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Caffeine Addicts Get No Additional Perk, Only a Return To Baseline

Posted by timothy on from the aren't-all-perks-relative? dept.

Dthief writes "Bristol University researchers found that coffee drinkers develop a tolerance to both the anxiety-producing and the stimulating effects of caffeine, meaning that it only brings them back to baseline levels of alertness, not above them. 'Although frequent consumers feel alerted by caffeine, especially by their morning tea, coffee, or other caffeine-containing drink, evidence suggests that this is actually merely the reversal of the fatiguing effects of acute caffeine withdrawal,' wrote the scientists, led by Peter Rogers of Bristol's department of experimental psychology."

6 of 506 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The truth about caffeine by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Informative

    Hypertension, Heart Problems.

    No

    and

    No

    Hard to prove a negative, but for a drug, caffeine has been remarkably safe.

    (Appropriate Heinlein quote "Man is not a rational animal, he is a rationalizing animal".

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  2. Re:well GREAT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Adderall is speed (amphetamine/dextroamphetamine), not meth. Meth is sold medically under the brand name Desoxyn but prescription is rare.

  3. Re:It could be that... by A+beautiful+mind · · Score: 5, Informative
    This is the reason I highly dislike the mainstream media. I guess it's okay for them to at least try to summarize research, even though they fail horribly most of the time, but for fuck's sake at least provide a link to the original research or at least the press release from the university!

    A much better test would be to actually TEST their alertness, instead of relying on a subjective self-assessment.

    They did that. From the press release:

    Approximately half of the participants were non/low caffeine consumers and the other half were medium/high caffeine consumers. All were asked to rate their personal levels of anxiety, alertness and headache before and after being given either the caffeine or the placebo. They were also asked to carry out a series of computer tasks to test for their levels of memory, attentiveness and vigilance.

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  4. Re:well GREAT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    In common parlance all stimulants that are not cocaine and don't have hallucinogenic effects are referred to as "speed". Examples include amphetamine, dextroamphetamine, methamphetamine, cathinone, methcathinone, methylphenidate, and even modafinil.

    "Meth" is generally reserved for the easily smoked pure crystals of methamphetamine.

  5. Re:Makes sense by Hatta · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not having coffee results in the same amount of wakefulness, only without the money spent on coffee.

    But without the joy of starting the morning with a rich, complex, and delicious brew. When you consider how much flavor you get out of it, a bag of coffee beans is really inexpensive. You could spend $5 on a bar of gourmet chocolate or a bit of fancy cheese and it will be gone in a few days. Spend the same $5 on a half pound of coffee beans and it will last for 2 weeks.

    There's really no downside to being addicted to something that's so cheap and plentiful. It's low in calories, inexpensive, and really fucking delicious. Why quit?

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  6. Re:A return to baseline... by xeoron · · Score: 4, Informative

    Interesting, especially since that, for me, exercise always wakes me up far more and longer than some stimulating drink. Very helpful when I am overtired for work one morning and I choose to bike to work.