So I'm not entirely sure what prompted this thread or if there is any sort of plan for how it should unfold; I just had some coffee recently and it got me thinking about how awesome caffeine is. So maybe it's an appreciation thread, maybe it's just gonna be a fun thing for talking about everyone's favorite caffeinated drinks, or we could talk about the history of the caffeine industry. That's the beauty of forums like this I guess; You never know what'll happen. For those of you who got this far and are totally puzzled by what I am even going on about; I am making the claim that caffeine, an active ingredient in coffee, energy drinks, some types of tea, soda, & chocolate, is an amazing miracle drug that doesn't get the recognition it deserves. Sure every drug has it's downsides if you were to say consume several grams of caffeine at once (that'd be really bad) but in general if you take a normal amount of it, it's got basically only positive side effects: Improved energy, alertness and focus. In regard to it being "addictive", I would add that withdrawal consists of having a headache for a few days... so even the downsides are pretty positive relative to other drugs. So anyway, let the thread begin!
You make me think you've seen this [video=youtube;OTVE5iPMKLg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTVE5iPMKLg[/video] I don't like coffee or tea. I usually have an energy drink to get me through the long days at uni. I sometimes have a hot chocolate if I have a cold or something, like now.
yes i have seen this xD but yea, i discovered coffee like half way thru college (i obviously knew about it in high school but it never occurred to me to really try it or have it regularly until later when I was constantly pulling all nighters for projects and things. Also, and I don't care if there's a stigma against it, I have a bottle of caffeine pills with my medicines "just in case" ... i've used those in situations where i didn't have time to drink something but it was critical i be awake anyway... semi-related image i found for this thread.
I don't really ingest caffeine often. When I do, it's normally in the form of soda since I can't stand the taste if coffee. Not to mention that caffeine has absolutely no effect on me at all.
my roommate and i are kind of dependant of caffeine; we wake up early(4:30 AM) to work in a restaurant, where the coffee is free for us, and where energy drinks aren't too costy. I can't imagine my life without my morning coffee/energy drink. And more, Caffeine is legal!
Since I've stopped drinking soda, the only time I get caffeine is when I drink tea, and even then, I could do without it.
Even there, it's only a sub-product of caffeine, the ''théine'' in french (i don't know the word in english yet, i ain't sweetie belle), wich is about 4/5 as strong as caffeine if i remember my science classes. I like tea a lot; if it wasn't the fact that i'm kind of poor right now, i would've bought some teaplant to grow some myself; mixed with mint leaves, it really is refreshing served with ice cubes.
Caffeine and Theine are the same molecule (C8 H10 N4 O2). The term theine is just for when it's derived from the tea plant. The lesser strength in tea is just due to the lower concentration, they are not different from a molecular standpoint.
I thought they were a different molecule. There's about 25mg of theine in a tea, and 30mg of caffeine in a coffee. But the concentration difference between a coffee and a tea explains it all. but why is that some energy driinks contain both theine and caffeine? Why is science confusing?
I'm semi-dependant on caffeine, pretty awesome stuff. Although I get it from pre-workout powders instead of coffee or soda, so the dose is usually much higher and it's mixed with several other stimulants. Coffee or soda don't have enough to do anything for me.
I think if the goal is to give yourself energy for something soda is pretty useless because it only has a little caffeine usually, and a ton of sugar, so what usually happens is the sugar hypes you up for maybe an hour, and then you immediately have a sugar crash and so it totally negates whatever the caffeine did. I'm therefore not really a fan of very sugary or caffeinated soda - just the way its delivered ends up making me kinda sick rather than being enjoyable. Fortunately I have used caffiene - either the pills or coffee - in moderation and only when I need it so I haven't developed a dependency, but we'll see what happens when I get a real job and I need to be focussed 8-5 every day... it's probably inevitable that I'll need to rely on it at some point xD
Honestly, I couldn't tell you specifically why a drink would say both. Maybe it's some marketing thing, or they have caffeine listed so everyday people will understand since theine is probably not known by the average guy. Or they are grabbing it from different plants and need to be specific. Caffeine has bunches names though. Another example would be drinks that take Caffeine molecule from the Guarana plant will call it 'guaranine'. It is a bit confusing why all these names float around. :derpe:
Effectively. I'd suggest marketing and abuse of the lack of knowledge from the avergare guy who's addicted in energy drinks. I remember we calculated the number of coffees in an energy drink in one of my science classes. The average was somewhere round 12 coffees for the less ''effective'' drink, while one brand had released an energy drink wich equals 21 coffees. And the recommanded dosage was still 2 cans per day. But i can't talk against thoses; they've saved my sanity a bunch of times and helped me to stay awake when i worked for 12 hours, and had a small break of 6hours before duty called again.
theine is just an obsolete word used to describe caffeine that comes from tea plants; chemically as was already said, it is exactly identical (C8H10N4O2). The two separate words were coined in history before it was known that it was the same chemical. as for the caffeine addiction being bad for you I'm not sure I agree... I'm not saying caffeine isn't addictive, but at the same time it has no bad side effects; so for all intents and purposes its kind of like being addicted to a certain vitamin like calcium... sure there is some upper limit that might hurt you if consumed all at once just as anything has an upper limit (drinking 10 liters of water at once will kill you) but in reasonable quantities its great and helpful. *anyone feel free to mention or link to scientific studies that do find downsides because I would definitely be curious
For you. There are plenty of studies and evidence on short-term negative psychological and physical effects of caffeine. Everyone's body takes it differently. Like for my mother, for example, she can't have caffeine even in a small 12oz can of coke. It rises her heart rate pretty high to where she has trouble driving, holding things, etc. Myself on the other hand, I live on coffee.
I understand where you are coming from, and yes I am not saying everyone should be forced to have caffeine or anything like that. I guess I just was asking for something that applies to a healthy person who doesn't have a specific intolerance to caffeine (or a heart condition). For instance, I would never recommend eating whole wheat bread to someone with a celiacs disease (can't digest gluten) or say that incorporating more berries into ones diet is great even for people allergic to some berries - but generally each of these things is considered "good" for most people. Maybe I should also quantify what I mean by bad... specifically, that the worst side effects in a healthy person (without a heart condition) are just a headache and having to go to the bathroom more often... not exactly lethal or dangerous in any way. And being too energetic to the point of being out of control (unable to drive a car like you mentioned mike) means the person took way too much caffeine or is highly sensitive to it - so they either need to take less in or if it sounds like it is not helping them at all then maybe they shouldn't have caffeine at all? I'm just promoting this as a great drug for people who actually want more energy than they have right now.
