Coffee

[gman]

DANDR says avoid regular coffee which is hard for coffee drinkers to do. I've found I can do it and it seems to help.

Here's an informative article in general on coffee pro's and con's. RE: Weight loss the one comment in the article is that coffee tends to promote weight gain. The article talks about coffee fulfilling part of your daily water needs, so decaf could work here under DANDR.

I don't take or offer this article as definitive, just sharing it for open discussion and review with the ADBB.

New York Times

August 5, 2008
Personal Health
Sorting Out Coffee’s Contradictions

By JANE E. BRODY
When Howard D. Schultz in 1985 founded the company that would become the wildly successful Starbucks chain, no financial adviser had to tell him that coffee was America’s leading beverage and caffeine its most widely used drug. The millions of customers who flock to Starbucks to order a double espresso, latte or coffee grande attest daily to his assessment of American passions.
Although the company might have overestimated consumer willingness to spend up to $4 for a cup of coffee — it recently announced that it would close hundreds of underperforming stores — scores of imitators that now sell coffee, tea and other products laced with caffeine reflect a society determined to run hard on as little sleep as possible.
But as with any product used to excess, consumers often wonder about the health consequences. And researchers readily oblige. Hardly a month goes by without a report that hails coffee, tea or caffeine as healthful or damns them as potential killers.
Can all these often contradictory reports be right? Yes. Coffee and tea, after all, are complex mixtures of chemicals, several of which may independently affect health.
Caffeine Myths
Through the years, the public has been buffeted by much misguided information about caffeine and its most common source, coffee. In March the Center for Science in the Public Interest published a comprehensive appraisal of scientific reports in its Nutrition Action Healthletter. Its findings and those of other research reports follow.
Hydration. It was long thought that caffeinated beverages were diuretics, but studies reviewed last year found that people who consumed drinks with up to 550 milligrams of caffeine produced no more urine than when drinking fluids free of caffeine. Above 575 milligrams, the drug was a diuretic.
So even a Starbucks grande, with 330 milligrams of caffeine, will not send you to a bathroom any sooner than if you drank 16 ounces of pure water. Drinks containing usual doses of caffeine are hydrating and, like water, contribute to the body’s daily water needs.
Heart disease. Heart patients, especially those with high blood pressure, are often told to avoid caffeine, a known stimulant. But an analysis of 10 studies of more than 400,000 people found no increase in heart disease among daily coffee drinkers, whether their coffee came with caffeine or not.
“Contrary to common belief,” concluded cardiologists at the University of California, San Francisco, there is “little evidence that coffee and/or caffeine in typical dosages increases the risk” of heart attack, sudden death or abnormal heart rhythms.
In fact, among 27,000 women followed for 15 years in the Iowa Women’s Health Study, those who drank one to three cups a day reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by 24 percent, although this benefit diminished as the quantity of coffee rose.
Hypertension. Caffeine induces a small, temporary rise in blood pressure. But in a study of 155,000 nurses, women who drank coffee with or without caffeine for a decade were no more likely to develop hypertension than noncoffee drinkers. However, a higher risk of hypertension was found from drinking colas. A Johns Hopkins study that followed more than 1,000 men for 33 years found that coffee drinking played little overall role in the development of hypertension.
Cancer. Panic swept this coffee-dependent nation in 1981 when a Harvard study tied the drink to a higher risk of pancreatic cancer. Coffee consumption temporarily plummeted, and the researchers later concluded that perhaps smoking, not coffee, was the culprit.
In an international review of 66 studies last year, scientists found coffee drinking had little if any effect on the risk of developing pancreatic or kidney cancer. In fact, another review suggested that compared with people who do not drink coffee, those who do have half the risk of developing liver cancer.
And a study of 59,000 women in Sweden found no connection between coffee, tea or caffeine consumption and breast cancer.
Bone loss. Though some observational studies have linked caffeinated beverages to bone loss and fractures, human physiological studies have found only a slight reduction in calcium absorption and no effect on calcium excretion, suggesting the observations may reflect a diminished intake of milk-based beverages among coffee and tea drinkers.
Dr. Robert Heaney of Creighton University says that caffeine’s negative effect on calcium can be offset by as little as one or two tablespoons of milk. He advised that coffee and tea drinkers who consume the currently recommended amount of calcium need not worry about caffeine’s effect on their bones.
Weight loss. Here’s a bummer. Although caffeine speeds up metabolism, with 100 milligrams burning an extra 75 to 100 calories a day, no long-term benefit to weight control has been demonstrated. In fact, in a study of more than 58,000 health professionals followed for 12 years, both men and women who increased their caffeine consumption gained more weight than those who didn’t.
Health Benefits
Probably the most important effects of caffeine are its ability to enhance mood and mental and physical performance. At consumption levels up to 200 milligrams (the amount in about 16 ounces of ordinary brewed coffee), consumers report an improved sense of well-being, happiness, energy, alertness and sociability, Roland Griffiths of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine reported, although higher amounts sometimes cause anxiety and stomach upset.
Millions of sleep-deprived Americans depend on caffeine to help them make it through their day and drive safely. The drug improves alertness and reaction time. In the sleep-deprived, it improves memory and the ability to perform complex tasks.
For the active, caffeine enhances endurance in aerobic activities and performance in anaerobic ones, perhaps because it blunts the perception of pain and aids the ability to burn fat for fuel instead of its carbohydrates.
Recent disease-related findings can only add to coffee’s popularity. A review of 13 studies found that people who drank caffeinated coffee, but not decaf, had a 30 percent lower risk of Parkinson’s disease.
Another review found that compared with noncoffee drinkers, people who drank four to six cups of coffee a day, with or without caffeine, had a 28 percent lower risk of Type 2 diabetes. This benefit probably comes from coffee’s antioxidants and chlorogenic acid.

[ValidRouge]

I don't see any reference to hypoglycemia, hunger or other insulin issues addressed in this article.

I've cut coffee (and tea) out of my diet several times. Caffeine or no caffeine, it does (for me) cause low blood sugar symptoms. These symptoms are very intense hunger and cravings, a feeling of panic or anxiety with regards to food. I've quit trying to find studies that support this or that, and started listening to what MY BODY TELLS ME about coffee.

[Creek]

That's a very interesting article. Like Joy, I've based whether to stay on coffee and tea on my own reaction to it, and I don't have a reaction to caffeine. I can drink a cup of coffee before I go to bed at night, and still sleep like a baby. I've also found that (for me) it doesn't cause low blood sugar symptoms or give me cravings, if anything, it can reduce my feeling of hunger. I do not use any kind of sweetner in my coffee and just a touch of heavy cream. I also drink unsweetned iced tea with no problems.

I feel lucky.

[Lisa]

Thanks for sharing the article, G!

Weight loss. Here’s a bummer. Although caffeine speeds up metabolism, with 100 milligrams burning an extra 75 to 100 calories a day, no long-term benefit to weight control has been demonstrated. In fact, in a study of more than 58,000 health professionals followed for 12 years, both men and women who increased their caffeine consumption gained more weight than those who didn’t.

I think this is where they were talking about hypoglycemic, insulin, and other issues (that Dr. A was mentioning in his book why NOT to have caffiene in your system while following the Atkins plan). I would bet that the author did not go into more detail because it's a whole other avenue of why's, which leads to a longer article....but it still would have been nice if they had more medical knowledge and sources to toss in there with it.

[joee5]

I am a 2+ pot a day coffee drinker. Not decaf, the real deal. And I drink it the way coffee was meant to be drank, black. Dont see no effect on my weightloss. As a matter of fact, compared to others that have cut out coffee from their daily lives I have: 1) remained true and am steadily losing and 2) still doing the Atkin's thing. Look back and read the past threads and you'll see those that have cut out coffee and no longer active on the forums or are repeaters to this here diet. Fact. God Bless,Joe

[ValidRouge]

No, Joe, not fact. I have to strongly disagree with you here.

Here I am, in person, telling you that I cut the coffee and have found a much better feeling all around. I also am not someone who has dropped off the face of the earth or been a repeat offender. In fact, I am a goalie.

[flpooh19701]

I have extreme issues with how my insulin reacts to the caffeine in regular coffee. For that reason, I drink decaf one cup a day. I've been doing that for years because of the swings in my insulin. Because of this reason, I would have to advise someone to at least go decaf. FYI, I have the same problem with diet mountain dew but not to diet pepsi/coke.

[gman]

Hello-
This is an informational article and I would add not meant to 'stir up' lol too much debate since we are talking not only about guidelines/rules but also our own personal health.
Lisa I agree they could have gone further with information.
Joy and Trisan, you have learned that you are not at all able to drink coffee/caffeine per your experience which supports DANDR. And no doubt Joy you are clearly much healthier and happier without coffee. Congratulations on your success!
Joe and Creek given the bulk of support behind DANDR and most of the posts in ADBB, you are exceptional people when it comes to tolerating/thriving on coffee and caffeine. Joe congratulations on your success, with coffee!
This reminds me of Statistics class, and standard deviations. That is, in a typical population, there is a bell-shaped curve, with most people falling in the middle, another bunch falling on the outer middles, and then a smaller amount falling in the tapering ends of the bell.
I'm probably in the middle somewhere. I've been off coffee and have tried a little recently. It's kept me up too late since I am not used to it, so that is not so good. In place of coffee, I've stepped up the water with the Water Challenge. Exercise has also helped me with higher energy so I don't need coffee to pick me up like I used to require. This is me.
Just like anything else in ADBB, we look to DANDR for the best possible guidelines/rules, and then see what experience and outcomes we realize for our own health. And we're open to dialog like usual here at ADBB, to help each other, offering what works and letting people take it from there.
Glenn

[flpooh19701]

I soo wish I could handle the caffeine... sometimes i need that extra kick to get me going! I envy those of you who tolerate it well..

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by gman

This is an informational article and I would add not meant to 'stir up' lol too much debate since we are talking not only about guidelines/rules but also our own personal health.

lol... I'm so glad I'm not the only pot stirrer Sometimes we need a little spin around the pot a few times to be reminded why we do things the way we do.

It's a good article