Caffeine is an addictive substance that produces stimulative effects in the body and mind. Caffeine simultaneously affects our body and mind and therefore influences how we think, feel and act. If we developed a diet based on the principle of do no harm to body or mind, then caffeine would be eliminated. If we developed a diet based on eating only food that provides benefit to the body and mind, then caffeine would not be included. Developing a healthy and resilient body-mind connection is the foundation of learning. Caffeine is therefore a substance that deters and denigrates our capacity for learning.
The Body and Caffeine
Caffeine does not contribute to the health of our body. In many cases, caffeine as significant negative consequences on the body. If caffeine were magically eliminated from the world, aside from withdrawal symptoms, the health of humankind would improve. If something in our diet provides no benefit and creates problems then no further research or validation is required to eliminate it. However, the more research we do the less we know about something. Summarized below are various health problems directly caused by caffeine:
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(List created from Is-Drinking-Tea-or-Coffee-the-Smarter-Choice?)
Caffeinism is defined in the American Heritage® Medical Dictionary as a toxic condition marked by diarrhea, elevated blood pressure, rapid breathing, heart palpitations, and insomnia, caused by excessive ingestion of coffee and other caffeine-containing substances. It is defined in Dorland’s Medical Dictionary for Health Consumers as a physical dependence on caffeine – a disorder associated with excessive intake of caffeine, defined as the presence of five or more of the following symptoms: restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, flushed face, diuresis, gastrointestinal disturbance, muscle twitching, rambling flow of thought and speech, and tachycardia or other cardiac arrhythmias..
The Mind on Caffeine
It is important to note how easily and quickly the physical manifestations of caffeine in the body produce mental effects as well: what happens in the body also happens in the mind. Excessive amounts of caffeine therefore reduce our capacity for learning. In Caffeine Allergy: Past Disorder or Present Epidemic? Ruth Whalen explores evidence supporting the possibility of a caffeine allergy epidemic. In it she links caffeine to mental illness:
Caffeine toxicity may be mistaken for bipolar disorder (1,12). Symptoms include: chattiness, repetitive thought and action (resembling obsessive compulsive disorder, OCD), restlessness, psychomotor agitation, alternating moods, anger, impulsiveness, aggression, omnipotence, delirium, buying sprees, lack of sexual inhibition, and loss of values… Caffeine poisoning may also resemble schizophrenia… Caffeine toxicity may also masquerade as depression, and anxiety… Chronic toxicity may affect functional aspects of every organ… It’s highly probable, that millions of consumers developed an allergy to caffeine, especially since availability and production increased rapidly mid- twentieth century. In which case, natural insights, and physical and mental health, have been sacrificed to chronic toxicity, resulting in organic brain, silently posing as ADD, ADHD, anxiety, BPD, depression, OCD, panic, and schizophrenia. Physical ailments resemble amphetamine poisoning, and include drug eruptions, masquerading as “rosacea.”
There are four caffeine-induced psychiatric disorders recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition: caffeine intoxication, caffeine-induced anxiety disorder, caffeine-induced sleep disorder, and caffeine-related disorder not otherwise specified (NOS).
An acute overdose of caffeine, usually in excess of about 300 milligrams, dependent on body weight and level of caffeine tolerance, can result in a state of central nervous system over-stimulation called caffeine intoxication (DSM-IV 305.90),[82] or colloquially the “caffeine jitters”. The symptoms of caffeine intoxication are not unlike overdoses of other stimulants. It may include restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, flushing of the face, increased urination, gastrointestinal disturbance, muscle twitching, a rambling flow of thought and speech, irritability, irregular or rapid heart beat, and psychomotor agitation.[80] In cases of much larger overdoses, mania, depression, lapses in judgment, disorientation, disinhibition, delusions, hallucinations, and psychosis may occur, and rhabdomyolysis (breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue) can be provoked.[83][84] (Wikipedia: Caffeine Intoxication)
Because of the wide spread use of caffeine and its known potent physiological effects, caffeine has been the subject of research in psychological related studies. This work has been stimulated by personal experiences and observations as well as by efforts to understand its action and mechanism…
Caffeine has not only been considered habit forming, but also addicting. Crothers considered morphinism and caffeinism to be similar, with caffeine causing loss of self-control, spells of agitation and depression as well as psychotic behavior (Stephenson, 1977).
[ Sanford Bolton and Gary Null: Caffeine: Psychological Effects, Use and Abuse]
Brain levels increase proportionately with dosage. In allergic persons, each cup of coffee, cola, tea, every piece of chocolate, and any ingested caffeine products, intensifies toxic psychosis. Half-life increases. Subsequent doses, including minute amounts, act as a bolus. Cells are poisoned, including neurons. Symptoms of cerebral allergy can range from minimal reactions, such as lack of comprehension and inability to focus, to severe psychotic states, such as delusions, paranoia, and hallucinations (6). It’s known that amphetamine psychosis can’t be distinguished from schizophrenia.[ Ruth Whalen: Caffeine Allergy: Past Disorder or Present Epidemic? ]
Resources
- Caffeine Allergy: Past Disorder or Present Epidemic? Ruth Whalen, 2001.
- Caffeine: Psychological Effects, Use and Abuse. Sanford Bolton and Gary Null. Orthomolecular Psychiatry, Volume 10, Number 3, 1981, Pp. 202-211.
- Caffeine Intoxication. Wikipedia.
- Caffeine: Bookmarks.
- Information About Caffeine Dependence. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. (Adapted from Griffiths, R.R., Juliano, L.M., & Chausmer, A.L. (2003). Caffeine pharmacology and clinical effects. In: Graham A.W., Schultz T.K., Mayo-Smith M.F., Ries R.K. & Wilford, B.B. (eds.) Principles of Addiction Medicine, Third Edition (pp. 193-224). Chevy Chase, MD: American Society of Addiction)
