Caffeine Experiment
Yes, I stopped posting for 2 months, I know…it comes and goes in waves, my apologies.
Coincidentally 2 months ago I embarked on a little experiment, albeit accidentally, and I’d like to hear if there are any similar experiences:
I used to drink a good 3 cans of soda a day minimum, averaging around 150mg of caffeine (I prefer diet soda). Then, on an educational trip overseas, I went several days without any soda due to its lack of availability and the encouragement to drink lots of water. Truth be told, the first few days were pretty miserable…I was constantly exhausted. But once I got over my withdrawal, I was perfectly fine.
So I decided to see if I could keep it up once I got back stateside. I purchased several huge cases of bottled water (I find it’s easier to grab a bottle of water from the fridge rather than having to get up to fill a water bottle), and so began my informal experiment.
Three noteworthy results came from this experiment:
- I noticed no significant change to my sleeping habits, which are deplorable (as shown by the 6am timestamp on this post). I would still toss and turn in bed, and stay up ungodly amounts of time, and still pull the occassional all-nighter.
- Similarly, I noticed no significant change in my level of alertness. I could stay awake just as long as with caffeine, no more, no less. Now when I’m tired and need to stay up a bit longer, instead of reaching for a soda I either grab a bottle of water or go eat a snack, both of which seem to work pretty well.
- Soda now tastes pretty bad to me. I was at Subway a week ago and decided to try some soda for old time’s sake. I used to live on diet soda, but now it seems I can’t stand the taste. Unexpected side effect.
Has any other caffeine addict had a similar experience? I love saving a dollar or two at every meal by having water instead of soda, and I feel generally healthier (though that may be that I started working out a bit, which may have skewed the results of this experiment, but so be it). I recently had to pull my first full all-nighter since the experiment started, and I was most surprised at how equally functional I was compared to my caffeine-driven all-nighters.
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For the record, I also stopped drinking any kind of soda 6 years ago. 1 year after I quit, I tried drinking a can for old time’s sake, just like you did, and couldn’t stand it either. Had to throw it away.
Though, I always drink a cup of coffee after lunch, and I usually feel pretty miserable when I don’t. I notice clearly that my alertness and overall energy falls down when I don’t drink coffee, but I’m not sure if this wouldn’t happen if I could stay away from it for some time.
My sleeping habits are just fine though, I sleep 8hrs a day, and usually wake up 7am
Caffeine is bad for night work.
It gives physical stimulation, but it suppress cerebral cortex.
Stupefying.
Also : you’re not more energetic, but unambiguously you’re more nervous on caffeine
(Forgive me my bad English, it’s not my native)
Yes! I had become addicted to caffeine a few years back (think, nearly 12 cans of mt. dew. a day, I didn’t notice, because it was in cup form from 7-11) I quit drinking pop (in SE-Ohio, that’s what they call soda) for a few months, and I had the same experience: Terrible Headaches, and not much else.
I’ve since started drinking coffee, because I like it, at a rate of two cups a day, give or take.
Strangely enough, I find that caffeine has very little effect on me in the first place, except for inducing a need to go to the bathroom! I’ve pulled several all nighters in a row, and i survived by having a big jug of orange juice always within reach. I find that staying hydrated and ingesting enough vitamins keeps you going stronger than caffeine.
That being said, I drink coffee regularly since I find it very enjoyable. There is one specific case in which I find caffeine to be very effective - when you’re very tired and need to get up, set your alarm early and down a can of energy drink. Sleep for another 30 minutes, and when you wake up then you are pretty much ready to go! It wears off quickly, but that initial punch to get you out of bed is the one place where caffeine works nicely!
Yeah I find that caffeine hardly has any effect on me either. I occasionally drink like really sugar-loaded ice double shot mocha-choca-loca frappucino thingies at starbucks cause they taste pretty good but I find little to no effect on my alertness or anything. Although I do hear my heart beat faster sometimes…… sometimes
Hehe I actually am like the opposite of you where I detested soda for a long time and anytime we were out at like restaurants or fast food joints, all they have is soda so I had to learn to tolerate it. I drink it at parties and stuff but it never was my daily drink. I still drink milk everyday, haha
When I am doing my nighter job, I don’t drink coffee, since after I am finished the job I couldn’t get sleep, so I prefer orange juice instead.
hi
i really like your experiment that you did just thought that what your doing on your internet system is cool and it helped me a lot with what im doing in school at the time.
yours truely
Christa hal