HEALTH
language: every time someone says, ‘Don’t talk to me yet, I haven’t had my coffee’.”
O’Connor is a firm believer in napping and says that, in our fastpaced modern lives, many people simply don’t get enough sleep, or even enough rest time in a day. As such, she says we would be much better off taking a 20-minute power nap than having a coffee at work.
“Research shows that a nap results in more sustained and steady energy whereas a coffee gives you a nice rapid high, but there’s that big dip afterwards,” she says.
“Taking a nap builds inherent vitality, rather than draining it, and studies have found that while taking a nap can improve your memory. Caffeine can make your memory worse.”
Of course, the idea of saying to your boss, “I’m just going to have a nap”, will seem a little odd to most people. O’Connor laments the fact it is more socially acceptable to get a coffee than have a nap and says that distinction is a symptom of a broader cultural issue.
In our working culture, she says, it is better to be seen doing something than to be seen doing nothing, and we are not used to the idea that by slowing down and stopping occasionally we can actually be more productive.
“We can’t appreciate stillness, unfortunately,” she says. “We get a lot of self-worth and self-esteem from how much we do and what we do. We have this really outmoded idea of productivity where most workplaces treat people like machines, expecting a constant output hour after hour, rather than recognising all the internal rhythms and operating systems in our bodies.
“If you look at science of high performance, whether it’s athletes or mental performance, we need carefully managed work-to-rest ratios, but in the workplace we totally ignore that.
“A power nap is just 20 minutes. That’s about the same amount of time it takes to go out, get a coffee and settle back in at work. And it’s so much more practical and restorative.”
O’Connor is no anti-caffeine fundamentalist, though – she enjoys the occasional green tea. But she did give coffee the kick some time ago. “I only ever had one a day, but I was quite caffeine-sensitive and I loved that buzz before work,” she says.
“But over time I realised how artificial that high was and the caffeine started giving me anxiety symptoms. But I couldn’t give it up, as much as I wanted to. It was only pregnancy that stopped me, in the end: when I was pregnant I developed an aversion to it – I couldn’t stand it and couldn’t drink it. That broke the habit for me and I’ve never gone back to it.”
There are no set guidelines on how much is too much because caffeine affects individuals in different ways. Coffee beans come in different strengths. Robusta coffee beans, for example, contain more caffeine than Arabica. A lot also depends on how the beans are roasted and how the coffee is extracted.
But, as a general rule, according to the Better Health Channel, the safe limit for healthy adults is up to 400mg of caffeine a day. That’s about four to five standard single espresso shots.
It’s also known that caffeine at doses greater than 95mg can increase anxiety levels in children. Most kids are not coffee connoisseurs but many are tempted by energy drinks – which are often packed with caffeine and sugar. The Food Standards Code restricts how much caffeine can be added to energy drinks – the maximum amount they can contain is 320mg per litre.
What about recommendations for pregnant women? Some studies suggest a relationship between caffeine and reduced birth weight and preterm birth in babies. Consequently, it is suggested pregnant women limit their intake to less than 200mg a day – if any at all.
Let’s clear up a few myths about coffee’s poorer cousin. First, decaf no longer tastes like dishwater: new methods now preserve the distinct and delicious flavour of coffee beans. Second, not all the health goodies are locked in the caffeine. Many antioxidant benefits are contained within the coffee regardless of whether there’s caffeine present. Finally – and here’s the big one – not all decaf is created equal.
There are two methods of stripping caffeine from unroasted coffee beans. One is solvent-based and uses chemicals. The other non-solvent-based technique is the Swiss Water Process, which uses water instead of chemicals to remove caffeine. For Hobart barista and self-confessed coffee snob Kringle, 31, there is no substitute for the real thing.
“I drink up to eight cups a day on average,” she says, her voice surprisingly calm and unhurried. “I’ve been drinking coffee since Becki I was 11 and I’ve been making it since I was 17. Some days I go without it completely and it doesn’t affect me – I’m not one of those people who gets the shakes and headaches if I don’t get my fix. Although, I do have insomnia moments from time to time and that’s when I’ll avoid coffee for a while.”
Kringle has worked for a number of bars and cafes in Hobart since doing barista training as part of a hospitality course and currently works behind the coffee machine at Budgie Smugglers, which her family owns.
Contrary to what you might expect, she drinks very little coffee during a shift on the machine. “I just don’t have time when I’m working and I don’t tend to drink coffee after hours if I’ve been making it all day,” she says.
“I just love coffee. I go to cafes more than I go to bars. It’s a lot less daunting to go sit in a cafe on your own than a bar. And I can sit there for a coffee and some cake while I do some study.
“Personally, I like espresso, a short macchiato or piccolo, anything I can knock back quickly because I usually have my hands full. But I use a plunger at home. I couldn’t be bothered using a machine at home after doing it all day.” Professional chefs are notoriously caffeine-powered and restaurant wait staff generally know it is in their best interests to keep the chef well-supplied to keep things civilised in the kitchen.
Barcelona head chef Jake Archer drinks six double-espressos to get him through each 13 to 15-hour shift, but says he is not one to start throwing pots at the floor staff if they forget.
“I like to think I’m a bit nicer than that,” he laughs. “But that was certainly the case back when I was doing my apprenticeship. We knew to give the head chef coffee to keep him calm.”
Archer says this reputation is largely a result of the highintensity and physical demands of working long shifts standing in a commercial kitchen. “I know a lot of chefs rely on regular coffee hits just for that stimulation,” he says. “Unfortunately, you do get that crash as it starts to wear off – but that’s usually when I have my next one. And while I tend to have my last one about 7-7.30pm, I rarely have trouble sleeping. I think I sweat it all out of my system in the kitchen.”
In a previous job, where Archer worked physically much closer to the barista station, his intake spiked to 15 coffees a day, many of them double-shots. “I started getting a bit shaky,” he says. “I cut that back pretty quickly when I realised what it was doing to me. And I always drink three to five litres of water a day as well, so that counteracts the dehydration.”
Between craving it, needing it, and knowing too much of a good thing can hurt us, our relationship with coffee can be a troubled one, a balance of give and take.
Which brings me back to my not-so-perfect relationship with George. I felt terrible when we broke up. I had headaches for three days, I was grumpy, I dropped a kilo, I missed the ritual of our relationship. Then a funny thing happened. Time healed my broken heart. After two weeks, I started feeling better. Brighter, even.
For me, George is better in small doses. One cup a day is enough. Make mine a “magic”*. *So hot right now, and invented in Melbourne. It’s a double ristretto in a 170g cup so it has a higher coffee-to-milk ratio. Kind of like a three-quarter flat white. Order one now before it’s so cool it becomes uncool. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY TIM MARTAIN