Originally Posted by
Rowan
Addicts swear their substance of choice isn't doing them any harm. Caffeine is the choice of coffee drinkers, and those who want to dismiss the role of caffeine in this discussion should drill a little deeper to the MedicineNet link. They might just find the same authors say diuresis is one of the five symptoms of caffeine intake.
The link provided also seems inconclusive to me on just about any aspect of the discussion. The best it seems to do is "cite" a study back in 1928!!
I do know that when I drink coffee, I pee almost immediately afterwards. I know that when I drink concentrated coffee, I have arrythmia issues, along with intenstinal problems. I also know that on the rides I do, I now steer clear of drinking coffee at the cafe stops, and rely instead on hot chocolates.
As the linked article also seems to be so adept at suggesting all the way through its treatise on coffee and caffeine, everyone's miles may vary.
Hot chocolate also often contains some caffeine. Chocolate by nature is very bitter, so if the hot chocolate tastes sweet, then it's because there is a sweetener in it, the most common sweetener used these days is High Fructose Corn Syrup, which really should be considered toxic to humans, but the corn lobby in the US is too rich, for that to happen. HFCS will cause a blood sugar spike, which makes the body dump a vast amount of insulin, which causes a sugar crash, in normal people. For diabetics, their sugar will go into the stratosphere and stay there....
Actually the best thing on the road, is plain water.