A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

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Ben
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A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

Post by Ben »

Hi all

I just read this and given the amount of air-time that the 'is caffeine an intoxicant?' question receives at other forums, I thought you might be interested!

Ladies and Gentlemen, get your reading glasses and form an orderly queue!

Hallucinating? Check the coffee count

January 14, 2009 - 11:53AM


Consuming the caffeine in seven cups of instant coffee a day leaves you more likely to see, hear and smell things that aren't there, UK researchers said.

People who drink at least 330 milligrams of the stimulant a day were three times as likely to have hallucinations as those who consumed less than 10 milligrams a day, Durham University researchers found in a study of 219 college students published today in Personality and Individual Differences.

The study, the first to link caffeine and hallucinations, explored the relationship between high caffeine consumption and an increased release of cortisol, a stress hormone believed to contribute to delusions, lead researcher Simon Jones said. It forms the first step toward examining nutrition as a factor in the occurrence of hallucinations, he said.

You read it here first you delusional coffee drinkers!
(A'hem, excuse my impertinent interjection!...Ben)


``Given the link between food and mood, and particularly between caffeine and the body's response to stress, it seems sensible to examine what a nutritional perspective might add,'' Jones said in a statement.

Researchers used surveys to assess daily caffeine intake and past experience with hallucinations. Cigarette smokers, known to be more sensitive to caffeine, weren't allowed to participate, and volunteers' stress levels and proneness to hallucinatory experiences were taken into account.

Nine of the 22 people in the highest-caffeine group reported hearing disembodied voices, compared with three of the 22 people in the lowest-caffeine group, Jones said. Participants also reported seeing things that weren't there and sensing the presence of dead people.

Bloomberg News

http://business.theage.com.au/business/ ... -7gln.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Learn this from the waters:
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Fede
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Re: A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

Post by Fede »

Be quiet, and get off my shoulder George....I'm reading......

:rolleye:

(we need that "drinking coffee whilst at the PC" emoticon.....!!)
"Samsara: The human condition's heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment." Elizabeth Gilbert, 'Eat, Pray, Love'.

Simplify: 17 into 1 WILL go: Mindfulness!

Quieta movere magna merces videbatur. (Sallust, c.86-c.35 BC)
Translation: Just to stir things up seemed a good reward in itself. ;)

I am sooooo happy - How on earth could I be otherwise?! :D


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Ben
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Re: A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

Post by Ben »

My name is not George!
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

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pererin

Re: A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

Post by pererin »

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Last edited by pererin on Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
Individual
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Re: A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

Post by Individual »

I've seen several studies which suggest that there's no observable long-term effect of 1-3 caffeinated beverages a day.
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Jechbi
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Re: A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

Post by Jechbi »

Maybe i'm just seeing things, but didn't I read somewhere that caffeine is a drug? Baah, it was just a hallucination.

:coffee:
Rain soddens what is kept wrapped up,
But never soddens what is open;
Uncover, then, what is concealed,
Lest it be soddened by the rain.
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Ben
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Re: A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

Post by Ben »

Individual wrote:I've seen several studies which suggest that there's no observable long-term effect of 1-3 caffeinated beverages a day.
Hi Individual and all

I think it would be interesting to have a look at the study. Quite often what happens is that a news agency's desire to turn a saleable story from cobling together some bits and pieces from an abstract or press release is often at the expense of the insights and groundbreaking knowledge that the study reveals.
Cheers

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
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jcsuperstar
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Re: A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

Post by jcsuperstar »

maaaaan i've sat around for hours just drinking coffe and talking with friends, like 8 hours straight, pots and pos of cooffee, and nothing , not one single halucination

i've been ripped off!
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the mountain may be heavy in and of itself, but if you're not trying to carry it it's not heavy to you- Ajaan Suwat
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Ben
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Re: A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

Post by Ben »

Hi JC
Are you sure your friends are real?
(I'm joking!)
Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
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Fede
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Re: A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

Post by Fede »

Actually, a major study into the benefits of eating margarinetook place many years ago, and results showed, through diligent scientific research, that eating margarine was of far more benfit to consumers, than eating butter. Research had taken place over 2 years, and a cross section of society, numbering 5,000 people had been closely monitored.

The research was sponsored by a major manufacturer of - Margarine.

Now there's a surprise.

find the source/sponsor.

Then you'll get your whys and wherefores.
"Samsara: The human condition's heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment." Elizabeth Gilbert, 'Eat, Pray, Love'.

Simplify: 17 into 1 WILL go: Mindfulness!

Quieta movere magna merces videbatur. (Sallust, c.86-c.35 BC)
Translation: Just to stir things up seemed a good reward in itself. ;)

I am sooooo happy - How on earth could I be otherwise?! :D


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Placid-pool
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Re: A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

Post by Placid-pool »

Depends on the coffee - two tiny cups in a French café can give me the shakes for the rest of the morning. Several gallons of the muck that comes out of automatic machines has no effect on me at all.

And my psychiatrist tells me that my voices have nothing to do with coffee ... they're because I'm mad. Pity, would have been a nice excuse.

And who do you think introduced Fédé to George? Hm?
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Re: A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

Post by zamis »

Fede wrote:Be quiet, and get off my shoulder George....I'm reading......

:rolleye:

(we need that "drinking coffee whilst at the PC" emoticon.....!!)
:rofl:
while i :coffee:

seems some of this would have to do with personal metabolic levels. my grandfather wasn't a caffeine addict by any means- one small cup in the morning- one in the afternoon- and he drank a small cup of espresso at night to help him sleep.
"Therefore Ananda, live with yourself as an island, yourself as a refuge, there is no other Refuge. With the Teaching as an island, the Teaching as a refuge, there is no other Refuge." (DN 16)
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Re: A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

Post by dhammatrophic »

jcsuperstar wrote:maaaaan i've sat around for hours just drinking coffe and talking with friends, like 8 hours straight, pots and pos of cooffee, and nothing , not one single halucination

i've been ripped off!
Are you sure you had 8 hrs worth of talking :quote: to do?

:D

P.S. That first smile should be 2 smiles. 1 of the (err...my left) right hand to go before the quote and the the second of the head and (err...my right) left hand to go after the hand. Ohhhh wait, never mind..... Its just the caffeine talking. :rofl:
-trophic
1. turning, changing, or reacting in a particular way
2. attracted to, having an affinity for, or moving toward a particular thing
3. acting on something specified, or in a particular way
4. relating to a specified kind of nutrition.
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Jechbi
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Re: A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

Post by Jechbi »

Hi all,

In this thread, I asked this question:
... if a substance existed that could boost any one or all of the mental factors without impeding any of them, would it be good practice to ingest this substance regularly?
And although I drink coffee regularly, it's still not clear to me where exactly to draw the line for the application of the 5th precept when it comes to substances other than alcohol. Maybe the question is irrelevant. Anyone else wonder about this?
Rain soddens what is kept wrapped up,
But never soddens what is open;
Uncover, then, what is concealed,
Lest it be soddened by the rain.
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appicchato
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Re: A new twist in the 'caffeine as intoxicant?' argument

Post by appicchato »

You might hallucinate, but maybe you won't lose your marbles... :coffee:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/24/healt ... offee.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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