Caffeine Fiend

Some folks might describe my “condition” as an addiction or a habit, but I prefer to think of it as just a daily part of my early morning routine. I am not talking about body functions in the bathroom, but oddly… maybe I am, because I am referring to coffee and how important it seems to be to my day’s beginning.

After I awaken and check my tired old body for any new aches or pains, the very first thing I do is start a pot of coffee. In eleven and a half minutes there will be some hot dark “gojuice” waiting for me. That gives me about eleven minutes to get dressed, start a fire in the woodstove (if needed) and to feed the cat and the fish, but not feeding the fish to the cat, as the cat would like. With an extra-large mug of coffee (about 2 cups), I retire to the throne for some “solitude” and crosswordinating. That is the start to my perfect day. Apparently, I am as average as the next average guy drinking 2 cups and seeking a few moments of “solitude” in the morning. When it comes to being average, I try to be above average. Coffee is second to tea, as the world’s most popular drink, with roughly half of the world’s adults enjoying the beautiful brown bean brew and the caffeine that gets the world started and going in the mornings. Even if your coffee label says “de-caffeinated” coffee, you are still getting some caffeine because it is very expensive to totally remove caffeine. The label of “caffeine-free” will keep the jitters away. Most folks will begin to experience their coffee rush about five minutes after that first sip-a-joe and that should peak about thirty minutes later with caffeine hanging around in the body for about 3 hours for men and a little longer for women. and if you are a smoker that time span will be shorter. Strangely enough, as we get older, our sensitivity to caffeine and coffee increases, so I wonder why I still drink the same amount of coffee each day.

There are folks who do not bother with making a pot of coffee in the morning; they get their caffeine kicks from a can of soda “cola” pop. By cleverly wording the ingredients on a can of “cola” pop, someone might think that the caffeine in “cola” pop was from kola nuts. They would be only partially correct. Most of the caffeine in soda “cola” pop is the caffeine from de-caffeinated coffee beans. When soda “cola” pop was first introduced in the 1880’s, it is said that caffeine was added to the recipe for a little extra kick like carbonation was. There are those that claim that the manufacturers of the soda “cola” pop added caffeine to “addict” drinkers to their pop. In the summer of 2000, that very claim was verified in a study. Sneaky cola guys! But at least the coffee guys are not trying to hide any secret ingredients because we know what coffee/caffeine is all about. Am I healthier because I drink a modest amount of coffee on a daily basis? Apparently yes, because studies have NOT linked caffeine with cancer or heart disease, as once believed. In fact, caffeine may actually have some preventative properties. Researchers are also studying caffeine as an anti-depressant; there have been positive results using caffeine in treatment for alcoholism. I am sure that coffee falls into that group of substances that is better if smartly used, instead of stupidly abused… and to that, I smartly raise my mug to use and not abuse.