Addiction has become a huge issue in America today. Where we once had only alcohol and tobacco as common addictive substances, the list of things to become addicted to has grown exponentially. Now we can choose from a wide variety of illicit or prescription drugs and have added other whole categories, like sex and pornography, gambling, video games, and social media. For some reason, Americans have a hard time practicing moderation, and seem to take everything to excess. Yet, I don't think any of those listed rank as our favorite addiction. That role seems to be reserved exclusively for our favorite pick-me-up: caffeine.
You say caffeine isn't an addiction? I beg to differ. What do you call someone who can't function normally without a drug, craves the drug when it isn't in the system, and experiences withdrawal symptoms when the drug is taken away? I call that person an addict! Those are all classic signs of addiction, and quite likely, common signs exhibited by many of those reading this, especially if it's early in the morning.
Caffeine has been utilized for thousands of years, mostly consumed as coffee or tea. Until sanitation practices become standard in the early 20th century, coffee and tea were some of the only "safe" beverages you could consume, since you boiled the water before making either. The boiling effectively killed most of the nasty critters that would make us sick. The other "safe" choice was beer or wine. Here, the alcohol kept the bugs from getting a foothold. So, yes, caffeine has been an integral part of our development. But, that doesn't mean it's been consumed at the rate it is today, nor does it mean that it is beneficial to our health.
In today's America, caffeine has become the new cigarette. It's legal, it can be consumed anywhere, and it gives us a pick-me-up fix that we crave. It has been added to everything from soda to energy drinks to super charged coffee. You can even get it in pill form if you don't care for the flavors available. Caffeine has become a multi-billion dollar, Wall Street traded industry, all focused on helping us get our fix. One local coffee shop even says "Life is short, stay awake for it", a blatant hook to infer you'll miss out on life without their addictive product.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoy the flavor of a good cup of coffee, and I regularly drink a variety of teas. However, I do everything I can to do so safely, meaning I avoid as much caffeine as possible. Why you ask? What's the big deal about being addicted to this meek and mild drug? It's the affect on our stress response that I care about.
In my blog How Full is Your Barrel?, I talk about how stress is cumulative to our bodies, regardless of the type of stressor. What seems to be forgotten, is that research has clearly shown that caffeine increases your body's reaction to stress, meaning that when you consume this drug, your barrel gets smaller. If on a normal day, you had a certain amount of stress, it would cause a certain reaction in your body. On a day you have caffeine, that same amount of stress causes an exaggerated reaction in the body, so you have a higher chance of symptoms "spilling" out. This exaggerated response happens for 24 hours after you ingest caffeine, and is not something to which the body adapts. It matters not if you are a pot a day of Jo drinker or if you just have an occasional can of caffeinated soda; the reaction will be there.
If the stress and caffeine link weren't bad enough, there's another not so small issue that isn't well known. Every 8 oz cup of caffeinated coffee (equal to about a 12 oz soda, 16 oz of black tea, or 32 oz of green tea), will take about 80 mg of calcium with it when it leaves in the urine. In today's world of Sally Field peddling osteoporosis drugs on the TV, no one seems to be talking about one of the easiest prevention strategies: stop using all the caffeine.
But, you say, coffee and caffeine are GOOD for us, haven't you heard the news? Yes, I've seen multiple attempts by the caffeine industry to convince the gullible public into believing that their product is at worst harmless, but probably beneficial to you. I keep coming back to the stress reaction. The more stress in your life, the quicker it will destroy your body and mind (I'll explain more in future blogs). Stress is killing us, and we're finding ways to justify our use of an addictive product that exaggerates our stress response and makes us more prone to osteoporosis. That just doesn't pass the common sense smell test.
Does that mean you have to swear off all coffee and tea? Why, not at all. You just have to work to keep the caffeine down. Coffee can be decaffeinated by 98%, so decaf is just fine. Just fine that is, as long as it is safely decaffeinated. Most coffee is decaffeinated with either dichloromethane (shown to cause cancer) or ethyl acetate (breaks down into ethanol). Neither one is necessarily safe for consumption in my view. A safer method to decaffeinate is the Swiss Water Process method. This process utilizes no chemicals to take the caffeine out, but a simple diffusion method that leaves a coffee bean with most, if not all, of the original flavor without the caffeine. Look for a coffee that is labeled "naturally decaffeinated", "Swiss Water Processed" or "chemical free". All of these will be utilizing the same safe decaffeination
Enjoying your morning doesn't have to be dictated by when you get your jolt of caffeine. A good night's sleep will do wonders to reduce the "need" for caffeine (more to come on that as well). Caffeine has no qualities that are beneficial when compared to what it takes from us. To have good health, you really must learn to give up the addiction and "just say no" to the drug.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter.
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