From "Here’s how I stopped drinking coffee — like Adele/The singer says it was harder to give up her caffeine addiction than cigarettes" (London Times).
I weaned myself off coffee recently. Tapered off and quit completely. Then, a few months later, I couldn't remember why I did it! Did the lack of coffee undercut my memory or did I really never have a good reason in the first place? I'm experimenting with 2 cups of coffee in the morning now. Maybe I'll remember the reason. If not, why shouldn't I drink coffee? Maybe it's worth it to test yourself with respect to each of the things you do that are not 100% necessary and good. Go without to prove you can and to observe whether, on balance, life has improved.
It's silly, of course, to give something up because a celebrity has done so. I'm sure that wasn't my reason. I can't think of any celebrity giving up anything that would influence me. You?
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It's silly, of course, to give something up because a celebrity has done so.
Like the ability to think before casting one’s ballot.
As to whether a celebrity advocating a practice has had an impact on me, last year I did watch a couple of videos of people like Joe Rogan advocating a daily ice bath. I seriously considered it. Of course, I never did it and never will. But it was fun to think about.
"I can't think of any celebrity giving up anything that would influence me. You?"
I don't pay attention to celebrities in the first place, so no. "Celebrity" is a weird concept. I've never understood it.
People think anything enjoyable must be bad for you. In the case of coffee and caffeine, I don't think there's much data to support the concern. Actually, it appears to have health benefits, though there can be cardiac issues in specific people. My wife can get SVT and has to avoid caffeine.
Sinead O'Connor gave up her hair. After seeing her head on the cover of her album, I did, too. That would've been around 1990.
As to coffee, I've gone cold turkey in the past, which I'd never do again. Muscle spasms and severe leg cramps. Caffeine is a symbiotic relationship. Respect it. Nowadays I drink about one cup. A delicious mug of black coffee first thing in the morning is a pleasure. I don't care what the latest medical finger in the wind says about it.
You have to drink a lot of decaf to stay awake.
I have done the weaning off coffee a number of times in my life with similar results. I just buried my 95-year-old aunt who at the end survived on constant coffee and hand rolled cigarettes. I had a friend once who would just eat teaspoons of instant coffee. Life was not as good to him. Moral: take slow, long sips and smell the coffee.
Getting up now in LA. First cup 5 minutes away. 1 or 2 today after that.
it is a ped.
Never drank coffee. Mrs. Olsen’s celebrity never had an effect on me.
In the late 70's, I had a management job in which we all drank coffee all day long. It was something that was expected and "normal". I felt like crap.
When I quit the job and when back to my historical norm of 1-2 cups per day, I felt much much better.
Like most things in life, moderation is the key.
You'll pry my coffee cup out of my cold dead hands.
My grandmother kept a percolator going on the stove, and she would drink straight from the spout. She attributed her long life (97 when she died) to coffee.
I don't drink as much as I did when younger, but still do. About 3 mugs on weekdays and about 4-5 on the weekend.
I've been a two-mugs-a-morning coffee drinker for decades. On a couple of occasions I had to give it up for about six weeks (medical related), and even after the withdrawal ended (3-4 days) I still wished I was drinking coffee, and was overjoyed when the 6 wks were up. I have given up putting anything in the coffee.
Only in the morning. It does mess with my sleep if I drink it later in the day. But coffee in the morning is one of life's simple pleasures. Especially like it sitting out by the lake in the morning sun during the fall. That and a physics or math book and I'm in heaven.
I quit coffee, and I can't remember why, which is weird because I was a big consumer for so many years. My son was director of Coffee and buyer for a larger roaster in the Milwaukee area, and Madison, so I drank the good stuff.
At least a liter a day, in the morning - I know this because I use a Danish 0.5 liter glass beer mug as my coffee cup. I drink a nice organic blend of 50% Kona, 50% Columbian, light roast to maximize the caffeine. It is indeed one of life's simple and most satisfying pleasures, drinking a good high-quality coffee.
Never stopped drinking coffee, eating meats, real butter and whole milk, eggs or generous amounts of salt. Occasionally go for stretches without alcohol or any carbs. Make sure I eat any fresh veggies available and a lot of fruits and I drink mucho tap water. Fads don’t hold any attraction for me. And dietary fads in particular are usually stupid and unhealthy.
In the summer I can cut way down on coffee and instead drink lemonade with raspberry syrup which I make from fresh raspberries. Healthy. But when it's cold - what is there but coffee? It wakes me up if it's morning and puts me to sleep at night and improves the flavor of everything in between. I drink water, too, but only to cleanse my palate for the good stuff.
In the summer I can cut way down on coffee and, instead, drink lemonade with raspberry syrup which I make from fresh raspberries. Healthy. But when it's cold - what is there but coffee? It wakes me up if it's morning and puts me to sleep at night and improves the flavor of everything in between. I drink water, too, but only to cleanse my palate for the good stuff.
Why just coffee? And not tea, energy drinks, soda, etc.?
I drink a pot+ coffee a day. It is my go to drink other than carbonated water. I don't drink sugar water drinks. And the coffee is black, not adulterated. I'll make coffee at 11 pm so I have something to drink before I go to bed around 1 am.
Now if you are getting yourself off the high sugar, milk with a hint of coffee drinks, then that's different.
I do appreciate the theme, although my brain renders it in Clint Eastwood’s voice as “A man has to know his limitations.” Caffeine is a drug, a vasodilator. For me sleeping past my normal first cup time means a slight headache, which I can avoid if I know I’m going to sleep in, by having a cup or two late in the day. Sometimes on a Friday night the little woman and I would share a small pot of coffee before bed and it actually seemed to help us both fall asleep easily. Your mileage may vary. Know thyself.
"The benefits of coffee have long been debated, but we know that in moderation [about two cups a day] it’s a good source of polyphenols and fibre ... "
That would require a lotta cups.
Using a method similar to that used to measure fiber in beer and wine, they treated each type of coffee with enzymes to break apart constituent molecules, then filtered out the water and analyzed the remaining solid compounds. Their findings, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry: all three types of coffee contained between 0.47 and 0.75 grams of fiber per 100 milliliters.
...
According to the American Dietetic Association (ADA), men on average need about 38 grams of fiber a day and women require around 25 grams.
Scientific American
I had to cut back to two cups years ago and I notice a pretty steep drop in mood in the afternoon.
As Dr Dean Edell said, caffeine is the world's most popular antidepressant.
I see my Coffee as a harmless addiction that serves as a reward. The night shift guys NEED a cup a black coffee to stay safe working from around 3:00 AM until dawn. But for the rest of us, it’s our reward.
Even McDonlds serves a pretty good cup of coffee. And Seattle’s Best Portside Blend is a damn good one.
The millions of soldiers and sailors serving in WWII came home seriously caffein addicted. Many had been drinking 10-15 cups a day for years. Thus was invented Excedrin type pain pills to relieve their headaches from caffeine withdrawal. All those are the aspirin with a dose of caffeine added.
I was once addicted to Caribou Sumatra for several years. But nothing Starbucks ever seemed good.
I only became a coffee drinker in my early 30s. For the first 15 years I was a 3-4 cups a day drinker but, in retirement, that has declined to one sizeable mug/day and only when I get up in the morning. I will occasionally drink a second cup in the afternoon, but that has become less and less common for me in the last 5 years. When I first started and bought my first coffee maker, I drank like 5 cups in a two hour period one Sunday morning. The racing heart and the nausea cured me of that kind of behavior immediately.
I have gone without for a day or two, but not really trying to wean myself off it, just to experiment with how I would feel not having it. I didn't like not having it, so I will never stop drinking it in the morning.
I gave it up once many years ago. Caffeine, that is. Couldn’t give up the morning coffee itself, so I drank decaf. Tea just wasn’t what I wanted. I went on a river rafting trip sometime later and the only coffee was cowboy coffee, fully caffeinated. And delicious. Never given it up since then. One big mug in the morning. I can drink as much as I want before noon but never late in the day. Anything with caffeine…even a brownie…messes up my sleep. I love the flavor of coffee and the smell…why give it up? I can’t think of anything a celebrity has advocated that I’ve bothered with.
I can't do caffeine. Anything with more caffeine than black tea will keep me from getting a good sleep over the next 18 hours. I can't imagine drinking an energy drink.
I like my coffee like my women, black and hot...
>> I can't think of any celebrity giving up anything that would influence me. You? <<
Its a bit useful as an indication of the zeitgeist. If a celebrity is doing it and talking about it, it must be pretty widespread, so if you haven't thought about it already, maybe it is worth giving it a think.
There are lots and lots of things out there that are worth considering, and there is no systematic way to look at them all, so considering things that make it through the celebrity screen isn't ridiculous ... and it is easy to ignore what comes through the screen.
its quite amazing that caffeine has such an immediately positive effect, but has almost no serious or long term side effects when used in moderation. Lasts less than a day, little or no hangover, and not even a tolerance build up.
Just amazing.
They've been telling me coffee is bad for the 50 years I've been drinking it and they have no proof. They rightly waged jihad against tobacco. Why don't they go after the real drugs like alcohol and marijuana which actually can ruin your life? Not PC.
I switch between coffee and tea, just want a cup of warm caffeine in the AM. More than two cups of coffee gives me the jitters.
I've always paid close attention to health-related news and have seen coffee subjected to endless studies over the years. Despite these efforts to tie coffee to adverse health outcomes, they keep coming up short. Studies find either no particular adverse consequences, or more often, they find benefits. I don't like the taste, btw, so I don't partake but I wish I did like it--the smell is divine.
So party on with your favorite cafe!!
A friend of the family who had flown the Burma Hump in WWII described how he got used to putting coffee grounds "between his cheek and gums" when in the AAF. He kept at it when he flew his Weekend Warrior hours. Never heard if he drank regular coffee from a cup.
Nice guy, hard as nails, different times.
I usually have a cup of caffeinated coffee before reading Althouse’s Blog. It makes me feel better about reading popularized, randomly chosen, less-than-definitive scientific studies. I also find coffee's effect appreciably enhanced when consumed with a doughnut. ;^)
Your post from 2021 on Michael Pollan quitting coffee made me certain coffee was a net negative.
I don't drink it and I never will, but I had no idea so many coffee drinkers have sleep issues.
And is good for the liver. No small thing!
Oh please. Nothing is more addictive, and harder to stay away from, than nicotine. The People’s heroin. I’ve never been a habitual smoker, but I’ve been a stone nicotine freak since I was 18. Wonderful that there are so many healthier delivery systems these days!
Never drank the stuff. Every morning I get up at 6:00, I am neither drowsy or "jonesing" for caffeine. The Blogger spouse can't function without morning and mid-day fixes.
Celebrity...
There are people who are rightly celebrated. Like, for instance, Norman Borlaug, or Douglas Bader.
But Adele? Please.
Giving up coffee is easy. I've done it lots of times.
Espresso within five minutes of waking up.
A leisurely cup of coffee after, often on the back porch overlooking a pond.
Maybe another late morning.
Espresso at 4 PM
Non-caffeine tea in the evening.
My habit: 3 10oz cups/mugs throughout the morning and that's it. No additives, no decaf. Old work habit that needs to be retained.
Of course, it's healthy. If it weren't for the smell of coffee, I wouldn't ever wake up.
Everything in moderation. Too much caffine can be bad for you, not just "heart racing", I mean very bad.
As a kid, I laughed at my mom's coffee addiction. She had to have her morning coffee or she had a headache. Now, I'm the same way. need my AM cuppa Joe. But don't drink anything more. Thinking of switching to Green tea. I'm doubtful that any mind altering drug, no matter how mild, can be good for you. I'd only go to "Harmless" or "Bad, but of low materiality if taken in low doses".
"I can't think of any celebrity giving up anything that would influence me."
I'm skeptical. What if the celebrity was Bob Dylan?
"I was once addicted to Caribou Sumatra for several years."
I was once addicted to a Caribou Barista for several years. But sadly, the pandemic put an end to that and now she's in the wind. Fuck you, China. Fuck you.
Chocolate covered coffee beans. Addictive despite the severe gastrointestinal effects. Moderation in all things is but a vain hope with these. Was gifted many packets and ended up giving them all away lest I keep ingesting them to my bowel's destruction. You have been warned.
I can't think of any time any celebrity has had any influence over any decision I have ever made. Why would anyone take advice from a so called celebrity?
Two mugs of Joe in the AM daily. I ain't givin up my coffee!
There are people alive today because I have coffee in the morning
Was 4-5 cups a day for 40 years. After a heart attack one day, I was not looking forward to no caffeine the next morning. To my surprise, I felt zero withdraw. 4 days later... at home I skipped it the first day then over the next couple weeks worked up to 8-10 ounces after breakfast. That seems to be my new sweet spot, with a cup of tea later in the day, sometimes two.
There is a good New Yorker cartoon, Until I've had my coffee, I'm only capable of talking about coffee.
50 years ago when I was 15, I got a job riding in the back of a truck and throwing the then Kansas City Times. I discovered vivarin. 50 years later the monkey is still on my back. Caffeine got me through engineering school, two master’s degrees at night school, and 20 years of adjuncting. I’m not quitting now.
50 years ago when I was 15, I got a job riding in the back of a truck and throwing the then Kansas City Times. I discovered vivarin. 50 years later the monkey is still on my back. Caffeine got me through engineering school, two master’s degrees at night school, and 20 years of adjuncting. I’m not quitting now.
“What if the celebrity was Bob Dylan?”
Giving up what?
Jerry Seinfeld taught a trick for forming daily habits. Check off doing the thing day by day on a calendar, and after a few days you won't want to end the streak. Keeping the streak intact keeps you going, he said. I've used that method for developing daily habits. It's probably the most useful thing I ever learned from a celebrity. Starting a new habit and ending an old habit (like caffeine) are different, though.
It's barely a drug at all. Quitting caffeine is like giving up pumpkin seeds. Just don't do it and move on if that's what you want to do. Christ, I've given up a lot of things over the years, and this just doesn't amount to much.
A lot of celebrities have influenced me into no longer watching their movies.
Back in WWII it was said the USN ran on oil and coffee.
The Royal Navy had tea* and rum.
US ships, though, had ice cream and would trade it for booze when they were with the RN.**
*British tank developers put eventually a little hot water boiler in their tanks so crews could make tea without getting out of the tank.
**Another one. The Britsh Pacific Fleet needed droptanks fot their Seafire fighters. They figured out P40 droptanks would fit. An Australian fighter base had P40s and a destroyer was sent to bargain with them. When told that the RN was willing to trade a case of scotch whiskey for every droptank, the Australian commander is reported to reply "For that you can have the entire base".
I have had one cup of cofee my entire life (I'm 58) and I didn't finish it.
I've never been a coffee drinker. When I was working, one of the benefits of that was when there was a problem with the Mr. Coffee machine and there was no coffee ready in the morning (seemed to happen often enough), it didn't matter to me. Also, I didn't need sign up for the "clean the pot and set up for the next morning" rotation.
Do people mean a ‘cup’, as in a measured amount of 8 ounces, or ‘cup’ as in the drinking container that most normal people use?
I drink a glass of water first. Gives the caffeine a place to swim.
First day of pharmacology ... "All drugs have side effects, some of which may be useful."
Summers of lemonade with raspberry syrup!
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