5 replies to this topic

[Heinsbeans]

So over the years, I became dependent on coffee to function everyday and I've been struggling with quitting coffee for a while. Whenever I tried to quit coffee, I become groggy and irritable. Drinking green tea didn't help either.
But lately, I discovered swiss water decaf coffee and that has helped me break the habit of drinking coffee in the morning. So I think I'll be able to quit coffee for good if I replace it with decaf. I also heard that you can get almost all of the antioxidants from decaf coffee.

But my question is

1) Do I really need to quit caffeine? One of the reason why I'm thinking about quitting caffeine is because I heard that it inhibits hippocampal neurogenesis. How bad is that and is it permanent? If so, is it reversible?

2) Does long-term intake of caffeine have any other negative impact on brain function?

3) How should one drink coffee to avoid inhibition of hippocampal neurogenesis and other negative side effects?

If there's no permanent, irreversible negative impact on brain function from long-term intake of caffeine, I don't see a reason to quit.
So what is your thoughts on caffeine. Should we or shouldn't we drink coffee for optimal brain function?

[blood]

You raise an important question. Does coffee consumption offer net benefits to health?

I've always had the vague sense (gained from skimming various articles, abstracts on coffee) that moderate coffee consumption is mostly beneficial to human health, but I've never looked into the issue deeply.

I hope someone who has looked closely at this issue will share their perspectives.

[Mind]

Seems the balance of research is quite positive for coffee. See here, here, here.

I now drink 2 cups per day with no concern. The only thing I do not like is the addiction factor. It would suck for a whole lot of people if the caffeine supply was somehow disrupted around the world. Seeing as though there are many many products with caffeine, not limited to coffee, available in most places of the world, it wouldn't seem there is a danger of running out anytime soon.

For quitting. The best way I have found is to make sure you have some vacation time to lay around and not think too much for the first couple of days. Many people say it takes a week or two to break a caffeine addiction.

[_alex_]

Caffeine is good in moderation, in excess not, just like everything else in the world. There is way better drinks for your health though, like tea.

[Absent]

I have a good answer for this question:

Coffee is good for brain function, yes, that is, until your brain needs to rest. The problem we face with caffeine is that it lasts far longer than the periods in which we are awake, so when we go to sleep at night, there is inevitably caffeine in our system. Even if you can get to sleep, be assured the caffeine IS lessening your sleep quality. Some people are sensitive to it, some aren't. The decrease in sleep quality may not even be noticeable in the short term, but in the long term is will be, that is if you have been paying attention for that long. The negative impacts of the sleep quality reduction vary from person to person, and might not cause anything severe in the long run, other than a gradual weakening of the psyche.

This is just my opinion, based on what I know, and my experience. I used to be able to drink caffeine all day. Now I am incredibly sensitive to it, for whatever reason. If I have a small soda in the morning with 24mg of caffeine, then it will end up keeping me up at least 2-3 hours past my bed time before I am able to fall asleep. This impacts me tremendously, so I tend to just avoid caffeine all together now.

[BioFreak]

Sometimes coffeine can people help sleeping by its blood flow increasing effect and by suppressing neural activity:

The caffeine molecule is structurally similar to adenosine, and is capable of binding to adenosine receptors on the surface of cells without activating them, thereby acting as a competitive inhibitor.^[123] Adenosine is found in every part of the body, because it plays a role in the fundamental adenosine triphosphate (ATP) related energy producing mechanism and is also needed for RNA synthesis, but it has additional functions in the brain. The evidence indicates that brain adenosine acts to protect the brain by suppressing neural activity and by increasing blood flow via receptors located on vascular smooth muscle

Wikipedia

So it can't be generalized that easy. High doses may only have a stimulating effect though, depending on individual tolerance.

Uridine made me much more sensitive to the possible negative effects of caffeine, at least while I was taking both.