Caffeine & Sugar - The Dangerous Addictions

Many times people come to me and say, “I just don’t have any energy and by the middle of the day I struggle to stay awake let alone concentrate.”

When that happens I normally start by asking a few questions, like;

Do you eat breakfast?

If you do have breakfast, what do you eat?

If you drink tea or coffee, how many do you drink each day? Do you add sugar to that?

Do you eat lunch? What?

How late is it before you eat dinner?

Do you drink coffee or tea before bed?

Do you exercise, how and when?

Even just answering these questions for yourself may give you some realizations about why you may or may not feel energized enough to last the whole day.

However let’s just take one part of that survey which is the primary subject of this Article and offer you a little challenge.
First get three glass jam jars.
Then for one week, keep a written record of how many cups of tea/coffee you have per day
Also keep a count of how many tea spoons of sugar you consume with each of those drinks. If you don’t drink tea or coffee, you can still try this challenge with whatever you do drink (soft drink, alcohol)

Then at the end of the week, pour that much tea into one of the jars.
Repeat the same with the coffee you consumed into a second jar, and
Finally, spoon that much raw/refined sugar into the last jar.

You might be shocked by what you discover.

In fact let’s dig a little deeper and talk about the caffeine in coffee and tea.

The positive effects of caffeine are quite useful.
1. Socially, it’s often the medium used to meet with friends.
2. Culturally different types of coffee and the place to drink it can be associated with a level of social status.
3 It stimulates the production of adrenalin which boosts your alertness
4. It is said to be good for your gall bladder because it reduces the risk of gallstones.
5. Coffee is an antioxidant. (More on the benefits of antioxidants in a future article)
6. It is said to enhance the efficiency of antibiotics. And
7. It is said to protect the liver against the harmful effects of alcohol and reduce the risk of liver cancer.

All of that sounds pretty exciting and enjoyable.

However, the Un-useful effects are as well documented and include;
1. The body losing calcium & magnesium
2. Stress hormones are elevated for long periods of time
3. Anti-aging hormones are decreased
4. Blood vessels constrict, reducing the flow of oxygen to your brain and body.
5. It increases muscle tension
6. It suppresses/impairs your immune and digestive systems
7. Your insulin levels spike creating a blood sugar rollercoaster.
8. Your liver and pancreas fight each other as one releases higher levels of sugar & fat into your blood stream & the other try’s to remove it and store it as fat.
9. Research suggests that there may be an increase in the possibility of cardiovascular diseases.
10. Your ability to concentrate and focus goes out the door as your body goes to war on itself.
11. It is addictive.

OK now that I’ve got your attention; let’s examine sugar.
No good news here I’m afraid.
1. Refined sugar has been linked to being one of the causes of gallstones. Very very painful.
2. Sugar robs the body of vitamin B which means that cells die and insulin production is strangled. Low insulin means high glucose levels in the bloodstream, which can lead to confused and other kinds of un useful mental states.(i.e. the sugar rage that some kids go though after eating to much chocolate, lollies or soft drinks. Did you know that one 12oz. Cola contains 11 teaspoons of sugar)
3. One expert Dr. David Reuben says, “…..white refined sugar-is not a food.”
In the refining process everything of food value has been removed.
4. Studies show that sugar has the same additive effect as many narcotics.

So if you consume a caffeine based drink, and consume sugar with it (or it has sugar in it). Whether you are aware of it or not, your brain, organs, muscles, cardio vascular system, immune system in fact most of your body is thrown into total chemical nightmare.

If after reading this you consider that it might be a good idea to quit or at least cut back on your consumption.
Just be aware that you may experience some symptoms like cravings, headaches and aches as your body goes though the withdrawal phase. As it will having been addicted to any drug.

The way though is to drink water when ever you used to drink the other. And use your usual coffee break to take a walk or do something else useful until the craving passes.
Substituting caffeine and sugar with activity seems to be a successful way of making the transition where as, Substituting either with say food is not.

Your initial enemy will be the un useful self talk that the cravings may generate like; “just one won’t hurt” or “I’ll start tomorrow.” Or reaching for the Chocolate Bar at the local 7/11.

One of the easiest ways of breaking though will be to support your goal by learning and utilizing the powerful patterns in Session One of my “Go for Gold, Goal Setting that Really Works” program because that will enable you to transform that un-useful stuff into more supportive and empowering beliefs that will strengthen you commitment and resolve.
Then it actually won’t take long to be free of the addiction to caffeine and sugar. Leaving you amazed by how you begin to feel, as your body gets back into sync with it self.