Your Caffeine Fix

[Mr. Maul]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1][COLOR=DimGray]Caffeine is a terrible drug.



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[chibi-master]

[quote name='Mr. Maul'][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1][COLOR=DimGray]Caffeine is a terrible drug.
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No wonder you're "OB's #1 Most Ignored Member. Just kidding:animeswea But there are worse ones out there...sounds like you need some caffeine.:p

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"][quote name='indifference'][COLOR="Indigo"] Coffee smells great and tastes horrid so I never drink that either. [/COLOR][/QUOTE]Quoted for truth, it's almost a crime that something that smells so wonderful can taste so terrible. And for the inevitable, [I]you get use to it or you add lots of sugar...[/I] been there, [U]done that[/U] and it[I] still [/I]tasted like [I]crap[/I].

So, the caffeine fix I get comes from soda, like diet Coke or diet Dr. Pepper -- diet because the syrup for regular soda leaves a nasty taste that I don't like. Though maybe that's why I don't like sugar in coffee either, I've never liked my drinks to have a strong sweet taste to them. Sugar shock is not something that I enjoy. XP

Oh and like a few others have mentioned, if I really need to wake up, I have some herbal tea I drink that does the trick far better than caffeine ever does. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[The Spectacular Professor]

[quote name='SunfallE'][COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]So, the caffeine fix I get comes from soda, like diet Coke or diet Dr. Pepper -- diet because the syrup for regular soda leaves a nasty taste that I don't like. Though maybe that's why I don't like sugar in coffee either, I've never liked my drinks to have a strong sweet taste to them. Sugar shock is not something that I enjoy. XP[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

That's kinda weird. I actually always considered diet soda to taste sweeter than regular. Maybe it's just a different type of sweet I'm getting.

Anyway, I'm personally not a fan of diet soda. Don't know why. Probably has something to do with the whole childhood "good for you=bad taste" thing (though oddly enough, I can never get enough milk.) I've just never been fond of the taste.

Besides, diet soda uses aspartame. I'd rather be fat than have cancer.:p

[chibi-master]

[quote name='Aceburner']Probably has something to do with the whole childhood "good for you=bad taste" thing[/QUOTE]

Actually, diet soda gives you stomach ulcers.(did I spell that correctly?) It's not very good for you at all. So it's bad for you [I]and[/I] tastes like sand.:animesigh

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"][quote name='Aceburner']That's kinda weird. I actually always considered diet soda to taste sweeter than regular. Maybe it's just a different type of sweet I'm getting.

Anyway, I'm personally not a fan of diet soda. Don't know why. Probably has something to do with the whole childhood "good for you=bad taste" thing (though oddly enough, I can never get enough milk.) I've just never been fond of the taste.

Besides, diet soda uses aspartame. I'd rather be fat than have cancer.:p[/QUOTE]You're probably thinking of the newest one out that's called Splenda, that has a sweet taste that I find a bit sickening. It tastes quite a bit sweeter than aspartame. Also, I suppose I should mention that I have issues with being hypoglycemic, and regular sugar is something that takes very little to make me sick. So though I do like deserts or candy from time to time, if I want to have soda, it's diet or no deal. I can't stand regular and it takes very little of it to make me sick.

Processed/refined sugar and I do not get along, at all. So I don't drink regular soda, period. Also, if I really want an energy boost it's herbal tea or a healthy protein shake. Both work far better than stimulants like caffeine and are a whole lot healthier. Soda is something that I like but don't really need. [quote name='chibi-master']Actually, diet soda gives you stomach ulcers.(did I spell that correctly?) It's not very good for you at all. So it's bad for you [I]and[/I] tastes like sand.:animesigh[/QUOTE]You might want to actually read up on it before you declare the dangers. ^_~ A lot of the concerns surrounding it, like many things we consume without thinking about it, have the dangers exaggerated to make them seem more dangerous than they really are. Point being, stomach ulcers isn't even one of things listed as being a possible side effect. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[The Spectacular Professor]

[quote name='SunfallE'][COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]You're probably thinking of the newest one out that's called Splenda, that has a sweet taste that I find a bit sickening. It tastes quite a bit sweeter than aspartame. [/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Actually, I've tried both. My parents went Atkins-crazy a couple of years ago, so all I got was diet for a couple of months (they eventually let me have normal food.) Since then, I've popped open a diet from time to time when there's not much else to drink, so I've tried diet Splenda coke as well as the other kind. I still think they're both sweeter.

It's funny, I've noticed that Kool-Aid made from Splenda tastes about the same as the regular stuff. Then again, I hardly even drink Kool-Aid anymore.

[Allamorph]

[quote name='SunfallE][COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]You might want to actually read up on it before you declare the dangers. ^_~ A lot of the concerns surrounding it, like many things we consume without thinking about it, have the dangers exaggerated to make them seem more dangerous than they really are. Point being, stomach ulcers isn't even one of things listed as being a possible side effect. [/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]
[FONT=Arial]To expand on what she just mentioned, a lot of "common knowledge" about types of foods being bad for you is actually just sensationalism at work. For instance, carbohydrates are not at all bad for you, despite the claims of Low-Carb Diets. Diet soda is not bad for you, either.....unless you drink eight liters a day.

No food contents are inherently bad for you to consume. None will make you obese, or give you ulcers. The problem occurs when certain types of food are consumed almost exclusively, and others are neglected. Eating nothing but pizza and pasta will almost quadruple your carbohydrate intake, whereas a varied mealtime menu with [I][U]filling[/U][/I] portions consistently will not do anything to your normal physique.

Also, eating less on a normal basis will condition your body to survive on less; the body will slow down the rate at which it burns sugar, carbs and proteins, and store more in reserve. I have a friend who eats one full meal a day and supplements with protein bars (which are distasteful to me), and still gains weight. I eat three meals a day and snack regularly, and I am not gaining any weight?in fact, I am losing it, which is bad because I have barely any body weight to begin with, especially for someone over six feet tall. I even exercise far less than him (which is bad for me), but since my body is used to processing food regularly, my metabolism has stayed extremely high, whereas his body basically converts his one meal into fat stores to supplement his pitiful eating habits.

That's a lot of blather.

Point is, it's usually better to figure out [I]why[/I] certain foods or drinks have negative effects on your body before you believe every bit of hearsay you come across.

I mean, I was told last week that sleeping in pants is bad for your circulation. How does that work?[/FONT]

[The Spectacular Professor]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]I mean, I was told last week that sleeping in pants is bad for your circulation. How does that work?[/FONT][/QUOTE]

And yet you get arrested for running around nekkid from the waist down in daylight.

You just can't win.

[PyrusDragon]

I'm a coffee drinker, not a heavy coffee drinker. But I drink it. Energy drinks: bad and good at the same time. I love 'em even though they're bad for me. Same for soda. I have to have one soda a day or I generally don't run properly. Caffine is my main problem, but hey I generally have a better day when I have it in my system.

[DeLarge]

[SIZE=1]I don't generally need a caffeine fix first thing in the morning - I find a shower and a decent breakfast wakes me up plenty. But if I'm really in need of an energy boost (for instance, if I've been out late the previous night) then there's a drink we get over here (it might be available in other places around the world, but I don't live in them so I can't really say) called Relentless. No doubt it's incredibly bad for you, but I find that a single can of that stuff can keep me awake through my college lectures. I'm not a big coffee drinker, but I will drink the occasional cup (more to be sociable than anything - if I'm in a coffee house with my friends then I will probably drink coffee).

Going on to the subject of so-called medical "common knowledge," there's a lot of stuff that is bandied about without any real medical grounding to it. For instance, there's been no medical or scientific evidence that salt increases blood pressure, much less causes strokes, but there has been a ridiculous amount of media hype that has made the opposite become "common knowledge." Salt is incredibly good for balancing out the sugar levels in your blood, and for bone structure.

And the ones the guys might be more interested in than anyone are two relationship points - salt stops you drooling in your sleep and is vital to the maintenance of sexuality and the libido.

Same with obesity - it's technically better for you to be overweight than underweight, especially once you reach the age of around sixty-five - being overweight actually increases your life expectancy quite dramatically.

I know that's a fair ramble for a thread about caffeine, but all I'm saying is that it's important not to get too hung up on what's "common knowledge."
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[Lia]

I need a caffeine fix in the mornings or I am virtually useless.

I'd like to say that I'm healthy and drink tea in the mornings - But those days are long gone. Mostly because tea just can't give me the oomph I'm looking for to head out for a long day in Manhattan. My fiance and I generally part ways around the same time for work/lectures - So we go to this little natural market by our apartment and get monstrous sized coffees. I prefer iced, with a dash of soy milk and no sugar/additives.

That behemoth coffee will keep me going until about mid-day in which I generally don't need too much, so I'll then opt for possibly some tea, or maybe another smaller iced coffee. It really all depends on where I am and what is available to me. Generally that's coffee.

A lot of coffee.

I love coffee.

[Lucy]

[font=Georgia][COLOR="DimGray"][b]Vanilla Coke:[/b] four bottles is the equivalent dosage to slitting your wrist and applying citrus juice to the cut. It is what got me through every Math finals and post-sem parties. I wouldn't have passed college on time without it.

Thank you, Coca-Cola.[/COLOR][/font]

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. :animesmil

All kidding aside, I suppose I could be classed as something of a caffeine addict, without my morning cup/cups of tea, I'm practically still asleep until nine, despite being awake and dressed by seven-thirty. About six cups of tea a day wouldn't be unusual, with more at the weekend because I actually have access to tea-making facilities.

Coke when I drink it is another big source of caffeine for me, I don't buy it that often due to the fact a certain "health conscious individual" AKA my high school's fascist sports coach had the drink banned in school because bluntly he's an *******.

Like Crys and Beth, I adore the smell of coffee, but find the taste repulsive.[/SIZE]