Accessories

Caffeine may be the Culprit
"Caffeine is a Trojan horse. It looks like a gift but instead delivers adrenal stress, low blood sugar, mood and energy swings, fatigue, depression, malnutrition and disturbed sleep." ~ pg. 94

If you have ever had a caffeine withdrawal headache then you are probably already aware of the addictive qualities of coffee or your favorite soda. Stephen Cherniske calls caffeine a psychoactive drug. In this intricately researched book he describes the effects of caffeine and explains why it might be the culprit. This drug can cause everything from insomnia to chronic pain. Stephen Cherniske also answers the following questions:

Is coffee really responsible for Monday morning heart attacks?
Can drinking coffee really cause accelerated aging?
Why is drinking coffee after a meal the worst thing you can do?
Is tea a better alternative?
Why do artificial sweeteners cause weight gain?
Can caffeine really damage your nervous system?

Until I read this book I thought of coffee as comforting. I don't drink it that often but now I think I'll try to avoid it altogether. Since I'm only drinking one to two cups of tea a day I think I'm on the safe side. When I do drink coffee I normally experience insomnia. The facts are that 100-300 milligrams of caffeine can cause a "disruption of sleep patterns."

I like the way Stephen Cherniske searches out the truth and then applies it to daily life. This book is filled with interesting case studies and even has a program to help you ease your way out of caffeine addiction without the headaches. After reading this book you may also find yourself thinking differently about guarana and yerba mate.

Pregnant women should definitely read this book. I had never considered that women could have "caffeine addicted babies." I'd also recommend this book to doctors, massage therapists and anyone in the health care industry. The information in this book could literally save your life or the life of someone you love. This book will be especially useful to anyone suffering from Heart Disease, Heartburn, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Ulcers, Headaches, Diabetes, Hypoglycemia, Asthma, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and Anemia.

If you are also interested in the topic of "anti-aging" then you may also want to read another essential book by Stephen Cherniske:The Metabolic Plan: Stay Younger Longer.

~The Rebecca Review

Buy this book!
Although the medical explanations regarding the many negative effects of caffeine are lengthy, they leave you with no doubt about the validity of the author's argument. (And you might even learn something about the way your body works!) I now recommend this book to everyone I know that drinks coffee, and have myself stopped ingesting caffeine as a result of reading this book. If you are at all interested in learning more about the effects of caffeine, you will not regret buying this book!

Great book
This is an excellent book about the adverse effects of caffeine. The books explains how coffee and caffeine use increases stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol in the blood and leads to fatigue, depression and hunger. It explains how it raises insulin levels and stains teeth, increases muscle tension and pain and is connected to increased h pylori levels. It's basically a nightmare - and everyone including doctors and little kids are addicted to it.

People defend it and say how they love it (like loving it is somehow unique to them) because they are addicted to it. If they stop, they will endure devastatingly painful withdrawal symptoms including headaches, body aches, fatigue, constipation and the worse - depression. And though a lot of these withdrawal symptoms pass within a week or so of no caffeine, mild fatigue and depression can continue for a couple of months. Addicted people, and the addiction is secured with less than one cup of coffee a day, must have their coffee or the price will be severe. This is why people "love coffee". They are addicts keeping withdrawal at bay.

I quit coffee using this book. I found it harder than quitting smoking - and I quit from just one cup a day. Very worth it though, once you get pass the caffeine withdrawal hell, which takes time. It doesn't help when everyone and their diabetic mom and doctor is gulping down the stuff all around you. Some of the positives:

Weight loss - 20 lbs in 3 months without deliberately changing anything. I simply stopped craving sugar and junk food and lost that crazy hunger I would get some hours after having coffee. I didnt just lose weight, I got leaner, more muscular.

Better sleep and much better complexion and skin tone.

I go to the bathroom normally now and have no stomach issues.

Much healthier gums. My dentist asked me what I was doing different and when I told him he says - no that can't be it as he flashed his yellow coffee teeth and told me how he drinks 4 cups a day cause it's healthy. Meanwhile the guy is totally fat with a huge belly.

Definitely though, however you quit coffee/caffeine, it is really hard. I know some other people who have quit caffeine who have conquered other what most people would consider extremely addictive substances and in their opinion they were nothing compared to caffeine. So it's doable and ridiculously worth it but it is hard. And the addicts are everywhere aroung you drinking it and suggesting more fixes.

Etiology Conscious Medical Student Looking for Answers
I thought I would add my two bits to the discussion. I am a senior level medical student and weeks away from graduation.

First off, I am not suprised to see some of the asinine, half-witted comments in the "1 star" section as I commonly encounter these same rebuttals both by hospital staff and patients. In fact, during a recent debate with a resident doctor of Internal Medicine in the past week, he made the statements: "you can't trust a dietician" and "caffeine/coffee has NEVER been shown to have any long-term health effects". Wrong, and such a strong statement. While multiple studies do indeed show ambiguity in their results, there are many others which DO unequivocally link caffeine to adverse health outcomes. I have personally done a literature review on caffeine and have discovered many well-built and RECENT studies in the literature to support the author's claims. It is particularly amusing to see people tenaciously defend caffeine and neglect to entertain any discussion with respect to its negative health effects. It's as though you've insulted their mothers!

I embarassingly admit that I have learned more about caffeine from a single chapter in this intriguing text than during my medical training in its entirety. Furthermore, only negative effects were related to me in med-school, never positives. Despite it's ubiquitous presence in society, the physiologic effects of caffeine on the body are not taught in medical school. This may serve to explain why many physicians neglect to broach the discussion on caffeine with their patients.

This brings me to my next thought: The fact that the author is not a doctor/PHD does not preclude the book's credibility. The author is more informed about caffeine than the majority of practicing physicians. He does cite valid studies which I assert, are appropriately interpreted. With access to Pubmed (a search tool that allows access to virtually any journal in print) I have personally and randomly clarified several of the references he lists, for verification. What difference does it make if a well-informed nutritionist or physician accesses the forum by which researchers exchange information?

For those who argue that the recent studies are not cited, let the reader bear in mind that this book was published in 1996. Since, there have been multiple studies to show adverse health effects of caffeine.

Lastly, while it may be touted that coffee has been shown to contain anti-oxidants which can reduce the likelihood of developing cancer, it also contains diterpenes, molecular compounds that increases your risk for heart attack. Why take the bad with the good? There are a vast array of food products that contain anti-oxidants, without the diterpenes present.

This is great book for lay-people and health professionals alike. It's definitely worth a read, especially if you have your suspicions about coffee or if you're a practicing physician who prefers to exhaust conservative measures before resigning to medical therapy.

suffered for 25 yrs
I've been a coffee lover since I was a kid. I was diagnosed with depression/anxiety 15 yrs ago,I'm now 40. Med's never helped, tried them all. Then was diagnosed with mild bi-polar,which I thought was ridiculous. Ended up going to a Psychiatrist and he told me my problem was ADD and put me on Adderall. I did great at first but then it started pooping out on me and I realized that the ADD med's felt just like 10 cups of coffee so I knew I had to quit them both. Then I read Caffeine Blues and am a new woman. I've weaned down to 2oz.and am feeling good. Coffee was harder to quit than the amphetamines. I've gone much slower than the book recommends and am still have withdrawal symptoms, needing a nap at noon, sleeping only 6.5 hrs at night, but I know this will pass. This book has saved my life.