Today, I thought I’d talk a bit about something Americans hold near and dear, and it isn’t Obama, death, or taxes. I thought I’d write about this because of something someone told me yesterday, about someone I know pretty well, who is having a bit of a rough time communicating with his staff, particularly as it gets later in the day.

His top staff people are ready to bail on him, because he’s an addict, and he doesn’t realize it. His addiction makes him jittery, irritable, forgetful, profane, and temperamental, just to throw a few adjectives out there. His problem isn’t alcohol, pain killers, or cocaine.

If you asked 99 out of 100 people they would tell you it isn’t a drug, but it IS.

What I’m talking about is caffeine, most readily available at almost every corner in the country. If you drink a great deal of coffee, the chances are pretty good that you could be a caffeine addict yourself, and that’s not a good thing.

When coffee first entered the culture, it was served in 6 ounce cups, and that was considered a “cup of coffee.” People had a “cup of coffee,” or two. Medical people had more than that, but the problem began a decade or two back, when the sizes of portions really started to explode.

Now, in most 7/11’s, for instance, the smallest cup for coffee is 16 ounces, which amounts to 2 and 2/3 cups of Coffee, and the “normal” size is 20-22 ounces, which is roughly 3 and a 1/2 cups.

That volume corresponds to about 350 mg of caffeine. If you stopped there, you would minimize the damage, but the problem is that millions of people have more than one 22 ounce serving, which means that we are now talking about ingesting 700 mg of caffeine, just from coffee. That isn’t good, and at that level, you risk heart disease, stroke, psychological disorders, and many types of gastrointestinal disease.

That isn’t the end of the list, by a long shot.

There’s also fatigue, depression, muscle tension in your neck, shoulders, jaw, hands, legs, insomnia, bruxism (grinding your teeth), anxiety and…the list could go on, ad infinitum.

This is definitely not stuff they want to hear at Starbucks, or Seattle’s Roast, or 7/11.

But it’s true, and it happens every day.

The gentlemen I was talking about at the start of this post is never seen without a large coffee in tow. He’s an addict, and he may need medical help to detoxify him. Hopefully, that can be done before his whole office walks away, but sometimes, interventions aren’t successful.

Green tea is a much better alternative, and you don’t need it in a 32 ounce container.

Many people who are caffeine addicts go to the doctor, presenting all these problems I listed, but they don’t tell the doctor about their coffee consumption, or exactly how much coffee they are sucking down their gullets. Then, they end up getting drugs for what ails them, and combine them with the caffeine. This only serves to make their problems worse.

If you’re going to drink coffee, keep the amount reasonable, and drink a good amount of water. And make sure you take a pharmaceutical grade fish oil, to make sure that you are getting all the omega-3 fatty acids you need, which will help to keep you balanced.

My best advice would be to quit drinking anything with caffeine in it. I did. It IS a drug, and a powerful one, at that. It has a bigger downside than most people realize, in spite of all the good publicity it gets.

Dr. Bill is an orthopedic surgeon and author. He recommends this pharmaceutical grade fish oil for more energy, reduced joint pain and increased heart health.

Supposedly Americans consume an average of 280 milligrams of caffeine per day. That would be about three cups of coffee. Then again, we’re not all taking in our caffeine by way of Coffee…

So What is Caffeine?

Caffeine occurs naturally in many plants and serves as a mildly addictive stimulant that our country appears more than mildly addicted to.

We now manufacture the chemical and so we don’t have to rely on plants to get it anymore. We then market it to kids, teens and adults for a hefty profit. Some people think this is horrible. But others cannot survive in our fast-paced modern society without it.

Are Energy Drink Caffeine Levels Too High?

Here are the energy drink caffeine contents of some popular brands:

Brand / Mg of Caffeine per Ounce

Rockstar: 10
Monster: 10
Redbull: 9.5
Coffee: 7-51
Coca Cola Classic: 2.9

It is said that anywhere between 200-300 milligrams of caffeine has little effect on the average adult. On the other hand, push 600 milligrams and you could experience the side effects many have reported including nausea, insomnia, heart arrhythmia, irritability, nervousness, anxiety, muscle tremors and headaches.

In the case of caffeine overdose, factors such as age, weight, stress, drug use (legal and not), smoking habits and other conditions play a significant role. But no matter what your lifestyle is and no matter what your biology, you are still vulnerable to caffeine overdose.

Let’s look now at how much caffeine there is per can of some popular energy drinks:

Brand / Mg of Caffeine

Rockstar 16 ounces: 160
Monster 16 ounces: 160
Redbull 8 ounces: 80
Coffee 8 ounces: 57-145
Coke 12 ounces: 35

Still nothing wrong here, right? We’re nowhere near that 600 milligram mark…

Wrong.

People don’t slowly sip their energy drinks like they do their piping hot coffee. They pound them. And they don’t drink one over the course of an hour like they do their coffee either. Many people, young people especially, chase one can with another and chase that one with yet another.

And since some energy drink companies are beginning to package their liquid energy in larger and larger cans, these kids are beginning to take in dangerous levels of caffeine.

This is scary when combined with the fact that many energy drinks market themselves towards the party crowd and the sports crowd. How healthy can it be to be pumping these kinds of energy drink caffeine levels into our bodies when it’s proven that caffeine raises our heart rates and gives us headaches amongst other things?

What Should We Know About Energy Drink Caffeine [http://energydrinkvault.com/energy-drink-caffeine] Levels? Limiting yourself to one serving from time to time should be no harm to you. But beware of the ever-increasing size of the cans and do a quick calculation of how much caffeine you’re consuming in total.

What You Need to Do: Before you buy your next bottle or can, inform yourself about what you’re consuming and consider an alternative healthy energy drink.

Everyone needs a boost from time to time. We just deserve to know about what we choose to consume.

Coffee is the second most commonly traded commodity in the world, as measured by monetary volume, after crude oil. Coffee, without a doubt, is big business. This is good news for coffee lovers and aficionados who can turn their passion for the brew into a permanent occupation. Coffee demand goes well beyond using beans for hot or cold beverages only. Cooking with coffee is an established trendy culinary practice in many upscale and specialized restaurants. The menus feature dishes with many savory sauces which include coffee as one of the ingredients. Take a quick look at titles of published cook books, recipes, and cuisine news and you will see the use of the brew just about everywhere.

Let’s take a look at some of the occupational paths available in the coffee trade.

Coffee Supplier: a middleman between the coffee grower and the bean-buying enterprises. A coffee supplier needs to be an expert in coffee varietals, types of beans, sales and marketing trends, supply and demand conditions for the various types of coffee. Strong business and organizational skills are necessary. Coffee trading includes a complex system of packaging, shipping, export regulation, and transportation coordination. The supplier needs to have great personal skills to communicate with coffee growers on their level and also communicate with coffee buying executives using a very different business language. Foreign language skills are extremely useful, particularly Spanish, since so much coffee is produced in Spanish speaking countries.

Coffee Taster: a very “cool” occupation that requires an extremely advanced sense of taste and smell. Tasters exist for wine, champagne, beer, orange juice and many other consumable products. Coffee tasters are very important in the trade. Professional coffee tasters can distinguish differences between 100 types of coffees. The main purpose of taster is to determine the quality and usability of beans and to develop new blends. The coffee taster does not actually swallow the brew. Instead, the coffee taster sucks it from a spoon to the back of the mouth to sample the flavors with the tongue and then spits out the sample.

Coffee Trader: Arabica coffee futures and options are traded in New York on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE, formerly the New York Board of Trade). Robusta coffee futures are traded in London on Euronext.liffe. There are other international exchanges that trade coffee futures in other foreign locations. Becoming a coffee trader requires knowledge about fluctuation in prices, production and seasonal variations from country to country, keeping up with news about weather, politics and social changes that can impact coffee production. Most of all, a trader needs to have nerves of steel to withstand the emotional and peer pressure that is normal in commodity trading pools where fortunes can be made and lost in a matter of hours or minutes.

Coffee flavorist: this occupation requires an undergraduate degree in either biology or chemistry with specialized food studies at a post graduate level. Most coffee flavorists are passionate about the brew. They are also very curious individuals who love experimentation to find that “next unique flavored brew.” The coffee flavorist spends the day mixing and matching specific compounds in order to create unique flavors. Not surprisingly, many flavorists are also very good cooks.

Coffee Inspector: this occupation requires very good knowledge about the beans, ground coffee quality and ingredient testing. Most coffee inspectors work for organizations that are certified to assist with inspection and certification services at docking stations, ports, warehouses and large coffee processing centers. Coffee inspectors inspect bulk shipments and certify quality-control laboratory coffee tasting. The coffee inspector makes sure that bulk coffee buyers receive the correct quantity and quality of beans ordered.

Coffee “Barista:” originally, this term was used in Italy for uniformed bartenders or trained “mixologists” familiar with all types of drink mixtures. Due to the growth in the gourmet coffee industry, the term barista has become synonymous with an expert in producing espresso, espresso-based drinks and many other Kinds of Coffee beverages. A trained coffee barista knows precisely how much hot water should be forced through the mesh of an espresso machine and for how long in order to create the perfect froth from steamed milk or allow the espresso to form a natural dark. Many baristas also practice “coffee art” and master the art of creating shapes on the brew with milk, cream, Coffee flavorings and other ingredients available.

The list continues with many more specialized work opportunities in the trade for coffee lovers. So, what about taking a break and enjoying a delicious cup of White Chocolate flavored coffee or Chocolate Cinnamon Hazelnut flavored coffee?

Timothy (“Tim”) S. Collins, the author, is called by those who know him “The Gourmet Coffee Guy.”
He is an expert in article writing who has done extensive research online and offline in his area of expertise, coffee marketing, as well as in other areas of personal and professional interest.

Come visit the author’s website: http://www.ourgourmetcoffee.com
Also visit: http://www.squidoo.com/coffee-lensography-TheGourmetCoffeeGuy

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