You hear people say they need their caffeine hit.
That they need a heart-starter.
That they need a coffee to kick start them into the day.
I've never understood any of that.
Coffee for me has always just been a beverage, drunk because I like the taste and/or to be sociable.
With or without a morning coffee I feel the same, and so does my mood or day.
I don't feel more alert with or without it.
Yes, I am aware caffeine is classified as a drug. And I don't do drugs. Never have. I would never take a substance which alters mind or mood.
Having said all that, there was a time many years ago when I led an extremely stressful work life and felt the need to take control to reduce my on-the-go hyperactivity.
Among other thinhs, I cut out all coffee.
This lasted for a few years, during which a thing called Karo was the ersatz base for a capuccino. Neither decaff nor lattes had been invented then, folks. Ah, the 1980s.
Years later, when asking for a decaff cappuccino no longer was met with blank stares in cafes, I ventured back into coffees. I was brought up on stove top espressos and had missed the ugly black brew, with or without steamed milk.
But about 10 minutes after having a decaff cappuccino, a very foreign and pronounced sensation would overcome me.
Hard to describe, but unmistakable, like something gripping my mental state. Why? It was decaff after all.
It took weeks but I found the culprit---not the coffee, but the chocolate sprinkled on top.
For a body which had been clean and clear of coffee it was like serving a few whiskeys to a teetotaler.
Anyway, after months back on the (decaff) coffee, the sensation ceased and I even went back to normal coffees, caffeine and all.
And that's where I am, drinking two or three shots a day (gastritis precludes more) but I am "normal" my heart rate is 50-60, blood pressure good, and caffeine rush non-existent.
That they need a heart-starter.
That they need a coffee to kick start them into the day.
I've never understood any of that.
Coffee for me has always just been a beverage, drunk because I like the taste and/or to be sociable.
With or without a morning coffee I feel the same, and so does my mood or day.
I don't feel more alert with or without it.
Yes, I am aware caffeine is classified as a drug. And I don't do drugs. Never have. I would never take a substance which alters mind or mood.
Having said all that, there was a time many years ago when I led an extremely stressful work life and felt the need to take control to reduce my on-the-go hyperactivity.
Among other thinhs, I cut out all coffee.
This lasted for a few years, during which a thing called Karo was the ersatz base for a capuccino. Neither decaff nor lattes had been invented then, folks. Ah, the 1980s.
Years later, when asking for a decaff cappuccino no longer was met with blank stares in cafes, I ventured back into coffees. I was brought up on stove top espressos and had missed the ugly black brew, with or without steamed milk.
But about 10 minutes after having a decaff cappuccino, a very foreign and pronounced sensation would overcome me.
Hard to describe, but unmistakable, like something gripping my mental state. Why? It was decaff after all.
It took weeks but I found the culprit---not the coffee, but the chocolate sprinkled on top.
For a body which had been clean and clear of coffee it was like serving a few whiskeys to a teetotaler.
Anyway, after months back on the (decaff) coffee, the sensation ceased and I even went back to normal coffees, caffeine and all.
And that's where I am, drinking two or three shots a day (gastritis precludes more) but I am "normal" my heart rate is 50-60, blood pressure good, and caffeine rush non-existent.




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