K is for Koffein

Koffein. That is German for caffeine, something many of us don't seem to be able to get along without. We buy super sized drinks in a coffee shop to fuel our day. We pour ourselves cups at home and either drink them black or add sugar and creamer or milk. We gulp down energy drinks or caffeinated soda. Teas and some herbal supplements carry caffeine as well.

Caffeine is most commonly used to improve mental alertness. That's why so many of us consume it. It's a legal stimulant and many of us are addicted to it. Withdrawals can be painful headaches, the jitters, and an intense desire to hurt someone if we don't get it “right now”. (Okay, I made up the last one. At least I hope I did.)

Caffeine can be used in combination with other things to deal with headaches, especially migraines. People with ADHD use it as a depressant instead of a stimulant. It helps them stay focused and wind down instead of being hyper all the time.

But too much can cause problems. It can cause a racing heart, a bad side effect if you already have heart problems. It can lead to the jitters or hyperactivity in those who are particularly sensitive to it. It can cause sleep problems, including insomnia, if taken before bedtime. It can cause or increase anxiety.

As with anything in this world, using it in moderation is key. I have an energy drink and I nurse it all day. I've found that it gives me the right amount of stimulation without giving me the racing heart and nausea that I get downing the whole thing in a short amount of time. I don't get jittery. I don't get light headed. I can also down a liter of Mountain Dew in a day, though again like the energy drink I nurse it all day.

I know people who can suck down two or three energy drinks in a day and feel nothing. Their bodies have built up such a tolerance to the caffeine that it doesn't phase them. That can prove to be dangerous to them because they still get the physical side effects and so much caffeine is not good for them.

I'm not saying don't ingest caffeine. I tried to stop. The headaches were horrendous and even after a few days didn't go away. A single can of Mountain Dew and the headaches stopped. I'm just saying ingest it in moderation. A single cup of coffee or tea instead of a pot full. A single can of soda. If at all possible, don't do energy drinks.

Be safe and be aware of what can happen if you overdose on anything, including caffeine.

Monday Maundering - My love affair with caffeine

I think just about every author out there has a love affair with something to aid their writing. Be it alcohol, cigarettes, or mine - caffeine. To be more specific, Mountain Dew. I have to have Mountain Dew at some point in my day to write. Which makes kicking the caffeine habit a hard one for me.

Did you know that caffeine is the world's most heavily consumed psychoactive drug? 90% of adults in America consume caffeine daily. The lethal dose of caffeine for most people is 10 grams, though we're not likely to see more than 500 mg of caffeine in most drinks. Those children and adults who had heart problems because of an overabundance of caffeine, such as is found in energy drinks, are believed to have a higher sensitivity to caffeine than others.

Me, my sensitivity to caffeine has been dulled by years of use. I don't get the energy boost off of Mountain Dew like I used to, which is fine by me. I don't do energy drinks because they leave me feeling jittery and generally give me a stomach and/or a headache with everything else that's in there on top of the caffeine. You have to figure that guarana, which is a key ingredient in many energy drinks, has caffeine in it naturally. So beyond what caffeine they're adding, you're getting an extra dose in the guarana.

Did you know that caffeine resides in chocolate too? It's there in minuscule amounts, but it's there. That's why I don't think I could give up caffeine completely. I love my chocolate too much. But I can deal with it in moderation, which is the key point of everything.

So why am I talking about caffeine? Because it's a habit that I want to kick. I want to be able to write without having to have Mountain Dew around. I'm trying to lose weight and guzzling soda all day isn't the way to do it. But I'm so addicted to the Dew (not that Mountain Dew is naturally addicting...it's just what I'm hooked on) that I have a hard time focusing on my writing if I don't have at least one can or bottle there with me.

So I'm slowly weaning myself off of Mountain Dew, and off of caffeine in general. I think I'd be a lot happier off of them and caffeine does tend to screw with my anxiety levels anyway. So the less I consume the better. So wish me luck in getting over this love affair.