Your Brain Does Not Recover From Daily Caffeine Use - Let’s See The Science!

[Matestube]

You kinda missed the point of his post. I agree with you theoretically, that plain water is not as good at hydrating the body as foods which contain water and a bunch of other nutrients, but that wasn't his point to begin with. It's that any substance can and is beneficial in the right dosage, but harmful if you ingest not enough or too much of it.

I got the point just fine : water is a solvent, it dissolves anything it touches, it doesn't nourrish.
There is no lower safe quantity for water, it dissolves from the first ml.

Again, I'll repeat it for you : saturated fats are what hydrates a body.

There is no balance in nature, that's a complete fallacy : something that's good for you is good in high quantities, your body will tell you when to stop.
Something that's harmful is harmful in small quantities, you just don't notice the consequences right away.

It's not normal that you can die after ingesting a gallon of water. It should tell you something.
I'm fine after ingesting a gallon of raw milk.

 

[Can]

And think for yourself. You can find a study supporting virtually any viewpoint if you look long enough. I used to get confused by studies like this and now I just pay attention to my own experience which has been undoubtedly healing when I use it right.

Couldn't agree more.

I love coffee and am drinking a few cups of it daily for a few weeks every now and then. But I also take week- or month-long breaks, all in intuitive intervals. I don't force myself to drink or stop drinking - I just know when to drink and when to take breaks, and have no problems going on and off coffee.

 

[Can]

I got the point just fine : water is a solvent, it dissolves anything it touches, it doesn't nourrish.
There is no lower safe quantity for water, it dissolves from the first ml.

Again, I'll repeat it for you : saturated fats are what hydrates a body.

Oh, I guess I misunderstood you. You think saturated fats hydrate the body, and not water? How is orange juice hydrating then? It contains virtually no saturated fat.

Isn't hydration all about water? The term literally comes from a term for water.

I assumed you meant that plain water is not as hydrating because it doesn't get absorbed easily, but that water in combination with other nutrients gets absorbed more easily (which I think is true). For example, fruits, fruit juices & milk are very hydrating because they mostly consist of water but also contain other nutrients, which help the body assimilate the water more easily. But it's still the water in the fruit / fruit juice / milk etc which hydrate the body.

 

[Can]

There is no balance in nature, that's a complete fallacy : something that's good for you is good in high quantities, your body will tell you when to stop.
Something that's harmful is harmful in small quantities, you just don't notice the consequences right away.

Any- and everything is harmful when you ingest too much of it. You can die from drinking too much milk. Will the body tell you to stop, or make you vomit, before it gets dangerous? Mostly yes, but that is also true for many other things, including water, so I don't really get your point there.

Also, define "high" and "small quantities". There are a bunch of vitamins and trace minerals which are essential for life, but which are only needed in so little amounts that they become toxic in the microgram ranges. Doesn't that count as a small quantity?

 

[Sweatshop Toad]

For what it’s worth, I’ve never been able to tolerate caffeine. It acts on my brain in an excitotoxic fashion causing anxiety, headaches, et cetera.

I’ve also noticed coffee is more harmful to me than tea, and tea is more harmful to me than caffeinated soda. Think this could be from my dysfunctional microbiome unable to process oxalate, so I’ve considered experimenting with pure caffeine in juice/water. Will report back with findings if I do.

 

[Orome]

I have my own real estate company, I don't work for anyone, and caffeine helps my creativity, my endurance, my empathy, and my feeling pleasure.
Without it I make less money, and I enjoy a lot less whatever I do, whether it's driving a car, selling appartments to someone, or talking to people.

It's not necessarily the drug of the slaves, I don't know a single successful company owner where I live that doesn't drink multiple coffees a day.

Same for me.
I think I would never been able to write my university thesis without coffee back in the days. I needed a lot of creativity at that time.

Turns out that daily use of a drug leads to negative effects that take a long time to reverse.

Consider that all of these are symptoms of caffeine withdrawal.


I hope you're comparing to how you were before ever drinking coffee, rather than how you were feeling in between periods of use. I can hyperbolically guarantee that a person who has not ever used caffeine will think better, be more productive and more organized than a person of similar health who indulges in caffeine daily. On /r/decaf very few people will ever want to go back to coffee once they've gone 6-12 months without it.

At least personally and anecdotally I disagree. Two (healthy) persons, both well-nourished and with good metabolism / good diet I doubt the non-coffee drinker will perform better. I rather think it is much more dependent on the person. There is definitely this notion that caffeine intake is strongly correlated with other (bad) lifestyle habits which will contribute a lot to these observations.

Like the person who said he went to the gym although he was exhausted and sleep deprived and was only able to do a workout with the help of coffee. Or me working through the night to be able to meet important deadlines by using coffee as a stimulant. This will definitely have health impacts which need to be reversed. But that's not for the caffeine to blame but for my laziness in starting very late with my task.

 

[tomisonbottom]

Consider that all of these are symptoms of caffeine withdrawal.

I have. Tested it with documentation for over 10 years.
I get the same "withdrawal" symptoms from under eating/starvation. So, should I not eat then to avoid that?

It is actually starch that causes those symptoms for me when my calories are sufficient; not caffeine.
Caffeine is similar to T3, and Ray describes it as a "vitamin like" adaptogen and it's definitely been that in my experience.
It seems to help something in my electron transport chain.
Caffeine, just like water, just like salt and just like T3 can be used incorrectly and cause problems.
I've used it wrong plenty of times and crashed my blood sugar and raised adrenaline.
When used properly (in the right amount/right context) it can be very beneficial and even medicinal. For me its anti-aging, improves digestion, dopamine, energy, sleep, flexibility, strength, cognition and metabolism.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

It's a trade off between how much damage it will actually do vs the quality of life it brings.
Overall having my liver work better and my mood be happier will have far more benefits than the potential slight grey matter decrease, whatever the implications of this may be.

I agree! I did not drink coffee for 32 years, and when I finally did right away i found so many improvements in my health.. I gave it up a couple times, just because people said it was bad, like sugar, and one time for over a year, but the benefits far outweigh any negatives, which I have not noticed.

 

[Sweatshop Toad]

Coming from a keto/carnivore background, I noticed nearly everyone in that dietary sphere is reliant on caffeine to the point even hardcore gurus who promote a strict beef/water diet admit to using it.

I myself rarely if ever consume caffeine which could explain my abject failure on the carnivore diet. It’s like I go from zero energy but no dysbiosis on low carb to loads of energy but severe SIBO/SIFO symptoms when I go back to eating carbs. When I consume a single carby meal the gingivitis, bloating, brain fog, et cetera resume almost instantaneously.

 

[FocusedOnHealth]

I agree! I did not drink coffee for 32 years, and when I finally did right away i found so many improvements in my health.. I gave it up a couple times, just because people said it was bad, like sugar, and one time for over a year, but the benefits far outweigh any negatives, which I have not noticed.

Since I’m the OP of this thread, I kind of think I posted this topic a bit too hastily. I have gone back and forth about whether to coffee or not to coffee. That is the question. Now I’m back to drinking coffee in moderation and enjoying it with my milk frother -see my other thread: Coffee and Cardamon together: Yum!

Coffee just has too many redeeming, healthy and delicious qualities to give up ️

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Since I’m the OP of this thread, I kind of think I posted this topic a bit too hastily. I have gone back and forth about whether to coffee or not to coffee. That is the question. Now I’m back to drinking coffee in moderation and enjoying it with my milk frother -see my other thread: Coffee and Cardamon together: Yum!

Coffee just has too many redeeming, healthy and delicious qualities to give up ️

Oh I love the milk frother in the wintertime. I like to melt a piece candy cane in my winter coffee too.

 

[Luann]

Since I’m the OP of this thread, I kind of think I posted this topic a bit too hastily.

Not at all, even if you have taken up coffee drinking again!

I actually have been inspired by this thread to try to cut back on caffeine. Currently on the 3rd day of drinking only very weak coffee in the mornings (with milk and sugar as usual). I feel better than before. Who knows whether this will stick... but it is kind of disturbing to think about one's brain still being "on" caffeine at night :/ tmyk

 

[HealthisWealth]

how about decaffenated ? Is the 3% remaining caffeine beneficial and less toxic?

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Not at all, even if you have taken up coffee drinking again!

I actually have been inspired by this thread to try to cut back on caffeine. Currently on the 3rd day of drinking only very weak coffee in the mornings (with milk and sugar as usual). I feel better than before. Who knows whether this will stick... but it is kind of disturbing to think about one's brain still being "on" caffeine at night :/ tmyk

I am happy you are giving coffee another try, but I really want to reiterate Ray Peat’s suggestion, especially for people who have trouble with it, to have food before or with it. Enjoy!