Caffeine...to use or not to use?

[Perry]

Excessive caffeine may cause unstable blood sugar and should be avoided by those who suspect they are caffeine dependent. Everyone should try to avoid caffeine.
DANDR....page 127

Caffeine comes in many forms! Not just coffee......tea, chocolate and many soda pops.

Here are some examples:

Coffee..... 6 ounce cup approx 100 mg.
Tea.......... 6 ounce cup approx. 70 mg.
Sodas...... 6 ounce cup approx. 50 mg.
Anacin .... 1 tablet.....................32 mg.

If you sit down and calculate your caffeine consumption during a typical day, you may be surprised.
250 mgs of caffeine is considered safe and on a whole average. Over 400 mg is considered heavy consumption. The following show caffeine content in popular drinks:

http://www.wilstar.net/caffeine.htm

What is Caffeine?Caffeine is known medically as trimethylxanthine, and the chemical formula is C8H10N4O2 (see this page for an image of the molecular structure). When isolated in pure form, caffeine is a white crystalline powder that tastes very bitter. The chief source of pure caffeine is the process of decaffeinating coffee and tea.
Medically, caffeine is useful as a cardiac stimulant and also as a mild diuretic (it increases urine production). Recreationally, it is used to provide a "boost of energy" or a feeling of heightened alertness. It's often used to stay awake longer -- college students and drivers use it to stay awake late into the night. Many people feel as though they "cannot function" in the morning without a cup of coffee to provide caffeine and the boost it gives them.

Caffeine is an addictive drug. Among its many actions, it operates using the same mechanisms that amphetamines, cocaine and heroin use to stimulate the brain. On a spectrum, caffeine's effects are more mild than amphetamines, cocaine and heroin, but it is manipulating the same channels, and that is one of the things that gives caffeine its addictive qualities. If you feel like you cannot function without it and must consume it every day, then you are addicted to caffeine.

On a personal note:
How will you ever know if caffeine is hindering your weight loss unless you give it up? I gave up coffee/sodas as I was bound and determined to do a clean induction. I never regretted it! I now have returned to having a ....being one cup of coffee a few times a week and a soda every once in a while as I have found they do not hinder my weight loss. They do hinder my energy! I have coffee and I know about 4 hours later I will hit a slump. I did it and I learned from it.

Bikergoddess writes
Dr. Atkins advises against it because of the insulin response.

I quit coffee for Induction. Was losing about a pound a day until I had a cup of coffee. No loss that day. Started losing again until the next cup. So, we haven't met, but coffee did stop me from losing.

I think the best advice we can give newbies is to follow the book. It was written that way for a reason. I'll share what modifications worked for me (and which didn't), but I make it clear that no one should expect the same results I got.

We want to set people up for success, and I think it does more harm than good to say something's not important based solely on the fact that it didn't impede our weight loss. This might be the one shot someone has to finally lose the weight and we're not helping them by giving them misinformation.

Pammie writes:
Caffeine is known to cause insulin spikes and insulin spikes are known to cause cravings, and cravings lead to bingeing which of course leads to no weightloss.
The atkins center has recently revised it's poilicy for induction and says that one cup of coffee is now acceptable.
I would say monitor your caffeine very carefully, if you show any slowdown or are not satsified with your weightloss, that should be the first thing to be cut out.

PS. I was a 20 cup a day person, I drank coffee from sun up to sundown, I never thought it affected me really, but I cut it totally out and I have to say I feel so much better now.

bykerdruid wrote:
The saga continues with "Return of the Java"

I understand the Atkins website is now saying you can have one cup of regular coffee a day now. ONE CUP! Not a mug that holds 24 ounces! I haven't been over to look so I can't swear to it.

However, I lost an extra five pounds the week I gave up caffeine. I was drinking regular coffee...thanks to my dh not telling me he'd gone back to making regular because he didn't like the decaf. So I went to a yard sale, picked up a second coffee pot and now we each have our own coffee pots. They make single cup pots and 4 cup pots, so it's not like you have to buy a big one.

Anyway, five pounds just melted off that week. So I personally found it to be beneficial to give it up. Now I don't miss it. I get my morning coffee for my drive to work, but it's decaf. Be sure to count the carbs...coffee has 1 per cup. Again, not a 24 ounce mug!

You can have coffee and tea, just go decaf. Drink all the water you're supposed to and soon you'll be so "addicted" to it that you'll drink almost nothing else!

driven_to_win:
I was a big-time caffeine addict for 25 years, one of those I-can't-function-without-it types. I knew going into Atkins that the hardest part of induction for me would be giving up my caffeinated coffee. And I was right. Boy was I ever sick for about a week! But after that I felt SO good. I don't have my copy of DANDR with me to jog my memory as to specifics but I do recall caffeine messes with your blood sugar levels.

I was very, very reluctant to give it up but it feels so good to be off the energy/no-energy rollercoaster. It's like being freed from slavery or something. I don't know if you're truly addicted to caffeine or if you just like it a lot, but getting away from it is the way to go, no matter how hard it may seem. And if you're like me and go through real bad withdrawals, remember "this too shall pass."

Also, lots and lots of people on this board can testify to the benefits of doing a "clean" Induction (doing it "by the book"). You will get much better results both short-term and long-term. Trust us.

These are a few quotes I have found from people I know to be successful Atkineers!!!!!

Coffee??? You decide?