garysol1 

Discuss.......

ratebeer

If you're dehydrated, it's not good without water.

Of course, if you've already had a pot of coffee then another cup is probably not a good idea either.

Some people have had panic attacks or heart palpitations from coffee. Probably bad idea for these folks to drink coffee.

Enthalpic

Sure I can think of several:

-While homebrew is cheap, picking up Starbucks etc all the time will waste a horrendous amount of money (Latte Factor) that could have been spent on bike stuff.

-If drank in the evening it can reduce the quality of your sleep.

-Exacerbates any existing stress and anxiety.

-There is some evidence that it both reduces absorption and increases losses of dietary minerals.

-Caffeine is a proven performance enhancer, but surprisingly coffee is shown to have little effect. Other compounds in the coffee interfere.

I still drink it.

jonathanb715

It'll turn your teeth yellow if you drink too much.

JB

ken cummings

Item one; If I get more then 4 cups of coffee equivalent in my system at one time I start having little chest pains akin to low key Angina. So I cut myself off at three servings of Pepsi or coca cola in restruants.

donnamb 

Study in a peer-reviewed journal a few years back indicated that women with endometriosis who were also regular coffee drinkers reported higher levels of pain than women with endometriosis who did not drink any coffee.

dahoss2002

I like my coffee. Usually drink about 6 - 8 cups a day. All homebrew and BLACK. I thought I read somewhere last summer that some studies showed some positive health benefits for coffee drinkers.

wabbit

if i don't have any coffee i get a headache... so i'm addicted. But i only drink it in the morning. Hey, it's better than being addicted to meth or cigarettes!

C Law

^don't hate on meth

Although I prefer homebrew black coffee, no sugar. 3 cups daily. helps me stay on a regular schedule. It also helps give the colon a good cleansing.

Psydotek

The addiction and headaches are a good reason not to. That being said, i drink 1 mug (not cup ) a day, i'm guessing about 12 ounces. If it's a particularly slow feeling day (or friday), maybe 2 mugs, with afew tablespoons of ovaltine or other chocolate powder for my poor mans cafe mocha. I get it from the office coffee machine (i buy the creamer and coffee, the secretary gets the coffee machine going in the morning). Costs me about 25 cents a day i've estimated. I try to stay away from caffine on the weekends though to break the addiction cycle.

NoRacer

But, Starbucks latte will pack in the calories.

Idiosyncratic--at gatherings, my relatives are always surprised that I can have several cups of coffee and I start getting drowsy.

Maybe that's why I growl all of the time.

Calcium from what I remember in my readings.

Enough coffee and you can have the same nervous system slimulation as NoDoz or Vivarin.


Me too.

crtreedude 

I can think of health reasons for those around me why I should drink coffee... <need evil smiley>

As far as a reason not to drink? I am sure there are some, but without coffee I probably couldn't think of any... seems like a hopeless quest to me.

JayC

Because its nasty?

zeytoun

After being a 2-3 cup a day drinker for most of my adult life, and feeling very sluggish on days without coffee, I gave up all caffeine for a month (I do that from time-to-time with most habits). I started waking up much more alert and refreshed. At the end of the month, I didn't resume drinking coffee, but now have an occasional caffeinated soda or tea. The next morning, I'm significantly more sluggish.

But that's just me.

slim_77

I try to do this too...
I drink it in the morning (2 mugs) I perk up then crash by mid afternoon. This curve is much much more rounded (less slope) when I don't consume caffeine.
I like the 'give up addictions for a month' routine; I try to do this to keep a sense of control, but dang I like coffee in the am. I get up stupid early to do work, grade essays and plan my lesson activities (teacher) and man, coffee helps...

..but stress you out it can.

garysol1 

I think I will do the same....Starting tomorrow...or maybe the next day

Davey

Coffee is a diuretic. Makes you pee. I drink coffee in the morning and there are some AM rides when I feel like I have to stop every 15 minutes to relieve myself. It's maddening. I can't imagine racing for >1 hour without having to stop. But I also can't imagine doing anything in the morning without drinking coffee.

Guess I'd better sort it out before race season starts.

Gotte

Supposed to be full of anti-oxidents, but also, one of the most heavily sprayed products. I would always try anddrink organic.
I read somewhere there has been a big rise in cancer this last 20 years, about two thirds of which is due to greater longevity, but around one third unexplained. I've heard the spotlight is beginning to fall onto pesticides.

feethanddooth

i work for starbucks and its very hard for me not to drink coffee. not only did i love it before i started working there but it is now part of my job to know the taste of the product. constant tastings during the day, quality assurance on espresso shots, and also the free pound of coffee every week makes me a 6 to 10 cup a day drinker. im very aware of it though and this month ive been making sure im not getting out of control. i try to stay around 4 cups a day now.

i have constant headahces if i do not fill up on some sort of caffine through out the day. but i dont think my riding is at all affected. dont give me my coffee though and thats a different story.

feethanddooth

some info on spraying coffee.


as stated in my previous post i work for sbux. through my training ive learned there are 2 different types of beans, arabica and robusta. the arabica beans are grown at higher altitude and require more care by the farmers. the growth at higher altitude means less pollution from air and water and also less pests. these are obviously more expensive.

robusta beans are less quality but have much more caffine. they are grown at lower altitudes and dont require as much care as arabica beans. they are more exposed to elements and also are much less expensive.

another thing to look out for is coffee that is flavored. do you think there are vanilla or hazelnut coffee plants? no. they are sprayed with a flavor, typically a chemical, to create the flavor. most higher quality coffee houses do not have such flavored coffee beans.

here is one more interesting fact. since arabica beans are grown so high in altitude they are kinda organic by default. most are not labeled 'organic' because it costs farms alot of $$ to gain that label.


have any more questions let me know. im willing to share any knowledge i have

Gotte

Thanks for that. Really interesting to know.

Here's one for you. I heard the process of decaffination can leave a lot of nasties in coffee I was told to look for coffee decaffinated with water.

Any info on this?

feethanddooth

a chemical is added to make the beans de-caffinated during the process but apparently the chemical is washed off later in the process. i know from time to time i may have a half/caf espresso drink but generally i dont drink de-caf.

i can try to obtain info on this when im at work but so far there was only a small paragraph that had the info i shared.

`
i call a decaf a 'why bother'

Yo-

It helps me take a dump in the morning.

Gotte

Thanks for the info, and yes, I'd be interested in more.

I know what you mean about "why bother", but I simply can;t drink caffinated coffee anymore. I have a cortisol thing going on at the moment that means I just get too wired.
But I used to love expresso. I used to love all coffee (well, anything balck, strong and sweet), but times change and you get older and some things you have to stop.

Maybe I should simply not drink decaf and have a blissful memory of caffinated coffee. I must admit, I drink more tea now (again, decaf). Maybe it should be like cigarettes (which I used also to enjoy) - total ban is the only way.

And you know, a good strong cup of coffee and a cigarette (Marlboro Red, was always my preference), at a pavement cafe in a European city...Ahhhh, sometimes the memory is good enough. I find myself closing my eyes and trying to remember the feel of the sunlight dappled by the trees on the Unter Den Linden.

But I digress. Where was I? Oh yes, my life as is.

Hmmmmm.

Sandwarrior

If you are planning on getting off the caffeine, take plenty of time to do it. I measure the amount of coffee I drink then reduce it one cup per day until I no longer drink Caffinenated drinks. It keeps me from gettin those really nasty caffeine headaches.