Scientists...Coffee Is Addictive; A Mental Disorder

Hi,

MU said:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2002052772_coffee03.html

I ought to market a step-down caffeine patch system for kicking
caffeinated beverages. Get them classified as a prescription drug
then watch the cash roll in.

Take care,
Carmen the well-caffeinated blonde
PS - To the humor impaired: This is a joke. This is only a joke. Had
this been serious I'd have kept it to myself and been working out the
details.

Carmen wrote:
|| Hi,
|| On 3-Oct-2004, MU <[email hidden]> wrote:
||
||| http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2002052772_coffee03.html
||
|| I ought to market a step-down caffeine patch system for kicking
|| caffeinated beverages. Get them classified as a prescription drug
|| then watch the cash roll in.
||
|| Take care,
|| Carmen the well-caffeinated blonde
|| PS - To the humor impaired: This is a joke. This is only a joke.
|| Had this been serious I'd have kept it to myself and been working
|| out the details.

So you won't mind if I follow thru on your idea, right? 🙂

Hi,

Roger Zoul said:

Carmen wrote:
|| Hi,
|| On 3-Oct-2004, MU <[email hidden]> wrote:
||
|||
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2002052772_coffee03.html
||
|| I ought to market a step-down caffeine patch system for kicking
|| caffeinated beverages. Get them classified as a prescription
drug
|| then watch the cash roll in.
||
|| Take care,
|| Carmen the well-caffeinated blonde
|| PS - To the humor impaired: This is a joke. This is only a joke.
|| Had this been serious I'd have kept it to myself and been working
|| out the details.

So you won't mind if I follow thru on your idea, right? 🙂

Not as long as I get a fair cut of the profits - which I define as a 5
pound bag of Sumatra Mandheling beans (medium roast) delivered to my
house every month. I'm not greedy. ;-)

Take care,
Carmen

"Carmen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi,

MU said:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2002052772_coffee03.html

I ought to market a step-down caffeine patch system for kicking
caffeinated beverages. Get them classified as a prescription drug
then watch the cash roll in.

Take care,
Carmen the well-caffeinated blonde
PS - To the humor impaired: This is a joke. This is only a joke. Had
this been serious I'd have kept it to myself and been working out the
details.

It's the only addiction I have and I plan to keep it! No patch for me! : )

Martha

Roger Zoul said:

Carmen wrote:
|| Hi,
|| On 3-Oct-2004, MU <[email hidden]> wrote:
||
||| http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2002052772_coffee03.html
||
|| I ought to market a step-down caffeine patch system for kicking
|| caffeinated beverages. Get them classified as a prescription drug
|| then watch the cash roll in.
||
|| Take care,
|| Carmen the well-caffeinated blonde
|| PS - To the humor impaired: This is a joke. This is only a joke.
|| Had this been serious I'd have kept it to myself and been working
|| out the details.

So you won't mind if I follow thru on your idea, right? 🙂

I can get you in front of Don Panoz if you'd like, Zoulie.

MU said:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2002052772_coffee03.html

You really have to wonder what degree some *scientists* hold.

A masters in stating the obvious perhaps?

Regards

David

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"Carmen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi,

MU said:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2002052772_coffee03.html

I ought to market a step-down caffeine patch system for kicking
caffeinated beverages. Get them classified as a prescription drug
then watch the cash roll in.

I know your joking but it's the kind of thing people seriously would care
about. I dont really get it. I drink lots of caffeen, not because I'm
addicted to caffeen (although I probably am) but because I like coffee, I
like diet coke and I like sugar free red bull. There are virtually no diet
soft drinks that I enjoy appart from coke and red bull. I love orange sodas
like fanta and tango but diet versions are hard to come by and so I end up
drinking diet vanilla coke...which is caffinated...

"Major ChrisB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I know your joking but it's the kind of thing people seriously would care
about. I dont really get it. I drink lots of caffeen, not because I'm
addicted to caffeen (although I probably am) but because I like coffee, I
like diet coke and I like sugar free red bull. There are virtually no

diet

Quoted message said:

soft drinks that I enjoy appart from coke and red bull. I love orange

sodas

Quoted message said:

like fanta and tango but diet versions are hard to come by and so I end up
drinking diet vanilla coke...which is caffinated...

I think the caffeine is probably more important to you than you realize...if
you were willing to give it up for your upcoming Induction, I think you'd
see just how addicted you are! Also, you can buy caffeine-free diet coke in
gold cans.

Keep in mind that most diet sodas contain aspertaime as a sweetener. From
what I understand, aspertaime can be pretty bad for you, and Dr. Atkins
discourages the use of it.

S t a c i

"S t a c i" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Major ChrisB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I know your joking but it's the kind of thing people seriously would care
about. I dont really get it. I drink lots of caffeen, not because I'm
addicted to caffeen (although I probably am) but because I like coffee, I
like diet coke and I like sugar free red bull. There are virtually no

diet

Quoted message said:

soft drinks that I enjoy appart from coke and red bull. I love orange

sodas

Quoted message said:

like fanta and tango but diet versions are hard to come by and so I end
up
drinking diet vanilla coke...which is caffinated...

I think the caffeine is probably more important to you than you
realize...if
you were willing to give it up for your upcoming Induction, I think you'd
see just how addicted you are! Also, you can buy caffeine-free diet coke
in
gold cans.

Keep in mind that most diet sodas contain aspertaime as a sweetener. From
what I understand, aspertaime can be pretty bad for you, and Dr. Atkins
discourages the use of it.

what am I supposed to drink then? I cant drink diet soda due to the
sweetner, I can't drink regular soda due to the sugar, I can't drink coffee
due to the cafeen, caffeine-free coke is not easily found and tastes bad.
Not as bad as the dihoreah that is decaf coffee. I can't drink fruit juice
as thats high in carbs too and water has no taste.

So what is there to drink?

"Major ChrisB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

what am I supposed to drink then? I cant drink diet soda due to the
sweetner, I can't drink regular soda due to the sugar, I can't drink
coffee due to the cafeen, caffeine-free coke is not easily found and
tastes bad. Not as bad as the dihoreah that is decaf coffee. I can't
drink fruit juice as thats high in carbs too and water has no taste.

So what is there to drink?

Try bottled water. That's about all I drink (sometimes, in the evening, I
might add a little bourbon to it). I used to drink a pot of coffee a day,
but after starting induction earlier this year I gave it up. Fortunately,
with no side effects. These days, I might make a pot on Sundays to enjoy
(if I get around to it, which I seldom do). Have to have that pint or two
of water in the morning to get me going, though!

"MU" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2002052772_coffee03.html

Re addiction:
Once my m-i-l got Alzheimer's, she no longer enjoyed nor participated in two
of the most enjoyable things to her: drinking coffee and gambling. I think
this might be considered in the list of things to look out for when trying
to diagnose Alzheimers.

Don't obsess about it. Lots of people have no problem with either caffeine
or aspertame. If I had to give up my morning coffee I would still be as fat
as I was a year ago. Caffeine withdrawal can cause headaches and other
unpleasant symptoms, I don't know why people think adding that to carb
withdrawal is a good idea. As far as I can determine, caffeine may increase
appetite for some people, you will find out if you are one of them and then
will have to deal with it as you believe appropriate.

In the U.S. there are a number of Splenda sweetened drinks, a lot have come
on the market in the last year or two, maybe the UK market will catch up
eventually.

In news:[email hidden],
Major ChrisB <[email hidden]> stated
| what am I supposed to drink then? I cant drink diet soda due to the
| sweetner, I can't drink regular soda due to the sugar, I can't drink
| coffee due to the cafeen, caffeine-free coke is not easily found and
| tastes bad. Not as bad as the dihoreah that is decaf coffee. I can't
| drink fruit juice as thats high in carbs too and water has no taste.
|
| So what is there to drink?

"Jim Bard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Major ChrisB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

what am I supposed to drink then? I cant drink diet soda due to the
sweetner, I can't drink regular soda due to the sugar, I can't drink
coffee due to the cafeen, caffeine-free coke is not easily found and
tastes bad. Not as bad as the dihoreah that is decaf coffee. I can't
drink fruit juice as thats high in carbs too and water has no taste.

So what is there to drink?

Try bottled water.

I dont go for all that bottled water nonsense. The stuff out the tap is
just the same with less preservatives and chemicals in it. The thing with
water is....it doesn't taste of anything...although I am going to start
drinking more....apparently I should be drinking 64oz of water plus another
8oz per 25lbs over weight which adds up to a hell of a lot of water....but
I'll do my best....

Major ChrisB said:

I dont go for all that bottled water nonsense.

Me neither. To me, bottled water is a *service* I buy when the necessity
arises, and not go out of my way to get, when I have perfectly good water
out of my tap at home. That having been said, I still drink coffee. My
husband home-roasts his own coffee seeds from raw and there's nothing more
heavenly, IMO, than a cup of coffee made from freshly ground seeds that
were roasted less than 48 hours ago. It doesn't even taste like what many
people think coffee is.

I no longer drink alcohol, I don't drink juice (when I want the "goodness"
of fruit, I simply eat a piece of fruit), I can't stand the taste (or the
effect) of diet sodas, and the only other beverages I enjoy are coffee and
tea.

J. David Anderson said:

MU wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2002052772_coffee03.html

Quoted message said:

You really have to wonder what degree some *scientists* hold.

Quoted message said:

A masters in stating the obvious perhaps?

It obviously isn't so obvious, since plenty of ordinary folk go along
to their doc suffering from caffeine withdrawal, but not realising it,
and their doc's don't realise it either, and often ends up prescribing
them something for something else. That's the well-known problem
these guys were addressing.

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

Quoted message said:

"FOB" [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Caffeine withdrawal can cause headaches and other
unpleasant symptoms, I don't know why people think adding that to carb
withdrawal is a good idea.

In my case, I wanted to give up my addictions all at once. It was a matter of
self-discipline. And by phasing the caffeine down to decaf, I only had a mild
headache for half a day. Considering that I get sporadic headaches anyway, it
could have been unrelated. Giving up sugar was much, much worse -- I felt like
I *suffered* for 4 days. Caffeine was a cinch after that.
I agree that most people can manage caffeine during a diet, but I think the
withdrawal symptoms are often greatly exaggerated, and I wanted to address
that.

Daria
166/under 145/under 145
sugar-free since 2/1/04
low-carb since 2/17/04

Major ChrisB wrote:
|| "S t a c i" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
|| news:[email hidden]...
||| "Major ChrisB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
||| news:[email hidden]...
|||| I know your joking but it's the kind of thing people seriously
|||| would care about. I dont really get it. I drink lots of caffeen,
|||| not because I'm addicted to caffeen (although I probably am) but
|||| because I like coffee, I like diet coke and I like sugar free red
|||| bull. There are virtually no diet soft drinks that I enjoy appart
|||| from coke and red bull. I love orange sodas like fanta and tango
|||| but diet versions are hard to come by and so I end up
|||| drinking diet vanilla coke...which is caffinated...
|||
|||
||| I think the caffeine is probably more important to you than you
||| realize...if
||| you were willing to give it up for your upcoming Induction, I think
||| you'd see just how addicted you are! Also, you can buy
||| caffeine-free diet coke in
||| gold cans.
|||
||| Keep in mind that most diet sodas contain aspertaime as a
||| sweetener. From what I understand, aspertaime can be pretty bad
||| for you, and Dr. Atkins discourages the use of it.
||
|| what am I supposed to drink then? I cant drink diet soda due to the
|| sweetner, I can't drink regular soda due to the sugar, I can't drink
|| coffee due to the cafeen, caffeine-free coke is not easily found and
|| tastes bad. Not as bad as the dihoreah that is decaf coffee. I
|| can't drink fruit juice as thats high in carbs too and water has no
|| taste.
||
|| So what is there to drink?

Fruit 2 O

Chris Malcolm said:

J. David Anderson said:

MU wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2002052772_coffee03.html

Quoted message said:

You really have to wonder what degree some *scientists* hold.

Quoted message said:

A masters in stating the obvious perhaps?

It obviously isn't so obvious, since plenty of ordinary folk go along
to their doc suffering from caffeine withdrawal, but not realising it,
and their doc's don't realise it either, and often ends up prescribing
them something for something else. That's the well-known problem
these guys were addressing.

Caffeine withdrawal only lasts a couple of days, and if a person, plus
their doctor, cannot figure out what is causing the problem, then both
of them have more of a problem than caffeine withdrawal.

It is not a new phenomenon, it has been recognised for more than a
century. A doctor who is presented with a patient reporting classic
withdrawal symptoms will ask about recent changes in diet or lifestyle.
If someone has recently, very recently, stopped drinking coffee, or
switched to decaf, the answer should be immediately obvious.

As a heavy caffeine user, I have often experience caffeine related
symptoms, usually when out sailing and there is no *real* coffee left.
Plenty of liquids and a couple of aspirin handle it pretty well.

It isn't a big deal and it certainly isn't a new issue.

Regards

David

Quoted message said:

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

--

To email me, please include the letters DNF anywhere in the subject line.

All other mail is automatically deleted.

J. David Anderson said:

Chris Malcolm said:

"J. David Anderson" <[email hidden]> writes:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

You really have to wonder what degree some *scientists* hold.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

A masters in stating the obvious perhaps?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It obviously isn't so obvious, since plenty of ordinary folk go along
to their doc suffering from caffeine withdrawal, but not realising it,
and their doc's don't realise it either, and often ends up prescribing
them something for something else. That's the well-known problem
these guys were addressing.

Quoted message said:

Caffeine withdrawal only lasts a couple of days, and if a person, plus
their doctor, cannot figure out what is causing the problem, then both
of them have more of a problem than caffeine withdrawal.

Be that as it may, there are studies which show that a significant
number of doctors and patients do suffer from this problem. Note that
an odd feature of caffeine habituation is that people don't
necessarily feel the need to keep topping up their caffeine
levels. This leads to the circumstance in which people who are not
deliberately giving up drinking coffee often accidentally stop
drinking coffee, and get the symptoms often, without realising what is
going on.

One well known example of this is the office coffee effect, where
someone who drinks a lot of caffeinated drinks at work simply stops,
or reduces a lot, at the weekend, and gets headaches etc. at the
weekends. The association of this with regular variations in
caffeinated drink consumption patterns is often missed by the docs
they consult about their weekend headaches.

Quoted message said:

It is not a new phenomenon, it has been recognised for more than a
century. A doctor who is presented with a patient reporting classic
withdrawal symptoms will ask about recent changes in diet or lifestyle.
If someone has recently, very recently, stopped drinking coffee, or
switched to decaf, the answer should be immediately obvious.

It should be, but the point is that research has shown that "should"
doesn't necessarily imply "is". It's obvious when the person has
actually deliberately given up coffee, or been forcibly prevented from
drinking it, but in most cases this is not what happens.

Quoted message said:

As a heavy caffeine user, I have often experience caffeine related
symptoms, usually when out sailing and there is no *real* coffee left.
Plenty of liquids and a couple of aspirin handle it pretty well.

Quoted message said:

It isn't a big deal and it certainly isn't a new issue.

You may not think so, but it does happen to be the issue that this
particular study was designed to address. The idea that someone has
been doing research to discover that coffee drinking is a serious
addiction or a mental illness which needs to be treated is a fantasy
in the minds of illiterate journalists who've been drinking too much
coffee.
--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]