I recently started to drink coffee. I quit soda years ago but I've been under the thumb of caffeine for a long time. I was using the dreaded "5 hour energy" but that stuff is horrible and I could tell that my body did not agree with it.

After a few weeks of drinking coffee, one cup a day, I've noticed that I feel much better than before. I know that this could be the result of NOT taking the 5 hour energy, but I feel that the coffee is very beneficial.

But....I noticed a older guy putting loads of sugar and creamer in his coffee. All of the sudden I felt like I was just using coffee as a disguise. Now I feel like it's just an adult soda. A way for more mature people to look wiser because they are holding a hot cup of coffee. I have to sweeten it up before I can drink it. I don't like it straight black, but I don't want to spoon heaps of sugar into to mask the bitter flavor.

I like what coffee has to offer, but did I just swap one bad thing for another? Am I just spinning my wheels? I quit soda, quit those nasty energy shots but now I'm craving coffee every morning. It feels better but I want to make smarter choices when it comes to my diet.

I was addicted to coffee/caffeine many years ago. When I finally quit I was exhausted for a month. There are some negative health effects of using caffeine, vasoconstriction being a major one of them.

I am not a fan of external stimulants in general. Certainly not habit forming stimulants. I feel a much healthier long term approach is to give the body what it needs (vitamins, minerals, natural forms of energy) so that it can do what it was designed to do . If one needs added stimulation to go through the day, then one is probably not giving the body exactly the nutrients it needs in the proper ratios..

that could be viewed as a positive effect, caffeine is a common ingredient in headache medicines.

Well said. With nutrition being next to impossible to understand fully, where would I start?

My diet consists of:

Breakfast : Fruit (a variety of oranges, blueberries, strawberries and now kiwi)

Lunch : homemade sandwich (turkey and ham or roastbeef, lately its been mainly roastbeef)

Snack : chips and salsa or leftover dinner

Dinner : Chicken breast, potatoes, corn and bread (almost every night, little variation)

I do drink a few beers, mainly craft beer. I smoke cannabis in the evening, I'm taking a 3 day break right now. I don't drag or bum around. I'm fairly active in running and bike riding. I do have some stress that I could explain, its not overwhelming at all, but its there.

If I may....

You're regimen seems pretty solid. Eating & drinking the same things nearly every day has it's advantages in that your body gets used to metabolizing them & runs more smoothly & effeciently.

A wide diversity of ingredients/foods is touted as a "healthy" way to go, but I have found the opposite to be true, especially if one wants to stay more or less emotionally grounded & mentally stable.

As far as the coffee is concerned, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Worrying about what you're putting in your body is generally more harmful than what you're actually putting in your body. This is especially true when imbibing in anything like coffee. Enjoy it & be grateful for it & it will serve you well.

If you're concerned with the cream/sugar aspect of it you could slowly reduce the amounts of those additives each day until your taste buds become more accustomed to the bitter taste. Bitter tastes are a very important aspect of of health. The bitter taste is draining & clearing to the body/mind, thus why the most effective anti-virals & anti-bacterials are very bitter tasting.

Some folks do well with coffee, some don't. I swore of caffeine years ago because it tended to make me impatient, uptight, in a hurry & snappy. I don't need to go through life being snappy. I have plenty of energy as it is without any stimulants.

My wife, on the other hand, does really well on coffee. She tends to be a foggy mess if she doesn't get her one cup of joe in the morning.

To each their own. We are constantly changing all the time & thus it behooves us to pay attention to those changes & change some of our habits from time to time if need be. However, to fall prey to the constant barrage of nutritional info out there can leave one very neurotic & confused.

I hope what I have stated here helps you in some small way.

Cheers!

I don't like coffee. My body doesn't like coffee. At times I feel like I'm the only one that doesn't like the stuff.
The people at work are drinking tons of coffee! It's insane, they're all addicts..and they don't even realize it
Sugar is another thing though. It think it is one of the most addicting substances known to mankind. It's the only thing that I'm addicted to, and I find it pretty hard to beat.
I don't eat a lot of sugar, but if there is candy in the house, I cannot resist and will eat that damn stuff.

^-^ some of them probably realize it and don't mind.

i drink black coffee almost everyday, NO SUGAR EVER!
Milk yeas if available, and or chocolate for cappuccino.

iam surprised how successful 5 hour energy has been,
since a kilo of caffeine goes for just only a few dollars.

A caffeine alternative (in my area) is yaupon holly tea;


Camilia bushes supposedly make caffeinated tea also.

Keep it black baby, one cup a day before noon.

I usually have coffee at work about 3-4 times a week, usually between 1-3:30pm is when I like to partake. I usually drink it black. Theres a fantastic place right by my work that does pour overs, and I usually get an organic blend. If I have an espresso based drink, its usually a macchiatto or a flat white (essentially a less milky latte) If I have either of those its maybe 1 time a week because I like to avoid dairy at all costs. Dairy substitute milk just doesnt cut it in coffee drinks I find, it makes stuff taste weird. So I go with traditional dairy.

While I do like to avoid sugar or milk, I make my own cold brew concentrate at home, though I sometimes do add just a touch of sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract to the jar. its 4 cups (32oz) with only 2 teaspoons of sugar and a half teaspoon of vanilla. So each 8oz cup has only a half teaspoon of sugar. And that is a concentrate, so its meant to be cut with a little water also. Sometimes I dont, Ill just drink it straight becuase its so bold and big with no acidic bite to it at all.

I also make turkish coffee at home too with cardamom and also again just a little sugar, barely noticeable.

Cutting milk excessively though will really take a burden off your body. Sugar too!

Check this site out with some coffee science explaining why you should drink coffee at certain times of the day! http://en.ilovecoffee.jp/posts/view/110

Yah, I don't like sugar. I stopped sugar when I quit soda. That sneaky substance found it's way back into my body via coffee. I think I'll taper off starting tomorrow. And I'm going to drink a smaller cup of straight black. A good quote I picked up when reading about cacti is "it is not the cactus that is bitter, it is you".

I don't like being "snappy" either, I prefer chill.

Yaupon Holly, those are everywhere! I can't wait to try that out.

Nice link HD,really interesting stuff on cortisol. I think I'll put off coffee until a little later in the day. I guess I need to learn more about the circadian rhythm.

Thanks all!!

Yaupon is way better than coffee. It doesn't leave that tar taste in my mouth, and it's euphoric. I still drink coffee in the morning though, gave up all the sugar about a month ago.

I'd say that depends on how you look at it. For ME, that would be way too much carbohydrate intake. It seems that you are dependant on carbs for fuel + protein for satiety. I don't see much (healthy) fat.

In MY experience, extreme carb consumption can lead to less energy over time and it also makes me hungry all the time which promotes cravings. Add in coffee with SUGAR and you might set yourself up for a whole load of dependencies.

Black Coffee has many health advantages, but is also very addictive. I would seek out other means for improving your energy and only drink coffee once or twice a week when you need it most. That way you can be sure that it's always gonna work as it should!

Personally, i can recommend cardio in the morning, especially high intensity interval training. Preferably on a fasted stomach to help keep your weight in check. What also works wonders for your overall energy and wellbeeing is intermittent fasting. Sounds counterintuitive, i know. There are many ways to go about it. Look upo eat stop eat, leangains, warrior diet, 5:2 diet.

Try green tea instead. I sweeten mine with Stevia extract. 0 carbs. Plus it dissolves beta-amyloid in the brain. Even 20 year olds have beta-amyloids and they lead to Alzheimers over the years. Don't mix it with milk proteins (milk, yogurt, cheese) tho, the effects will be diminished.

A caffeine replacement... IDK, I'm addicted myself. Please tell me, psychedelics do not help. I found that Phenibut tones down the obsessive impulses when I my intake of caffeine is too high.

Low carb diet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet

You might also want to look into omega-3-fatty acids: ALA, DHA, EPA - people generally lack those and there's no way for an adequate intake, unless you eat loads of fish(oil) or linseeds.

---

References:
http://medicalgiving.sta...u/news/beta-amyloid.html
Ehrnhoefer DE, et al.: EGCG redirects amyloidogenic polypeptides into unstructured, off-pathway oligomers. In: Nat Struct Mol Biol.. Juni 2008. PMID 18511942.
K. Rezai-Zadeh, G. W. Arendash et al.: Green tea epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) reduces beta-amyloid mediated cognitive impairment and modulates tau pathology in Alzheimer transgenic mice. In: Brain Res.. 12, Nr. 1214, Juni 2008, S. 177–186. PMID 18457818.
Imed Hasni, Philippe Bourassa, Saber Hamdani, Guy Samson, et al.: Interaction of milk α- and β-caseins with tea polyphenols. In: Food Chemistry. 126, Nr. 2, Mai 2011, S. 630–639. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2010.11.087.

Coffee is one of the worst addictive substances I know of.

I drink mine with cream, lots of cream. This greatly reduces the bitterness and provides me with a healthy daily dose of short chained saturated fats.

As a drug, coffee was traditionally used by African tribesmen before going to war. Funny coincidence how the modern work ethic involves drinking barrels of coffee, often provided for free by employers.

I'm so glad I posted this info. Lots of good quality responses.

I depend on carbs for energy and I always feel hungry.

I'm going to try to switch to green tea. We'll see, I've never been a fan of green tea. But I will try.

Started today with less sugar and less coffee.

I'll be adding fish oil to my diet.

I'm under weight and too skinny. It's obvious to me that I need to modify my food intake. I seriously struggle maintaining a healthy weight.

I recently went to nutrition center and had my BMI and skeletal muscle measured. The BMI is ok, but that's not a real number so I have heard. My skeletal muscle needs improvement. I've been thinking about protein shakes to add the needed protein.

One thing that has changed recently is my budget. I used to eat a lot of red meats, now I can't / don't want to afford steaks and better cuts of red meat. So I'm basically eating chicken for protein and the little bit of roast beef in my sandwhich.

Any ideas for cheap cuts of beef. I'm used to eating like a king, fillet mignon, ribeyes, prime rib, etc

Ok, i assume you don't have a lot of fat either?
Then i would strongly encourage you to start lifting weights. This is the only way you can build lean mass. Of course, you can choose to just get fat but that doesn't look very good in my opinion. Perhaps you are really lacking protein. Have you calculated how much you are getting each day? Shakes are convinient, for sure.

@J.A.T.A
Depends on where you live but kangaroo meat is cheap and lean.

Whole grain toast and spread made from avocado will fill you up for the whole day. Or look into nuts, they also fill. Also discard the saturated fatty acids and go for the unsaturated. Rule of thumb: fat from plants is mostly okay.


Look for flavored editions, some taste pretty good.





Ramp up the fatty acid intake (not too fast tho, your body needs to adjust). Also protein shakes + creatine is a must for fast gains. Cheap, effective and convenient.


Cut out the meat. The body doesn't need meat, it does need essential nutrients (minerals, vitamins, fatty acids and protein). I'm currently on an all-time body weight high, although I rarely work out. But since I regularly consume at least 60grs of whey protein + 4grs of creatine per day I'm quite heavy. Also vitamins/creatine/whey protein are much cheaper than meat if you buy them in bulk amounts. The saved money can be then invested into gym fees or weights.

And if you are afraid of cutting out meat, see this post: https://www.dmt-nexus.me...&m=566257#post566257
Vegan powerlifters (lots of examples on Youtube with nutritional advice): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_s3fWnJlf0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTaGZ6KLDwI

PS: coffee/tea alternative: http://choffy.com/about-choffy-2/about-choffy/

Didn't you say it made you feel better? Lots of people put extra stuff in whatever they eat. They mix vegetables with meat, they grind up 50 fruits in a smoothie which has a ton of sugar and cream...So don't let others get you down, if you feel it's honestly making you feel better and you're not relying on it then drink away.

Sugar addiction is very, very real. I know personally Ive always been in shape and athletic. But, when I finally decided to go on a sugar detox, I know I was going thru a standard withdrawal. Ive never experienced withdrawal before as Ive never done any drugs or alcohol (other than why we're all on the nexus )

It was insane. Truly. The heavy mood swings, the anxiety and stress going thru the initial 2 or so weeks of no real sugar intake was simply like indescribable from my point of view up to that time. Thats absolutely one contributing factor as to why obesity is as big of a problem, because anyone who trys to quit sugar or better their diet will go thru the withdrawal and head right back in to baseline their brain again and feel normal.