to kill me? I will not function if you do not give me caffeine and give it to me NOW." When people try to tell me that my body needs water, I can say, "No, it doesn't. I asked it, and it said no."
I swore I'd give up my diet Coke only when the mortician pried the icey cold 12-once can from my icy cold figers. Then a few months ago, I came across a story that said that colas, diet and otherwise, cause bone loss in women. Further research showed that it wasn't the carbonation or the caffeine causing the problem (Sprite drinkers were fine), but the phosphoric acid that is unique to cola-style drinks. Drinking one or two a week did not cause a problem, but daily consumption was not advised.
This made me very, very sad. I love soft drinks too much to give them up, and non-cola soft drinks like Sprite and 7-Up don't supply the caffeine that I need to live. Then I remembered when my roommate back in college reported a startling discovery she'd learned in chemistry lab. They had tested the caffeine contents of various soft drinks and the two with the highest concentration were in Jolt Cola (which advertises that it had "twice the caffeine" of other colas) and Mountain Dew (which pretty much tied with Jolt). Eureka! Mountain Dew is yellow, meaning it's not a cola. Problem solved.
So now I drink diet Mountain Dew first thing every morning, and I'm better off for it.
When I tell people who've known me a long time that I no longer drink diet Coke, their faces inevitably light up and they exclaim, "Good for you!"
When I tell them I've switched to diet Mountain Dew instead, their expressions cloud over with the same disappointment they would show if I'd announced that I'd stopped smoking pot and decided to take up heroin. They mutter, "Oh," and shake their heads in disgust.
Lately, I've been clipping and printing out articles on the health benefits of caffeine and pinning them on the walls of my cubicle as ammunition against the "you should drink more water" crowd. Recent studies show that caffeine reduces the chances of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, colon cancer, cirrhosis, and gallstones, among other things.
When someone comes up to me, eyes my beverage and says in an oh-so-superior way, "I gave up caffeine years ago," I can look at them with pity and say, "You fool."
Then I take a swig of coffee and walk away.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * # * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
.
.
The past two weeks have been emotionally draining for me. I'm convinced that if were not for the benefits of caffeine, I would have collapsed. Caffeine keeps me going. I don't just like it, I love it. I don't just want it, I need it. If it sounds like I'm an addict, I will point out to you that I also feel this way about the food I eat and clean air I breath. It's a fact of life that there are certain things a person needs to live.
I get my caffeine from 3 sources in any given day: coffee caffeine, tea caffeine, and soft drink caffeine. Just as I think it's important to eat a varied diet, I think a wide variety in your source of caffeine must also be a good thing.
A lot of people see me getting a cup of coffee in the morning and say, "I don't drink the stuff. I drink water." Then they refill their water bottle at the cooler and look smugly in my direction.
Look, I drink water, too. It's in my coffee, for one. Hot water filters through the grounds and comes out darker, richer, more exciting, and full of anti oxidants and happiness. I know there is water in my coffee, because if I spill it on myself my clothes get wet. If you want to drink boring water without any added benefits, knock yourself out. Just don't expect me to follow your bad example.
When it comes to tea, I'm a Texas girl so I like it iced. In the summertime in Houston the temperature can be 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity can be close to 100%, so sipping a hot beverage on a Houston afternoon has no appeal. I drink coffee early in the day when it's still tolerable.
When I'm not drinking the natural goodness of coffee and tea, I like the canned convenience of a fizzy soft drink. For years, my caffeinated beverage of choice was diet Coke. At my peak, I think I drank 8 cans of the stuff a day. No kidding. Since I recycle my aluminum cans, though, I could do this and still feel virtuous. When someone told me I should drink water, instead, I would point to the label and show them that the first ingredient on the list was (carbonated) water, to indicate to them I was drinking plenty of water and they should shut up.
Here's my problem with water: parts of my body don't like it. My tongue tastes it and says, "Hey, where's the flavor I need?" while my brain says, "Are you trying to kill me? I will not function if you do not give me caffeine and give it to me NOW." When people try to tell me that my body needs water, I can say, "No, it doesn't. I asked it, and it said no."
I swore I'd give up my diet Coke only when the mortician pried the icey cold 12-once can from my icy cold figers. Then a few months ago, I came across a story that said that colas, diet and otherwise, cause bone loss in women. Further research showed that it wasn't the carbonation or the caffeine causing the problem (Sprite drinkers were fine), but the phosphoric acid that is unique to cola-style drinks. Drinking one or two a week did not cause a problem, but daily consumption was not advised.
This made me very, very sad. I love soft drinks too much to give them up, and non-cola soft drinks like Sprite and 7-Up don't supply the caffeine that I need to live. Then I remembered when my roommate back in college reported a startling discovery she'd learned in chemistry lab. They had tested the caffeine contents of various soft drinks and the two with the highest concentration were in Jolt Cola (which advertises that it had "twice the caffeine" of other colas) and Mountain Dew (which pretty much tied with Jolt). Eureka! Mountain Dew is yellow, meaning it's not a cola. Problem solved.
So now I drink diet Mountain Dew first thing every morning, and I'm better off for it.
When I tell people who've known me a long time that I no longer drink diet Coke, their faces inevitably light up and they exclaim, "Good for you!"
When I tell them I've switched to diet Mountain Dew instead, their expressions cloud over with the same disappointment they would show if I'd announced that I'd stopped smoking pot and decided to take up heroin. They mutter, "Oh," and shake their heads in disgust.
Lately, I've been clipping and printing out articles on the health benefits of caffeine and pinning them on the walls of my cubicle as ammunition against the "you should drink more water" crowd. Recent studies show that caffeine reduces the chances of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, colon cancer, cirrhosis, and gallstones, among other things.
When someone comes up to me, eyes my beverage and says in an oh-so-superior way, "I gave up caffeine years ago," I can look at them with pity and say, "You fool."
Then I take a swig of coffee and walk away.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 04:47 pm (UTC)And yes, you should drink more water.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 04:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 04:59 pm (UTC)I'm convinced that years from now, the attendees at my funeral will include several of the people I've told should quit smoking because "those thing will kill you" and a few people I've advised to quit drinking because "that stuff will kill you". I suspect if you were there, one of them would probably try to bum one of the extra Mountain Dews you keep stashed in your purse so that they could mix it with Vodka and have a sip during the service.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 05:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 05:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 05:08 pm (UTC)I don't like coffee strait up. It has to be sweet with (a lot of) milk.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 06:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 05:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 05:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-24 01:30 am (UTC)love it...
no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 06:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 06:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 08:29 pm (UTC)I put "real" sugar -- granulated type -- in my ice tea and coffee, not the corn syrup.
Diabetes changes your taste buds. My dad did NOT eat any sweets/candy/cookies/desserts until he bacame diabetic, now he craves them. He has to eat them made with Splenda, not sugar, but he did NOT like eating the sweets before at all.
I can only say one thing to this...
Date: 2009-04-23 06:45 pm (UTC)Re: I can only say one thing to this...
Date: 2009-04-23 07:01 pm (UTC)Re: I can only say one thing to this...
Date: 2009-04-23 10:02 pm (UTC)I am certain that the coffee bean is one of God's wonderful gifts - I love coffee (and caffeine). I'm a bit of a coffee snob I suppose, but that has led me to my wonderful french press coffee maker.
As to hot weather - I love iced coffees almost as much as hot coffee.
Re: I can only say one thing to this...
Date: 2009-04-23 10:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 07:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 10:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-24 02:19 pm (UTC)But I've become very addicted to cappucino. The convenience store kind. It's sweet, it's warm and well, it's caffeine.
I'm not a true coffee drinker. I can't drink it straight. I have to add milk/cream and sugar/splenda. I suck like that and true coffee drinkers usually tease me about drinking "syrup". :P
But then again, I've been caffeine free for almost 8 months. Decaf coffee and caffeine free teas. (or very low caffeine stuff) I drink a lot of water just trying to be a good non-pop drinker, but I can't give up my morning syrup. ;P
no subject
Date: 2009-04-24 03:28 pm (UTC)I picked up the habit again once my son was weaned. It's not that I didn't want to deny him the glorious health benefits of caffeine, I just didn't want to be up with him all night.
As for coffee being pale and sweet: hell, yeah! I love the caffeine, not the bitterness. If there's no milk or cream available to go in the coffee, that is the one time I will willingly drink just water.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-24 03:35 pm (UTC)OMG, if I gave Elycia caffeine, she'd bounce off walls worse than she does now. I forbid her to have it. I don't let the other girls have it either. They don't need it yet. LOL
You're so not hard core...neither am I. And I'm okay with that. I drink it at home, so there's always SOMETHING to dilute my coffee with. ^.~
no subject
Date: 2009-04-24 03:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-24 03:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-24 02:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-24 03:32 pm (UTC)Your welcome for the link to the article. Send it out to all those water drinkers who give you flack.
If all else fails, you can tell them what the late W. C. Field (a notorious alcoholic) said about H2O:
no subject
Date: 2009-04-27 11:49 pm (UTC)