The "Bigger" Lie
No, this article is not about Trump, any election or the news at all. The lie in this article is about caffeine being good for you. Coffee, may be fine short-term in small amounts. Reader's interest in this post makes them good candidates for knowing the more about coffee's long term use and in large amounts -- coffee's truth.
People were given coffee to cover up chronic fatigue, constipation, depression and brain fog. They began drugging themselves to cover up these symptoms in the 1940's. Now its used just to "get-by" in daily-life. It's 2022 now, and coffee has become the most bought and sold good in the world. Who was told this massive lie about coffee helping? Everyone from baby boomers to zoomers. The focus of the research herein was on American coffee drinkers, misinformation on coffee and lack of information on better substances. The same health symptoms persist in and are over treated with caffeine to this day! Note that all the above covered-up symptoms reveal major underlying health issues. Collectively and generationally Americans still use coffee as a topical salve, and continually suffer the same symptoms as their own parents and grandparents.
While billions of people stay sick and promote an unhealthy caffeine driven work / life balance the US alone makes $450 billion dollars a year in coffee sales. Its not going to stop. It does taste great though. That's about 70% of all the world's coffee! And that was in 1940! So where is all this going? Our "Bigger" lie, as per the title, is specifically that caffeine (or coffee) gives you energy. It actually depletes energy levels, after use. What you think is energy in the short term is actually adrenaline, pumping. This is somewhat common knowledge as most people experience how pervasive coffee and the culture of drinking it is.
Yeah. Adrenaline activates your fight or flight response. Always over nothing. Who hasn't been over - dosed on coffee and then over reacted? Did it help? That feeling is adrenaline fueled even after just a few sips of brew. Adrenaline, is simply just a stress hormone. We've all been bigly lied to. Regular, heavy coffee drinkers are all headed to caffeine crashes, fixes or just straight up addiction.
There is another stimulant in nature however, that is similar to the caffeine in coffee. It's called theobromine and its 1 of 3 or 4 chemicals known as methylxanthines, although there are derivatives. Theophylline is another and caffeine is the last. Here are some foods with stimulating and or mind - clearing / energy - lifting chemicals that are not methylxanthines;
American Ginseng L-theanine Ginkgo Biloba Cordyceps Rhodiola Rosea MCT Coconut Oil Theobromine Cacao
Forget green tea. Maybe? Sure, matcha and Japanese Tea Ceremonies are beautiful and ancient but think about all that caffeine one would be drinking? Sure it's psychoactive, but, really? Taken from https://www.careomnia.com/nutrition-tool-nutrient?nutrientID=21.
Let's talk about one of those above coffee "breaks"... Theobroma Cacao, or just cacao, contains caffeine too, but so little it doesn't stimulate the central nervous system. It scientifically won't get you hooked, jittery or excited. The stimulant theobromine occurs in its highest amounts in cacao. It's cacao's main stimulant although it carries all 3 methylxanthines. Shakes and withdrawals will happen afterward from coffee use and not just from its abuse. Understand that caffeine directly causes the "fight or flight" response, is not a side - effect. Coffee's many side effects are typically from caffeine and are well known and recognized world - round. Some we all know to well are:
Blurred vision Flushed skin
Diarrhea
Dizziness
Anxiety Increased heart rate
Acne
Nausea
Thirst
Drowsiness
Irritability
Insomnia Increased blood pressure
Contributes to acid reflux / heartburn Headaches Tooth decay Halitosis
Vasoconstrictions
The positive reasons for our "fight or flight" response are;
Pupils dilate to allow sharper long distance focus, and improved vision in the dark
Muscles receive increased blood flow for improved fast-twitch muscle responses.
Adrenaline effect on the consolidation of memory
Breathing is deeper and faster
Coffee is great if you are running from an apex predator. In today's world, that animal is capitalism! Ha! Unfortunately, not one billionaire has ever won capitalism because of their consumption of coffee alone (https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22611-epinephrine-adrenaline).
Have we ever really considered if epinephrine (a.k.a adrenaline) is the best hormone to fuel us on a daily basis? Theobromine on a daily basis, if considered, reveals no side-effects from daily use. This author submits that there are better things than coffee. Especially because caffeine causes adrenaline and cortisol to fuel us on a daily basis.
Epinephrine, thats released in our bodies from caffeine, is actually great for things like;
Anaphylactic shock
Decrease of airway spasms Stimulating the heart during cardiac arrest. Back to theobromine. Theobromine is considered a "long half-life food" and therefore non-addictive. Later on we will discuss what that means in more detail.
Coffee has a very short half-life. It tricks your brain into thinking that you are more alert, awake, and focused than you really are. It does this by turning off our receptors to fatigue. Subsequently, a coffee crash occurs and your body arrives at its MOST caffeine sensitive (https://www.positivehealthwellness.com/diet-nutrition/the-15-terrible
-coffee-side-effects-you-need-to-know-about/). Coffee has theophylline and theobromine! Sort of...And theophylline is great for strengthening teeth which coffee alone clearly does not do. And theobromine? It does over 80 positive things for you all listed here! Coffee is not all bad. Philosophically speaking, nothing is all bad.
Brewing and drinking cacao is the way to a healthier nervous system. However there are some things coffee and cacao have in common; both have been illegal to consume at sometime, are contraindicated for high blood pressure and mid to late-term pregnancies, and are used in ritual ceremonies throughout the world. The indigenous use of these plants has been documented for thousands of years, so, sacred coffee ceremony anyone? What else can we learn from decolonizing our understanding of plants?
"Everything in moderation", is the quote that may come to mind. It's not, "everything is good, in moderation"... Coffee requires a balancing act of cunning foresight, stiff hydration, and timely, nourishing meals just to moderate imbibing. Coffee doesn't even have to be good. This plant has a lot to teach all who drinks it, including about flavor and quality. There will be no mention of the typically sugars, instant coffees, dairy and / or chemical additives that are used in extremely high frequency in fancier cafe beverages -- junk food is available everywhere to flavor coffee. Coffee is too big a topic for any 1 post anyway, and those ingredients may not even qualify as food. For example, since there is no daily % of sugars required in our daily diets, should we be moderating or regulating sugar? The nutrition facts on some sealed cafe drinks do not force moderation although they will always reveal a jaw-droppingly low serving size. Let's remember coffee consumption is unregulated and a prohibition may have to become a personal choice. This author is no hero by suggesting that sugar may not be good for us at all. For more about coffee, by Island Sharks Chocolate, visit our blog here!
Here are sometimes coffee was illegal.
If addiction is a concern in daily brew choice, then let's unpack that. It's super simple. The theobromine in cacao doesn't shock your system the way the caffeine in coffee does. Thats what throws off our body's homeostasis. Its literally the amount of caffeine over time that disorients our nervous systems... Balance is called for in all things, including coffee. Sometimes, though, when one is slow or stressed, a person may truly need a shock to wake up. Good luck discerning what times that would even be. When caffeine breaks down, it creates theobromine as a by product. That means whether you drink either beverage, you will be getting the same chemicals, just in different proportions. And thats the difference between addiction and not. It's simply the proportions of the chemicals (and how often you drink it).
Although all these psychoactive chemicals "lead to a better daily life" says https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24145871/), caffeine breaks down in our bodies twice as fast as theobromine. That causes our brain's stress receptors to have nothing to block them, signaling stress and fatigue. The caffeine proportions in cacao do not cause this, or any affect on the nervous system. The theobromine, does also block our brain's stress receptors like caffeine, just less of them. This stuff theobromine, remains non-addictive even as a daily brew choice -- by the time the theobromine has completely broken down (and been digested), our smooth cardiac muscle and involuntary muscular systems will be back unstimulated and back to normal.
Theobromine is basically just a slow on-set, 6 to 10 hour muscle relaxer that may even increase motivation to work. No lie. It won't disorient your nervous system, force you into fatigue or trick you into drinking more of it. Many scientific scholarly articles consider it a better "drug". Google it? Think this article disses coffee? Let's just ask ourselves how long a "caffeine high", really lasts. Regular, heavy coffee consumption is self - disrespecting and causes even more and heavier drinking or substance abuse. People who drink more, need more. Not to reiterate all the hazardous health effects, but this article may reveal the biggest lie in American cuisine. Not a lie, is that cacao is an excellent, regular replacement for coffee. Call it an "anti-lie" because cacao can help show you the way to recovery from coffee addiction. Cacao will make you stop believing in coffee. "Don't believe the lies," cacao urges, calling readers to live with self-respect.
Theobromine is good for you, and thats the truth. Learn how to get the most in your daily diet here.
Agree to agree? Share a personal comment below, or share this article to further the discussion on The Bigger Lie.