A Better Way to Start the Day

#1 Beverage in America

What is the most popular non-alcoholic beverage in the USA? Coffee.¹ Drive through any commercial section of nearly any city in America and you won’t have to wait more than a minute or two before a drive-in coffee shack is conveniently located for you to pull into. Coffee is the center of the morning routine for millions of Americans preparing for a busy day. 

It's Addictive

About 85% of Americans drink at least one caffeinated beverage every day.² Many Americans genuinely feel worse when they do not get their morning coffee. This is not because the coffee has properties to make us think better, it is because the coffee drinkers are addicted and need the caffeine. The supposition that they need to caffeine to think better is a myth. It actually works in the opposite direction.

250 mg of caffeine = 27% reduction in cerebral blood flow³ 

Dangers of Caffeine

Habitual intake of caffeine has been linked with a wide array of nasty diseases and conditions, here are a few.

• Exacerbation of anxiety disorders
• Impaired learning
• Disrupted sleep
• Triggering of seizures
• Heart Arrhythmia
• GERD
• PMS
• Several types of cancer
• Low birth weight
• Miscarriage
• Childhood leukemia in offspring
• Reduced blood flow in the brain
• Caffeine addiction

Next time you are tempted to get a coffee at your local caffeine shack, just drive right on by and raise your water bottle in defiance.

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References:

¹ Non-alcoholic Beverage Consumption Among Adults: United States, 2015-2018. September 3, 2020. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db376.htm

² Mitchell D, Knight C, Hockenberry J, Teplansky R, Hartman T. Beverage caffeine intakes in the U.S. Food and Chemical Toxicology. 2014;63:136-142. doi:10.1016/j.fct.2013.10.042.

³ Addicott, Merideth A. et al. "The Effect Of Daily Caffeine Use On Cerebral Blood Flow: How Much Caffeine Can We Tolerate?". Human Brain Mapping, vol 30, no. 10, 2009, pp. 3102-3114. Wiley, doi:10.1002/hbm.20732