Bean Me!

I have had a coffee addiction for about 6 years now and I show no signs of giving up. Not that it's really that bad for me. As far as addictions go, caffeine addiction is mild in its damage to your body. Cigarettes kill. Coffee just makes you jittery.

Many are torn on the issue of coffee. Some avoid it for its purported damaging health effects and some consume it in copious amounts for its purported health benefits. I don't think coffee is all that bad for you. A quick check on wikipedia will point you to studies that show its benefits. There is very weak evidence that it is bad for you if you're not nursing, pregnant, or elderly.

The only thing that worries me is that caffeine elevates cortisol levels in the body. Considering I drink about 5-6 servings throughout the day that adds up to a healthy amount of cortisol swimming through my veins. Cortisol is a stress hormone that breaks down muscle tissue for energy. Instead of fat as fuel, my body uses muscle for fuel. Not very good for my body composition.

It's difficult for me to quit for both psychological reasons and physical reasons. Psychologically, I crave the desire to drink something all day. It's an OCD like symptom I think a acquired out of the habit of sucking on a straw all day long. I feel naked without that medium size Dunkin' Donuts coffee in my hand. It's kind of like the way ex smokers don't know what to do with their hands after they quit. They've always had a cigarette their and now it's just searching for something to do.

Physically I notice a huge difference in my mood and behavior when I skip my morning coffee. I start to get a headache about mid afternoon and I'm extremely lethargic all day. I'm not as talkative as I usually am (which I'm not all that talkative to begin with) and I have very little patience with people.

As soon as I let that espresso swim in my stomach for a bit I feel the effects of caffeine almost immediately. My finger tips start to tingle and my mood is uplifted almost immediately. I have more energy and feel like doing some kind of physical activity.

Sometimes, I drink way too much caffeine and the pleasant effects of caffeine quickly become unpleasant. As the day wears on I'll start to get tired but can't sleep or lay down and be still for the life of me. I'll want to sleep but be too restless to do so. I feel jittery and I begin to become impatient with people once again.

The worst effect I suspect excess coffee consumption causes is insomnia. If I have a coffee after 3pm there is no way in hell I'm going to bed at a normal hour. I already don't sleep well to begin with so the caffeine will usually cause me to not fall asleep until 3am or later. This makes sense because the half-life of caffeine is about 6 hours. So if I have 2 cups in the morning, two in the afternoon, I still have well over one cup of coffee in my system well after 9pm.

I tolerate a fairly high level of caffeine pretty well and the dangerous effects of caffeine are way overblown so I'm going to continue consumption. I think I will reduce my consumption and not consume it after 3pm.

Everybody is different when it comes to the reactions of drugs so I can't make recommendations. Most tolerate small amounts of caffeine OK but some will go off the walls even if they drink small amounts. As long as you don't continue drinking when you feel the jitters coming on, you're probably fine.