Alright so I am a junior for High school, going to be a senior in August, and I hate coffee with a passion. I hate the smell of it.The bitter taste of coffee prevents me from taking more than one sip. It worries me since pretty much everyone in the world drinks coffee and I just feel left out lol... even starbucks can't save me.
I'm particularly concerned since I feel other students have an advantage over me since they can stay up til like 4am doing homework with coffee while I have to sleep at 11pm or 12am max since I'll get naturally sleepy... So I'm wondering should I force myself to "like" coffee so I will have an easier time with school next year and when I go to college...
As an Asian I also hated Boba milk teas but I kind of "forced" myself to like it by drinking it even though it tasted like shit like a year ago... and now its one of my favorite drinks, so I feel like I might be able to force myself to drink coffee until I get accustomed to it.
So as of right now, I'm unsure what to do. I know that some people are kind of fucked by being too reliant on coffee to get themselves to wake up... but as it is right now I'm not planning to get too reliant on coffee... just want to use it to my advantage to maximize my time... I'm on average spending like 2 or 3 more hours sleeping (I usually sleep at 10) than my friends who gets straight A's. I'm not a bad student, I have roughly equal A's with B's with 3 APs, so I'm pretty sure I can achieve better grades by wasting less time sleeping, even though I know its bad for my body...
Definitely don't force yourself to drink coffee, especially not for energy. In order to continue to feel the energy increase, you will need to drink more and more and - while drinking a cup or two of coffee isn't a problem AFAIK, drinking more than that regularly is NOT good for your health.
I don't like coffee either and I am very happy about that.
On May 17 2013 02:56 birdkicker wrote:I have roughly equal A's with B's with 3 APs, so I'm pretty sure I can achieve better grades by wasting less time sleeping, even though I know its bad for my body...
I dunno man, it doesn't seem like it would really change much if you slept or were awake. Like the difference would be so small, would it matter?
Coffee's effects are felt immediately, however, they don't really last that long. I drink a fair amount of coffee, basically to the point where I get withdrawal symptoms (bad headaches/migraines and sometimes nausea when I don't have caffeine pumping through my blood!)... So not everything about coffee is that great.
I recommend just drinking tea. You'll get some caffeine Or just take an afternoon power-nap to stay alert.
Sleeping is the best thing you can do for your body. If you're tired, you won't be able to retain everything you study.
The "extra time" you'll have to spend studying for school will most likely be wasted in trivial pursuits. I actually think sticking to a schedule where you end up sleeping more but having less time to study will actually make you more efficient with your time management than your buddies.
I say this as I drink a cup of coffee. My excuse is that it's spring, and my head always feels full of static these days unless I'm getting a good dose of caffeine. (Yay, allergies.) I actually like coffee, but I hate being dependent on it, so I end up detoxing as soon as school is over but feel horrible for 2-3 days afterwards...
On May 17 2013 02:56 birdkicker wrote:I have roughly equal A's with B's with 3 APs, so I'm pretty sure I can achieve better grades by wasting less time sleeping, even though I know its bad for my body...
I dunno man, it doesn't seem like it would really change much if you slept or were awake. Like the difference would be so small, would it matter?
Coffee is only bitter if you're not putting any sugar/sweetener in it and/or cream/milk/creamer. I used to think coffee was disgusting when I thought it was only black. I now enjoy several different kinds of coffee.
That being said, caffeine addiction is a very real and scary thing. Some of the more serious effects relating to overconsumption have forced me to cut down a lot so that I don't have too many issues in the future. Whether you drink tea, coffee, energy drinks or other caffeine products, warnings are always good.
All that being said, though, you should give coffee in all its varieties another chance. Not saying to "force" yourself to like it, but at least try mixing things up until you find something that tastes good to you. And if you really think you can stay on top of just having one every once in awhile to help you out, you should be fine.
I'm a college student and I have the same feelings towards coffee. The smell is awful and the taste even more so. I use 3 ways to keep myself alert: 1) go to bed early: if I fall asleep before 11pm I feel completely refreshed the next day and you can also wake up earlier (10-12 are the 2 wonder hours for sleep); 1 hour of rest in the afternoon can keep you going for the rest of the day; 2) I only Drink Coke/Pepsi only when I have to study, so I don't develop tolerance to coffeine 3) same for black tea, only ocassionaly
I don't really understand this world wide obsession with coffeee. I feel like the cons outweight the pros in the long term: tolerance, only short term effect, dependence, can lead to heart problems etc. From what I talked to my gym trainer, a well thought schedule is far more effective than coffee.
real men only drink black coffee. But like the op i don't drink coffee and im 19. I have never needed it. Also staying up till 4 am doesn't help you. It will mess with your sleep schedule and have negative effects on your schooling.
Second of all, don't force yourself. Your friends abilities to stay up till 4 am will not only catch up with them, it will make them perform worse over all. In fact, not only will their work suffer, but so will they mentally and physically with health issues due to lack of sleep. Being Asian has nothing to do with this lol, it won't make you accustomed to coffee easier in any way. Don't do what you think, you will win in the long run, I promise.
I hate the taste of coffee. I think it's my duty as a white person to drink coffee but I can't stand it. It's better with milk and sugar but even then it's still half-shitty because there's still coffee in it.
You can do without it. Brew tea in the morning, drink some Coca-Cola or any soda with caffeine in it. My store sells 2 liter bottles of cream soda for like $1.19 a bottle, it's tasty but also cheap. Saves so much money that people spend on coffee, and it's easier to chug and get more caffeine in your system.
And most importantly, don't burn yourself out too often. Recognize the value of sleep and pay off your sleep-debt when you can. Trauma plus sleeplessness is the fast track to mental illness.
I use coffee as an emergency energy drink that has no calories. Drinking it everyday and frequently builds tolerance, which is not good since you want the affect to be as great as possible (at least I want it to be effective).
I drink tons of coffee and still need to sleep 9-10 hours a day. It can always be worse . Also drinking coffee to stay awake until the nightly hours is pretty terrible for your health. Probably not good for your grades in the long run either.
I don't drink coffee and can get by with 4-5 hours of sleep weekdays with more rest to catch up on weekends. It's not about coffee, it's about slowly adapting your body to less and less sleep so you don't go from 9 hours of sleep to 4 hours instantly and get crushed the next day. If you can go 5-6 hours of sleep daily, 4 or 3 hours, or even an all-nighter doesn't faze you as much as it does to others.
However, honestly, I find the 8 hour sleep mark is a perfect example of how some of the actually smartest and brightest people I know of work. When you have prioritized your life and cut the stupid habits that consume time (Reddit, TeamLiquid, etc) rather than doing work, you definitely have enough time to finish everything you have to do, and also get a good night's rest. And I find that this is true for all of the genuinely smart people - no cramming, no complaining, just always working and always catching up or getting ahead, with a good bit of hard fun when they have free time.
That being said, I hate coffee, but love all those caffeinated sugar drinks like Frappucinos.
If you simply want to have caffeine in your system then just get these at CVS. Each pill has more caffeine than you get in one cup of coffee anyway, just don't take more than you really need to prevent cardio problems. It is also cheaper to take one of these than have a cup of coffee or drink a soda/energy drink anyway, even if you make the coffee yourself or buy soda in bulk. There might be a better place to buy these but CVS is usually pretty common.
For the record, I have the same difficulty of schedule as you and I'm in the same grade. I've managed to maintain my A's by
Staying up until 2 AM if need be. This only happens if I procrastinate. Trust me, you'll feel like crap the next day but your cognitive functions aren't going to go down the toilet with just one night of little sleep unless you are not like me at all.
Doing as much homework as possible at school. This usually amounts to getting all my math and physics done in the morning and during lunch. If you have a free span of 5 minutes in a class, you can still probably knock out a lot of your homework, especially in math. Then, if I need to, I do spanish, history, english, etc. at home. If you're taking a quantitative science class like chemistry or computer science then you could also do it pretty easily at school.
If I feel distracted or really need to work on something I go to a library or somewhere away from where I normally do homework. I have a bad habit of going online while I still have homework to do, and I bet you do as well. I'm less likely to get on the internet when I'm around strangers and in an environment where I'm not totally at ease.
If you do only sleep about 4 hours or so in a night I find it's pretty easy to take a little nap the next day (or the same, heh) and then consume some sort of caffeine. It keeps me from feeling groggy and feels a lot better than a nap or caffeine alone.
You could always manage your time better, but that's too hard . I know this is the "correct" advice to give but I'd be a hypocrite for saying it. I'm sure you're not so busy that you need to spend every waking minute on homework, though, so if you can change your habits, DO IT.
Not everyone drinks coffee, I managed to get through school without it just fine. The difference between you studying and your friends studying isn't coffee, so don't worry about it. Being natural is the best way to go.
If you want to find something else, green tea is another option. You can drink it hot or cold, and it has good stuff like catechin.
On May 17 2013 02:56 birdkicker wrote: Alright so I am a junior for High school, going to be a senior in August, and I hate coffee with a passion. I hate the smell of it.The bitter taste of coffee prevents me from taking more than one sip. It worries me since pretty much everyone in the world drinks coffee and I just feel left out lol... even starbucks can't save me.
I'm particularly concerned since I feel other students have an advantage over me since they can stay up til like 4am doing homework with coffee while I have to sleep at 11pm or 12am max since I'll get naturally sleepy... So I'm wondering should I force myself to "like" coffee so I will have an easier time with school next year and when I go to college...
As an Asian I also hated Boba milk teas but I kind of "forced" myself to like it by drinking it even though it tasted like shit like a year ago... and now its one of my favorite drinks, so I feel like I might be able to force myself to drink coffee until I get accustomed to it.
So as of right now, I'm unsure what to do. I know that some people are kind of fucked by being too reliant on coffee to get themselves to wake up... but as it is right now I'm not planning to get too reliant on coffee... just want to use it to my advantage to maximize my time... I'm on average spending like 2 or 3 more hours sleeping (I usually sleep at 10) than my friends who gets straight A's. I'm not a bad student, I have roughly equal A's with B's with 3 APs, so I'm pretty sure I can achieve better grades by wasting less time sleeping, even though I know its bad for my body...
Lol, You're a junior in High school man, relax. Go chill with some friends and stop worrying so much.
Btw, you'll find you'll end up with more free time then you'll know what to do with once you get into college.
On May 17 2013 02:56 birdkicker wrote: Alright so I am a junior for High school
I'm particularly concerned since I feel other students have an advantage over me since they can stay up til like 4am doing homework with coffee while I have to sleep at 11pm or 12am max since I'll get naturally sleepy... .
If they're doing that in highschool they have a natural disadvantage, namely, they're either awful at schoolwork, managing time, or both.
I don't drink coffee either. I hate the taste (too bitter) but I do like the smell of other people's coffee in the morning lol. It smells a lot better than it tastes for me imo. Same goes with beer (even though I've only had a little, I don't drink alcohol).
Green Tea is my suggestion. Everyone loves Green Tea.
On May 17 2013 15:25 endy wrote: Coffee is an acquired taste like smoking. Many hate it at first, then you learn to like it, until you become completely addicted to it.
Isn't that basically how Stockholm syndrome works?
On May 17 2013 15:25 endy wrote: Coffee is an acquired taste like smoking. Many hate it at first, then you learn to like it, until you become completely addicted to it.
Isn't that basically how Stockholm syndrome works?
stockholm syndrome is when the victims of a crime, such as a bank robbery, become emotionally attacked to the robbers robbing the bank and then they start justifying the robber's actions and so don't really see the robbers as the "bad guys" in the picture anymore
yeah really. why do you want to start drinking coffee? hating and not drinking it is totally fine. It wont help you studying and if its peer pressure that makes you want to start then just forget about it, youll grow out of that attitude
A lot of people just use the coffee as a way to help the cram all of their work in last second, which is bad for them in the long run. Just keep to the schedule you have and get really good at time management, it'll take you much farther than energy in a cup will.
My grades have been very good and I rarely study past 11PM, and basically never after midnight. I know dumb girls who use adderall to cram as much garbage in their heads as possible during the night, they get to the exam, completely beat down or completely hyper. It's not any better. Try to make time for studying during the day and if there's just not enough time, either you need to take your studies more seriously or you need to develop more effective studying methods. Quality > Quantity.
If you need to push your limit a little, and this is going to sound silly but bear with me... If you live in a safe neighborhood, go outside and jog - don't get yourself to sweat, just get the blood pumping, it should give you a second wind. It should take just a few minutes, if that. Fresh nighttime air feels good too. If you can't go outside for whatever reason, run up and down the stairs just for a few seconds. This is not a workout - you don't want to get anywhere close to your limit.
Then as a last resort, there are energy drinks, as mentioned a bunch of times, but just don't make an habit of it. You never want to study until 4AM unless it's an emergency for some reason...
When you get to your exam, if at all possible, you want to be prepared AND you want to have the hours of sleep that you need. People don't realize that their performance dips when they're tired from studying too much or when they're too "hyper" from caffeine, which also makes you anxious and stressed out, which in turns makes you forget all your shit
Using energy drinks and stuff is not neccessary, there is no need to exhaust your body just to stay awake one more hour. Just go to sleep, a very tired brain makes as much mistakes as a drunk one, btw.
Regular use of caffeine offers no advantage. People who regularly consume caffeine REQUIRE the caffeine to operate at the same functionality as someone who never has it. This is because the brain adapts to it (aka tolerance) and normalizes itself. If it doesn't get the caffeine, then you get withdrawal and you're even worse off. Heightened energy and the like are from the first few uses (not of your life, but after your brain has stopped thinking it will get any) when the brain isn't expecting it.
If you don't like the taste of coffee, you shouldn't drink it. It stains your teeth and it develops dependency. If you do, caffeine isn't the worst thing in the world as long as you have it at a habitual time and not in huge doses.
If you want to stay away till 4am like your friends, just sleep in till 11am ;p It is really not useful to stay up longer than you usually do, since cutting into sleep just means significantly lower performance both the day you are working and the day after. Always get a good rest before you have a test, and you'll do way better. Really you should be thankful you don't stay up till 4am, cause that's pretty much insomnia if you don't sleep in.
It's an advantage man. See it this way: While others depend on coffee and must rely on it to get by in the morning and late at night when they need to stay up, your routine doesn't require it! One less addiction. Bit more time saved. Bit more money saved. Yeuuh
On June 17 2013 00:38 Chef wrote: Regular use of caffeine offers no advantage. People who regularly consume caffeine REQUIRE the caffeine to operate at the same functionality as someone who never has it. This is because the brain adapts to it (aka tolerance) and normalizes itself. If it doesn't get the caffeine, then you get withdrawal and you're even worse off. Heightened energy and the like are from the first few uses (not of your life, but after your brain has stopped thinking it will get any) when the brain isn't expecting it.
While this is true in some sense, a tolerance to caffeine does not mean that you go so far below that an average dose of caffeine will only "normalize" your brain. You still get positive effects, it just takes slightly more to get above that threshold.
Drinking coffee will not ruin your brain by any means and this is a severe overestimation of the effects of caffeine "withdrawal".
On June 17 2013 00:38 Chef wrote: Regular use of caffeine offers no advantage. People who regularly consume caffeine REQUIRE the caffeine to operate at the same functionality as someone who never has it. This is because the brain adapts to it (aka tolerance) and normalizes itself. If it doesn't get the caffeine, then you get withdrawal and you're even worse off. Heightened energy and the like are from the first few uses (not of your life, but after your brain has stopped thinking it will get any) when the brain isn't expecting it.
While this is true in some sense, a tolerance to caffeine does not mean that you go so far below that an average dose of caffeine will only "normalize" your brain. You still get positive effects, it just takes slightly more to get above that threshold.
Drinking coffee will not ruin your brain by any means and this is a severe overestimation of the effects of caffeine "withdrawal".
This is one of many things I've read about the topic, but gives a pretty good summary of the overall issues surrounding caffeine. Comments admittedly point out that much of the data is not recent, but it's pretty hard to refute studies that test people who don't use coffee and people who regularly use coffee. Performance is not too hard to test.
Normalize is not a real scientific term, but I mean that your brain adapts to the chemicals within it. I'm not gonna pretend I'm a neurologist, but this is not super specialized knowledge. Most people are at least aware that this is why the phenomenons of tolerance and withdrawal exist. I won't deny a certain placebo effect from getting what you want, and comfort of your regular cup of joe, but it's silly to deny that if you have that every day at the same time your brain hasn't changed the way it works.
Caffeine withdrawal can be pretty bad if you go from having a lot to having none at all. Severe headache and irritability, sometimes real health concerns. At lot of people have 5 or 6 cups of coffee in a day and that's enough to be very painful if you go cold turkey a few days. Of course your individual experience may differ ;p
On June 17 2013 00:38 Chef wrote: Regular use of caffeine offers no advantage. People who regularly consume caffeine REQUIRE the caffeine to operate at the same functionality as someone who never has it. This is because the brain adapts to it (aka tolerance) and normalizes itself. If it doesn't get the caffeine, then you get withdrawal and you're even worse off. Heightened energy and the like are from the first few uses (not of your life, but after your brain has stopped thinking it will get any) when the brain isn't expecting it.
While this is true in some sense, a tolerance to caffeine does not mean that you go so far below that an average dose of caffeine will only "normalize" your brain. You still get positive effects, it just takes slightly more to get above that threshold.
Drinking coffee will not ruin your brain by any means and this is a severe overestimation of the effects of caffeine "withdrawal".
This is one of many things I've read about the topic, but gives a pretty good summary of the overall issues surrounding caffeine. Comments admittedly point out that much of the data is not recent, but it's pretty hard to refute studies that test people who don't use coffee and people who regularly use coffee. Performance is not too hard to test.
Normalize is not a real scientific term, but I mean that your brain adapts to the chemicals within it. I'm not gonna pretend I'm a neurologist, but this is not super specialized knowledge. Most people are at least aware that this is why the phenomenons of tolerance and withdrawal exist. I won't deny a certain placebo effect from getting what you want, and comfort of your regular cup of joe, but it's silly to deny that if you have that every day at the same time your brain hasn't changed the way it works.
Caffeine withdrawal can be pretty bad if you go from having a lot to having none at all. Severe headache and irritability, sometimes real health concerns. At lot of people have 5 or 6 cups of coffee in a day and that's enough to be very painful if you go cold turkey a few days. Of course your individual experience may differ ;p
On June 17 2013 00:38 Chef wrote: Regular use of caffeine offers no advantage. People who regularly consume caffeine REQUIRE the caffeine to operate at the same functionality as someone who never has it. This is because the brain adapts to it (aka tolerance) and normalizes itself. If it doesn't get the caffeine, then you get withdrawal and you're even worse off. Heightened energy and the like are from the first few uses (not of your life, but after your brain has stopped thinking it will get any) when the brain isn't expecting it.
While this is true in some sense, a tolerance to caffeine does not mean that you go so far below that an average dose of caffeine will only "normalize" your brain. You still get positive effects, it just takes slightly more to get above that threshold.
Drinking coffee will not ruin your brain by any means and this is a severe overestimation of the effects of caffeine "withdrawal".
This is one of many things I've read about the topic, but gives a pretty good summary of the overall issues surrounding caffeine. Comments admittedly point out that much of the data is not recent, but it's pretty hard to refute studies that test people who don't use coffee and people who regularly use coffee. Performance is not too hard to test.
Normalize is not a real scientific term, but I mean that your brain adapts to the chemicals within it. I'm not gonna pretend I'm a neurologist, but this is not super specialized knowledge. Most people are at least aware that this is why the phenomenons of tolerance and withdrawal exist. I won't deny a certain placebo effect from getting what you want, and comfort of your regular cup of joe, but it's silly to deny that if you have that every day at the same time your brain hasn't changed the way it works.
Caffeine withdrawal can be pretty bad if you go from having a lot to having none at all. Severe headache and irritability, sometimes real health concerns. At lot of people have 5 or 6 cups of coffee in a day and that's enough to be very painful if you go cold turkey a few days. Of course your individual experience may differ ;p
Pretty bad compared to what exactly?
Caffeine withdrawal can be pretty bad in comparison to "no caffeine withdrawal"? Sounds like a reasonable assertion to me.
On June 17 2013 00:38 Chef wrote: Regular use of caffeine offers no advantage. People who regularly consume caffeine REQUIRE the caffeine to operate at the same functionality as someone who never has it. This is because the brain adapts to it (aka tolerance) and normalizes itself. If it doesn't get the caffeine, then you get withdrawal and you're even worse off. Heightened energy and the like are from the first few uses (not of your life, but after your brain has stopped thinking it will get any) when the brain isn't expecting it.
While this is true in some sense, a tolerance to caffeine does not mean that you go so far below that an average dose of caffeine will only "normalize" your brain. You still get positive effects, it just takes slightly more to get above that threshold.
Drinking coffee will not ruin your brain by any means and this is a severe overestimation of the effects of caffeine "withdrawal".
This is one of many things I've read about the topic, but gives a pretty good summary of the overall issues surrounding caffeine. Comments admittedly point out that much of the data is not recent, but it's pretty hard to refute studies that test people who don't use coffee and people who regularly use coffee. Performance is not too hard to test.
Normalize is not a real scientific term, but I mean that your brain adapts to the chemicals within it. I'm not gonna pretend I'm a neurologist, but this is not super specialized knowledge. Most people are at least aware that this is why the phenomenons of tolerance and withdrawal exist. I won't deny a certain placebo effect from getting what you want, and comfort of your regular cup of joe, but it's silly to deny that if you have that every day at the same time your brain hasn't changed the way it works.
Caffeine withdrawal can be pretty bad if you go from having a lot to having none at all. Severe headache and irritability, sometimes real health concerns. At lot of people have 5 or 6 cups of coffee in a day and that's enough to be very painful if you go cold turkey a few days. Of course your individual experience may differ ;p
(PS I am a doctoral student in a clinical psychology program and I've done research papers on caffeine and nicotine)
People severely exaggerate the addictive potential of caffeine. There are actual drugs of addiction out there (and again, i'm not saying caffeine doesn't have a withdrawal, i just personally think it's a pussy one) and caffeine does not effect change on your synapse like crack or similar drugs do. Also like if you cold turkey for two weeks you generally return to baseline levels AND caffeine has positive long-term effects in addition to its negative ones.
I never said caffeine was like cocaine lol. I did know that you can get back to normal pretty quickly.
To qualify caffeine withdrawal as pussy withdrawal is really weird and obnoxious. Of course quitting heroine or the like is gonna give you more than a headache. But I don't think headaches feel good just because there are worse things.
Pretty bad compared to what exactly?
Pretty bad compared to not having a headache, being irritable, being tired, etc. Try an experiment yourself if you want. Drink 6 cups of coffee a day for a month and then suddenly quit. You can assess for yourself if you think it is a slight annoyance or something that really disrupts your ability to work productively and enjoy socializing.
I'm not saying quitting caffeine is an intolerable experience, and you can actually avoid most of the withdrawal by just halving your intake every day until you're having none. It's certainly not as hard as quitting smoking or something like that if you don't have an emotional attachment to it. I'm just saying you're gonna be a real grumpy bear. If you're the type to have espressos from morning till night, you might be more than a grumpy bear ;p So I don't really understand why we're suddenly talking about illegal drugs and comparing caffeine to them. Of course there is no comparison in terms of damage you can do to your body.
On June 17 2013 23:38 Chef wrote: I never said caffeine was like cocaine lol. I did know that you can get back to normal pretty quickly.
To qualify caffeine withdrawal as pussy withdrawal is really weird and obnoxious. Of course quitting heroine or the like is gonna give you more than a headache. But I don't think headaches feel good just because there are worse things.
Pretty bad compared to not having a headache, being irritable, being tired, etc. Try an experiment yourself if you want. Drink 6 cups of coffee a day for a month and then suddenly quit. You can assess for yourself if you think it is a slight annoyance or something that really disrupts your ability to work productively and enjoy socializing.
I'm not saying quitting caffeine is an intolerable experience, and you can actually avoid most of the withdrawal by just halving your intake every day until you're having none. It's certainly not as hard as quitting smoking or something like that if you don't have an emotional attachment to it. I'm just saying you're gonna be a real grumpy bear. If you're the type to have espressos from morning till night, you might be more than a grumpy bear ;p So I don't really understand why we're suddenly talking about illegal drugs and comparing caffeine to them. Of course there is no comparison in terms of damage you can do to your body.
I was having a caffeine intake of around 4 cups of coffee and day and I stopped cold turkey and I felt slightly more irritable with a light headache. It wasn't bad whatsoever, stopping amphetamines cold turkey was pretty uncomfortable. Stopping 360mg of codeine a day was slightly worse. Beznodiazepine withdrawal was unarguably the worst thing I can imagine experiencing.
I feel like such a lazy fuck compared to some students in the US. This guy here wants to sacrifice sleep to study more. I doubt I've studied more than half an hour every day on average for my final high school exams this year. Fuck... Time to do some studying.
On June 17 2013 23:38 Chef wrote: I never said caffeine was like cocaine lol. I did know that you can get back to normal pretty quickly.
To qualify caffeine withdrawal as pussy withdrawal is really weird and obnoxious. Of course quitting heroine or the like is gonna give you more than a headache. But I don't think headaches feel good just because there are worse things.
Pretty bad compared to not having a headache, being irritable, being tired, etc. Try an experiment yourself if you want. Drink 6 cups of coffee a day for a month and then suddenly quit. You can assess for yourself if you think it is a slight annoyance or something that really disrupts your ability to work productively and enjoy socializing.
I'm not saying quitting caffeine is an intolerable experience, and you can actually avoid most of the withdrawal by just halving your intake every day until you're having none. It's certainly not as hard as quitting smoking or something like that if you don't have an emotional attachment to it. I'm just saying you're gonna be a real grumpy bear. If you're the type to have espressos from morning till night, you might be more than a grumpy bear ;p So I don't really understand why we're suddenly talking about illegal drugs and comparing caffeine to them. Of course there is no comparison in terms of damage you can do to your body.
Yeah but your initial post
On June 17 2013 00:38 Chef wrote: Regular use of caffeine offers no advantage. People who regularly consume caffeine REQUIRE the caffeine to operate at the same functionality as someone who never has it. This is because the brain adapts to it (aka tolerance) and normalizes itself. If it doesn't get the caffeine, then you get withdrawal and you're even worse off. Heightened energy and the like are from the first few uses (not of your life, but after your brain has stopped thinking it will get any) when the brain isn't expecting it.
If you don't like the taste of coffee, you shouldn't drink it. It stains your teeth and it develops dependency. If you do, caffeine isn't the worst thing in the world as long as you have it at a habitual time and not in huge doses.
If you want to stay away till 4am like your friends, just sleep in till 11am ;p It is really not useful to stay up longer than you usually do, since cutting into sleep just means significantly lower performance both the day you are working and the day after. Always get a good rest before you have a test, and you'll do way better. Really you should be thankful you don't stay up till 4am, cause that's pretty much insomnia if you don't sleep in.
severely overestimated the negative side effects of caffeine and COMPLETELY disregarded the significant performance gains that caffeine provides.
I guess we could both be more objective?
My point when I say that I PERSONALLY THINK (admittedly subjective and not part of the facts) that caffeine withdrawal is a pussy withdrawal is that no matter who you complain to about caffeine withdrawal, they will not care. Your friends won't care, your professors won't care, your doctors won't care, your psychologists won't care, your wife won't care, your son and daughter won't care, your mom won't care, and basically anyone you can think of won't care.
There are withdrawals in this world that are much more severe than the type caffeine provides, and if you make a big deal out of caffeine withdrawal, my personal opinion is that your subjective analysis of uncomfortable situations tends to be exaggerated relative to mine, and it's not like I think I'm some super macho pain-is-weakness-leaving-the-body kind of guy.
no is the short answer. I would avoid coffee since there is no need for it to minimize your sleep. I don't drink coffee and I can stay up till 5 easy. If you want to stay up longer, the answer is simple, do it lol. Take it in steps so stay up 15 minutes from your normal sleep time. Do this for a couple of days then make it 30minutes and keep adding on. tbh, I would just continue sleeping earlier and get up earlier to do work if you feel you need the extra time
Stay away from coffee! If you don't like it, good for you! Not only is it immensely bad for your teeth, many people that drink coffee are just caffeine addicted. People who don't consume caffeine on a regular basis are able to stay alert much better without caffeine than someone addicted to caffeine without their fix. Also, as someone else already mentioned, if you ever do wanna stay up late just get an energy drink ,coca cola, or tea with caffeine. Due take note that caffeine works much better and more intense on people who don't consume it on a regular basis.
On June 20 2013 18:59 Work and Play wrote: Stay away from coffee! If you don't like it, good for you! Not only is it immensely bad for your teeth, many people that drink coffee are just caffeine addicted. People who don't consume caffeine on a regular basis are able to stay alert much better without caffeine than someone addicted to caffeine without their fix. Also, as someone else already mentioned, if you ever do wanna stay up late just get an energy drink ,coca cola, or tea with caffeine. Due take note that caffeine works much better and more intense on people who don't consume it on a regular basis.
Don't listen to this guy, as he's either very badly informed or flat out lying.
Coffee is in fact good for your teeth. Coffee contains a lot of trigonelline, which protects your teeth from erosion, decay and bacteria.
Stuff like energy drinks or coca cola on the other hand are horrible for your teeth, as well as the rest of your body (and the sugar free verions are worse than the regular one). To be honest, I'm not sure energy drinks are the healthier option compared to coke (the white and powdery one).
On June 20 2013 18:59 Work and Play wrote: Stay away from coffee! If you don't like it, good for you! Not only is it immensely bad for your teeth, many people that drink coffee are just caffeine addicted. People who don't consume caffeine on a regular basis are able to stay alert much better without caffeine than someone addicted to caffeine without their fix. Also, as someone else already mentioned, if you ever do wanna stay up late just get an energy drink ,coca cola, or tea with caffeine. Due take note that caffeine works much better and more intense on people who don't consume it on a regular basis.
Don't listen to this guy, as he's either very badly informed or flat out lying.
Coffee is in fact good for your teeth. Coffee contains a lot of trigonelline, which protects your teeth from erosion, decay and bacteria.
Stuff like energy drinks or coca cola on the other hand are horrible for your teeth, as well as the rest of your body (and the sugar free verions are worse than the regular one). To be honest, I'm not sure energy drinks are the healthier option compared to coke (the white and powdery one).
Coca-Cola doesn't do much to your teeth. They found teeth to decay from the corrosion after being marinated in Coca-Cola for 25 hours or so. Seeing as most people just chug their drink instead of holding it in, good brushing habits are all you need to keep your teeth healthy.
I don't like coffee either, so when I really need to pep up, I take caffeine pills. They're a ton cheaper than coffee if you're only interested in caffeine/$
I personally love (GOOD) coffee, and hate bad (bitter) coffee... Coffee is, like all other foods, something you should learn about making properly. For example, some people i know thought they hated sushi before they had the good stuff... So I wouldn't write coffee out entirely... I wouldn't force it, though. Even though I am a coffee person, I think good teas are amazing... I don't encourage people to drink energy drinks, though... They are inherently very unhealthy... I have some health problems, and where coffee and tea don't affect me all that much, energy drinks really take their toll... I'd be wary of energy drinks in general, and if you're not already into them, I wouldn't suggest them. I'm sure, however, there are some exceptions... Maybe some with less sugar, natural ingredients, and not quite the excessive caffeine levels... B vitamins are also good for energy.
I really don't think it's good to skimp on sleep, though, and I really think your classmates don't have an advantage because they can stay up... It's not a good habit to have... You'll end up making stupid mistakes. Don't get any less than 7 hours a night, seriously. If you get into the habit of trickling down your sleep hours, your internal clock will be screwed over and you'll end up being incapable of sleeping more than a couple hours a night without medication. How's your schedule when you get home from classes? Is there anything you can do to rearrange the time you spend on other things so you'll have more time for study?
EPT
? (I kid)
. Also drinking coffee to stay awake until the nightly hours is pretty terrible for your health. Probably not good for your grades in the long run either.
