TEA OR COFFEE - THE MORNING CUPPA

Is that coffee in your morning cuppa? Think again before you take that first luxurious sip.

Ironically, the very substance that wakes you up, lets you down!

Over a period of time, caffeine can cause arthritis, stress and depression. Researchers say that it strains almost every organ and body system ; the liver, pancreas, glands, nerves, digestion and circulation. And that's not all; brain chemistry, too, becomes distorted through excessive caffeine dependence, resulting in over stimulation of the parts of the brain that regulate heart rate, breathing and muscle activity.

Difficult to give up, isn't it? How will you ever get through the day without it's boosting effect? But consider why and how it acts as a mood enhancer! Within 5 minutes of drinking it the caffeine hits your brain. Building up to a peak in 30 minutes....the high lasts from twelve to twenty hours. Like "speed", it unnaturally accelerates your thoughts, and physical ability to do things. It causes blood sugar to quickly rise and fall and stimulates the release of adrenaline. You work faster and do more, until you crash.

However, in the process, too much insulin is produced and blood sugar levels fall to a low level. That is why caffeine has been linked to diabetes. Coffee nerves include anxiety, irritability, lightheadedness, nausea and diarrhea.

Really bushed, but you need to work late on that report? Don't reach for a cup of coffee! All it will do is fool your body into thinking that it's not tired. The chemicals cause a temporary anti-depressant response in the brain and prevent the cortex from receiving the chemical signal that tells it that the body needs rest. Your brain is on high alert, but not in a natural way!

You MUST have a cup because you're hung-over and know no other way to silence the pounding drums inside your head? Hangovers are caused by alcohol expanding the blood vessels in the head. People with hangovers drink coffee because it constricts those swollen vessels. Drink lots of water instead!

We all need water to think, move and live. For every cup of coffee you drink, you lose approximately one and one-half cups of fluid. If you drink a caffeinated beverage while eating, you deprive yourself of food's nutritional value. Its diuretic effect depletes your nutritional reserves and lowers your resistance to illness. Essential minerals such as magnesium, potassium, zinc, vitamins B (especially B-i) and C, are leached from your body. Your ability to absorb iron and calcium is impaired, which increases the chances of osteoporosis, anemia and kidney stones.

Cholesterol levels have been found to be dramatically higher in people who are habitual coffee drinkers... two or more cups of coffee a day. All this may increase your risk of heart disease. A rapid, racing or irregular heartbeat is one of the most common effects of caffeine. It raises blood pressure; elevates cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Additional norepinephrine secretion into the blood causes constriction of blood flow.

Need coffee to tackle constipation? It does this at the cost of impairing your colon's normal peristaltic action, while the artificial stimulation causes diarrhea and stomach cramps. As with all addictive drugs, the amount of caffeine needed to move your bowels increases with regular use. And while on the subject of our innards, remember that caffeine raises your stomach's production of hydrochloric acid, which is why there is a strong connection between ulcers, gastritis and caffeine. Abdominal pain is another common side effect of caffeine. Irritated bowels and intestines, leading to hemorrhoids, can develop as it dries out the intestinal lining.

The older you are the more caffeine sensitive you become. Caffeine can trigger facial spasms or tics, especially in children.

In 1996 the average American consumed over fifty-three gallons of soft drinks. An American child drinks about a can a day, an estimated thirty gallons of soda a year! If you add up the caffeine in chocolate and soft drinks, junior may be taking in hundreds of milligrams of caffeine every day. Because kids weigh less, the caffeine ratio is greater and more harmful.

Caffeine is listed as an addictive drug by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Sodas, bottled teas and even water may contain caffeine. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, maintains that as little as three to five cans of cola (not including chocolate and coffee) can make a person caffeine dependent. Yet beverages are not required to list the presence or amount of caffeine added.

A psychoactive drug, its toxicity is cumulative. By the time part of the ingested caffeine is eliminated, coffee addicts have taken in more caffeine, repeating the vicious cycle over and over ! Could it be that the measured amounts are calculated to keep us addicted in much the same way as nicotine is measured out by cigarette manufacturers?

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