Getting the Dosage Right
I swore off caffeine for a couple of years in the early 90's and I was not happy. Two books convinced me that I should return to the dark mistress. After reviewing the pharmacokinetics of both caffeine and alcohol, the author of Buzz concluded that alcohol was probably worse for you than generally supposed, but caffeine was probably better. And Jane Katz claimed in her swimming book that a shot of caffeine improved her athletic performance. Evidence on this is mixed, but no one is saying it hurts. And on mental tasks there's no question stimulants are beneficial - why would a generation of parents give speed to their kids? Because their grades improve, that's why.
So I'm good with caffeine. I've made my peace with it. But now the crucial question - how best to deliver the drug? Some notes follow:
- Coca-Cola. The old standby, 45 mg of caffeine bundled with 10 teaspoons of sugar. (But it's fat-free!) I like the low-sugar C2, but no one else in America does, apparently. It can't be long for this world - C2 is not mentioned on the Coca-Cola official website.
- Diet Pepsi. Mother's milk to the Laird, endorsed by P. Diddy, this is clearly the frontrunner in the cool category. It supposedly has a bit less caffeine than Coke (35 mg), and of course no sugar. But dude, you're giving up the sugar synergy! You just don't get that snap from the diet drinks. The molecules just don't line up the same way.
- Mountain Dew. Same as a Coke, but 75 mg of caffeine.
- Starbucks Coffee Frapuccino (bottle). OK, this is basically a Coke with twice as much caffeine and some fat. The argument for it is that it is made of actual food products (coffee, milk) instead of pharmaceutical herbs (coca leaf, kola nut) and corn syrup. But it tastes lousy warm so you kind of have to chug it, which causes your blood sugar to spike and sets you up for major pain when you crash.
- Starbucks Doubleshot. Three times the caffeine of Coke. Drink this and you're in junkie-land. Might as well set up a payroll deduction to Starbucks to ensure continuous supply.
- Tall Cup of Coffee (Starbucks) . 70 mg of caffeine, 2 tbsp of sugar, a bit of fat if you add milk like I do. A great option but again you need to drink it fairly quickly - cold coffee is awful.
- Cup of Cocoa. Crummy 8 mg of caffeine - you'd have to drink a quart to get the kick of a Coke.
- Red Bull. 80 mg. Umm, no.
- Cup of Tea. 50 mg. An intriguing choice - green tea has proven medical benefits and prevents bad breath as well. But no sugar, and adding sugar makes it taste worse. The Chinese take it with little cookies to get the sugar synergy. Objectively probably the best, but the last time I tried to run on green tea I went down with a two-day migraine.
posted by Anonymous at 4:49 PM
4 Comments:
The Undersecretary has long made an art of black English-style tea - high quality, fresh, brewed properly (to a boil, but not too long,) and his advice in this matter is to be regarded as of the highest quality, excepting regarding the amount of sugar. I am more forgiving, taking the Imperial method of LOTS of milk and a bit of sugar.
I should think a trip to the Laird's former boss Steve Goodnik's extraordinary tea shop is in order. Green tea - I simply assert- is not appropriate for cookies, and yet there are untold wonders of teas to be had.
But now to the only real question, what form of coffee to drink. All your concerns can be controlled with careful attention to detail, with the greatest result in all the world, an excellent cup of hot, ideally (but we'll cut some slack), black coffee.
I have a suggested stop gap measure: the double-tall americano, with your own insulated stainless steel cup, which will have to serve until you can find a reliable source of excellent non-Starbucks drip; this will simply take time and experimentation.
Like espresso, the americano caffeine content is more moderate than drip, and it is ferociously hot if you so demand it. I order this when I want brewed coffee but do not trust the blend or the cafe.
Another tip - order the smallest size and get refills. There is a reason people have done that since the dawn of modern coffee houses, such as Lloyds of London, which you are no doubt aware began as a coffee house. It gets cold otherwise, and you are correct that the giant mug of cold coffee is appalling. At home, I pre-fill my cup with hot water to heat the mug.
The Coke sure, in small doses. But coffee is the gift of the gods, and as such, demands the appropriate rituals.
Finally, you should consider Turkish coffee, which at home is very easy to make - powdered grind coffee, a little water and boiled in a metal cup on an open flame for about 1 second, poured immediately. It's just cowboy coffee for the Ottoman Empire.
I have totally given up caffeine.
I used to drink Coca-Cola regularly, like, atleast 2 cans a day. And then, one day I had two Full Throttle energy drinks, and it caused me to have a quasi-psychotic episode involving suicidal thoughts and feelings of presences.
I have always been a depressed person, and I think that all this caffeine is a partial cause.
Therefore, I avoid any caffeinated beverage as much as I can.
Here is how I have solved the problem. It is not elegant, but it works for me. I cannot recommend it as having any health benifit.
-Morning, 4 shots of espresso in tiny cup with half a shot of cream (No barresta can screw this up).
-Noon, consume one 16 oz. Diet Pepsi from office desk drawer next to the Tiquila.
-Don't drink the Tequila. It is there as a statement about how something has been lost since we stopped keeping alcohol in our office desk drawers. Save it for the Christmas party because nothing says Happy Holidays like Tequila.
Just to complete the plug, my old boss Stuart Goodnick's store is Many Rivers Books and Tea in Sebastopol, CA. (Mention my name, and you'll only have to pay 5% extra.)
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