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The Coffee Thread

Re: Coffee 'boosts female sex drive'

Well, it's true. The only reason it's taken science this long to find out is that most of the scientists are men! :D
 
Coffee may make us say 'yes': research

If you want to bring someone around to your way of thinking, you should make sure they have a cup of coffee in their hand, according to research showing that caffeine makes us more open to persuasion.

The Australian researchers say a caffeine hit improves our ability to process information and increases the extent to which we listen to and take on board a persuasive message.

They tested this by quizzing people about their attitudes to voluntary euthanasia and abortion before and after either the equivalent of about two cups of coffee or a placebo.

They were also given a persuasive argument to read after having the caffeine.

The experiments showed that "caffeine increases persuasion through instigating systematic processing of the message".

But caffeine also puts people in a better mood, which makes them more likely to agree with a message, the researchers say.

The research is posted on the Queensland University of Technology website and is submitted for publication in the European Journal of Social Psychology.
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1627955.htm


I wonder if tea has a similar effect?
 
Erm...although an interesting little psych experiment, the authors appear to not have controlled for 'barter'. This is how D.Brown does some of his tricks. For example, if I give you something, you are more likely to give me something in return. The placebo is not enough of a control.
A more interesting version would be to talk to people on stronger stimulants... :D
 
it might regret it in the morning though.
Coffee could stir your thirst for love

By EMILY COOK, Daily Mail


It is thought to prevent cancer, stimulate memory, and is a fragrant pick-me-up when energy levels flag.
Now a cup of coffee could also hold the key to boosting a woman's sex drive, a study suggests.

Scientists say caffeine lifts the female libido by stimulating parts of the brain that govern arousal.

But unlike television's Gold Blend couple in the Nescafe adverts of the Eighties and Nineties - whose passion grew with each cup - real coffee addicts may miss out on the buzz.

The aphrodisiac power seems to work only on those who do not regularly drink coffee.

Study chief Dr Fay Guarraci from Southwestern University in Texas, said: "Lots of research has been dedicated to male sexual behaviour and motivation, but much less has been done on females.

"Understanding the circuits that control this behaviour will help us find out more about how the brain works and what part mediates motivation because sexual behaviour is a motivative behaviour."

In the study, to be published in the Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behaviour journal, Dr Guarraci and her team gave a moderate dose of caffeine to 108 female rats and monitored their mating behaviour.

Sexual appetite

Those given the stimulant before mating with a male partner displayed an increased sexual appetite and were more likely to scurry back for a second session than those not given caffeine.

Dr Guarraci said the effects produced in the rats appeared to go beyond a simple burst of energy.

"The behaviour was specifically directed at a sexually active partner, a male rat, rather than a social partner, a female rat."

She said caffeine-rich drinks might not have the same effects on women who consume large quantities of coffee or tea.

"These rats never had caffeine before," she said.

"In humans, it might enhance the sexual experience only among people who are not habitual users."

Caffeine levels in coffee, tea and cola drinks have been linked with increased blood pressure or higher risk of stroke.

But other studies have suggested a cup of coffee can boost the memory and possibly reduce the risk of liver cancer.

Researchers say that human studies are needed to confirm their findings about caffeine's effect on the libido.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1798
 
Well...the bit of the brain to do with arousal (pleasure if you will) is the nucleue acumbens (which has many dopamine axons of passage running by it). If memory serves me, caffeine inhibits adenosine in the brain; and adenosine build up causes tiredness. Thus, putting tiredness on hold and causing dopamine to inhibit the NA could be linked to sexual arousal - or just plain feelings of mild euphoria...Note: the above from memory and not re-checked.
 
and to think for years i've been trying to get women to take substances that will make them drowsy...





i'll get my coat.
 
careful about overdoing it though. too much coffee can bring on a headache.
 
A fine balance. Hmm. Perhaps there should be a study investigating the optimum amount (weighted natch) of coffee to give a girl to arouse her and also stave off the headache. Funding this way please :D
 
i find most women have a headache late in the evening. this helps them to get off 'gym class', as it were.
 
Coffee 'could prevent eye tremor'

Drinking coffee protects against an eyelid spasm that can lead to blindness, a study suggests.

Italian researchers looked at the coffee drinking and smoking habits of 166 people with blepharospasm.

Sufferers have uncontrollable twitching of the eyelid which, in extreme cases, stops them being able to see.

One or two cups of coffee a day seemed to reduce the risk of the condition, the team reported in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

Blepharospasm is a form of dystonia - a neurological movement disorder involving involuntary and sustained muscle contractions.

It usually affects people aged between 50 and 70 and someone with blepharospasm may be unable to prevent their eyes from clamping shut, so that, at times, they are effectively "blind".

The first symptoms may include eye irritation and discomfort, sensitivity to light and increased blinking.

Professor Giovanni Defazio and colleagues from the Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences University of Bari in Italy said a previous study had suggested smoking had a protective effect on the condition.

They compared smoking and drinking habits in patients with the condition with patients with hemifacial spasm (a similar muscle spasm that usually begins in the eyelid muscles but then spreads to involve other muscles of the face) and people who were relatives of patients.

In the current study there was no significant association found with smoking but those who drank coffee were less likely to develop the condition.

The effect was proportional to the amount of coffee drunk and the age of onset of the spasm was also found to be greater in patients who drank more coffee - 1.7 years for each additional cup per day.

Professor Defazio said: "Our findings raise doubt about the association of smoking and blepharospasm but strongly suggest coffee as a protective factor.

"The most obvious candidate for the protective effect is caffeine, but the low frequency of decaffeinated coffee intake in Italy prevented us from examining the effects of caffeine on blepharospasm."

He suggested that caffeine may block receptors in the brain that are associated with the tremor and explained a similar mechanism had been proposed for the protective effects of caffeine in Parkinson's disease.

Professor David Wong, spokesman for the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, said the condition was fairly rare.

"Sometimes the condition is so bad that the patients spend most of the time with their eyes closed - they are effectively then visually impaired.

"Eye doctors treat patients mainly these days with Botulinum toxin."

Professor Kailash Bhatia, professor of clinical neurology at the UCL Institute of Neurology in London said although the condition seemed to be rare it could be under reported.

"This is an interesting finding, if you knew exactly how this worked it would help to develop treatments or preventive measures.

"It's something to look at in more detail."

Dr Tom Warner, medical adviser to the Dystonia Society, said a much larger study was needed to confirm the findings.

"Whilst the data is fascinating and offers new areas of research, it should not be accepted as a proven association and certainly does not mean we should be addressing our coffee intake."

Story from BBC NEWS:

Published: 2007/06/19 01:48:17 GMT

© BBC MMVII
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I get severe eyelid twitching from time to time, but I think it's caused by tiredness rather than anything more serious.
Which reminds me, since it's nearly 1 am, I really should go to bed... :D
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/6944026.stm

Girl overdoses on espresso coffee

A teenager was taken to hospital after overdosing on espresso coffee.

Jasmine Willis, 17, developed a fever and began hyperventilating after drinking seven double espressos while working at her family's sandwich shop.

The student, of Stanley, County Durham, was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham, where doctors confirmed she had overdosed on caffeine.

She has since made a full recovery and is now warning others about the dangers of excessive coffee drinking.

Ms Willis, who had thought the coffees were single measures, said the effects were so severe that she began laughing and crying for no reason while serving customers at the shop.

She developed a fever and began struggling to breathe after being sent home by her father.

"My nerves were all over the place.

"I was drenched. I was burning up and hyperventilating.

"I was having palpitations, my heart was beating so fast and I thought I was going into shock.

"I did not realise this could happen to you and I only hope other people learn from my mistake."

The teenager, who was allowed home after a few hours of observation, suffered side effects for days afterwards and now says she cannot stand the sight of coffee.

Her father Gary, who runs The Sandwich Bar in Stanley, said: "She did not realise she was drinking double measures.

"I have always stressed to my children the importance of moderation but Jasmine got caught out on this occasion."
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Two mugs a day are enough for me. Even seven instant coffees would seem a bit much.
 
Natural selection in action.
 
Oh dear. It's a rare day I don't have more than 7 cups of coffee. Mind you, they're not double espressos, and they're not all drunk in one shift at work.

Trouble is, the tea at work tastes like washing-up water (and I don't really like nice tea that often!), and I don't get the same satisfaction out of hot chocolate or cold drinks. And don't talk to me about decaf - a colleague recently said "Try this one - you won't be able to tall the difference". Obviously, she was mistaking me for someone with no tastebuds.

Any tips for reducing my caffeine? I've cut down from about 12 cups a day to about 8, but I get the occasional migraine, and the quack says the coffee's probably not helping.
 
Cucumber Time

Yes, its that time of the year again, when Crime takes a holiday, as the Politicians go on vacation and there is no real news. :lol:
 
I had to cut out caffeine completely a few years ago and I feel your pain ... no other drink does the job like coffee, taste-wise, and a lack of caffeine gave me headaches for several days, not to mention that 'just can't wake up properly without it' feeling in the morning and 'yawn I'm going to drop off at my desk' mid-afternoon tiredness too.

One thing I did get quite into for a while is Yerba Mate, which is a South American 'tea' which contains some caffeine and all sorts of healthy anti-oxidents and neurotransmitter precursors and stuff. It tastes pretty foul (green tea is the nearest thing I can think of), but with a bitterness I appreciated in the absence of coffee and it sort of grew on me, and it made me feel really rather good. You are supposed to keep topping it up with fresh hot water, so one tea-ball of it lasted me all day, with the taste and caffeine content diminishing as time passed, which works quite well.

Fortunately now I am able to tolerate more caffeine again, but the break did me good and I still occasionally do a day on Yerba Mate. I've since developed a liking for tea (milk, no sugar, ta) so I'm not the coffee fiend I once was ... a lot of it's just a matter of habit I think.
 
Coffee is not necessarily a bad thing, though.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6930114.stm

Coffee 'protects female memory'

BBC News Online. 7 August 2007

Caffeine may help older women ward off mental decline, research suggests.

French researchers compared women aged 65 and older who drank more than three cups of coffee per day with those who drank one cup or less per day.

Those who drank more caffeine showed less decline in memory tests over a four year period.

The study, published in the journal Neurology, raises the possibility that caffeine may even protect against the development of dementia.

The results held up even after factors such as education, high blood pressure and disease were taken into account.

Caffeine is a known psychostimulant, but this study appears to suggest its effects may be more profound.

However, lead researcher Dr Karen Ritchie of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research warned against jumping to premature conclusions.

She said: "While we have some ideas as to how this works biologically, we need to have a better understanding of how caffeine affects the brain before we can start promoting caffeine intake as a way to reduce cognitive decline.

"But the results are interesting - caffeine use is already widespread and it has fewer side effects than other treatments for cognitive decline, and it requires a relatively small amount for a beneficial effect."

The study, which involved 7,000 women, did not find that caffeine consumers had lower rates of dementia.

Women 'more sensitive'

Dr Ritchie said: "We really need a longer study to look at whether caffeine prevents dementia; it might be that caffeine could slow the dementia process rather than preventing it."

She said it was not clear why the protective effect did not seem to apply to men.

"Women may be more sensitive to the effects of caffeine. Their bodies may react differently to the stimulant, or they may metabolize caffeine differently."

Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said that with no cure for Alzheimer's disease yet available, research into possible protective factors was important, particularly as the disease is expected to become more common.

She said: "This study does not suggest that caffeine actually lowers rates of dementia in women, but since memory seems improved, it may be that it is slowing it down.

"However, research over a much longer period is still needed to establish fully what the affects of caffeine are in both men and women and whether it could reduce a person's risk of dementia or slow down its progress."

Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the Alzheimer's Society, said drinking coffee and tea had both been tipped as possible ways of delaying the onset of dementia.

However, she said: "These types of studies are complex because coffee and tea drinking can be linked to so many other social and life style factors."
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A couple of years ago, I had to cut down a lot as well as my insomnia was getting to a ridiculous level, but I resisted the idea that far too much coffee had anything to do with it (likewise my cough had nothing to do with cigars whatsoever.) It took a while to adjust, and I got really bad headaches too, but it was worth it - while I was about it I cut down the amount of booze I drank during the week too, as that wasn't helping much. I love coffee nonetheless, so now I just limit myself to two cups of filter coffee a day, one first thing and one at lunchtime or mid afternoon. I do have an espresso machine, but I use it no more than once a week. Other that I drink water or tea (and take my own teabags into work to get a decent cup), It is hard, but you will feel the benefits really soon.
Peripart said:
..And don't talk to me about decaf - a colleague recently said "Try this one - you won't be able to tall the difference". Obviously, she was mistaking me for someone with no tastebuds.
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I drink a lot of Taylor's "Take It Easy"filter coffee - tastes great, rich enough and is low caffeine - about the same hit as a medium cup of tea, and you can get it in Sainsbury's and doesn't cost the Earth. Keeps well, too. As for instant, try mixing half instant decaff coffee (a decent one - Kenco is OK) with half a good, rich caff coffee. That tastes better than the already prepared half-caff instant coffees which just taste odd to me, too bitter but not enough body.


Any tips for reducing my caffeine? I've cut down from about 12 cups a day to about 8, but I get the occasional migraine, and the quack says the coffee's probably not helping.
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Do it by one cup every couple of days. Down to seven, then six, etc - that's what I did. Like giving up smoking - identify times you associate with a coffee, and do something else positive instead. Water really does help.
 
Peripart said:
Any tips for reducing my caffeine? I've cut down from about 12 cups a day to about 8, but I get the occasional migraine, and the quack says the coffee's probably not helping.
Click to expand...

A friend of mine gave up caffine by swapping every other cup with a decaff. I think you can get half caff now which will help wean you off better. Then when used to that swapping another cup and so on. Watch out for really bad headaches the first couple of days though, shakes, and feeling unwell.
Very good luck to you sir.
 
A year or so ago I discovered that the coffee I'd been using was decaff. I'd bought a big jar of it too!

No headaches or other symptoms bothered us at all. I'd thought we were caffeine addicts, but apparently not.

These days we often have half-caffeinated coffee, i.e. half a jar each of regular and decaff mixed together. ;)

It works well, and is much better than supporting Nestle. :twisted:
 
akaWiintermoon said:
I said:
Any tips for reducing my caffeine?... I get the occasional migraine, and the quack says the coffee's probably not helping.
Click to expand...
A friend of mine gave up caffine by swapping every other cup with a decaff. I think you can get half caff now which will help wean you off better. Then when used to that swapping another cup and so on. Watch out for really bad headaches the first couple of days though, shakes, and feeling unwell.
Very good luck to you sir.
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Oh, great - so if I cut back, I can look forward to my caffeine-induced headaches being replaced by withdrawal headaches? Sounds like fun!

Seriously, thanks for the tips - I might try some of that half-caff stuff. If I don't tell my brain what I'm drinking, it might not know the difference.
 
I remember a tea-drinking news story from years back which seems to fit here.

A previously-respectible and law-abiding US gentleman burst into his next-door neighbor's house, stark naked and armed with an operating chain saw.

He intended her absolutely no harm, he informed the terrified neighhbor as he chased her around her house.

He was instead there to protect her from the demons he saw crawling all over the place.

It turned out that earlier that same day our hero's own girlfriend had dropped by his home to give him a large package of her favorite herbal tea.

He brewed himself a cup after she left, drank it, and was so impressed that he then drank 26 additional cups.
 
I can't sleep unless I'm full of caffeine! Does anyone else share this peculiarity or am I just a lonely one of a kind museum exhibit freak?
 
OldTimeRadio said:
I can't sleep unless I'm full of caffeine! Does anyone else share this peculiarity or am I just a lonely one of a kind museum exhibit freak?
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Shall we tell him, everyone?
 
Too much coffee 'makes you hallucinate'
by JO STEELE - Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Drinking seven cups of instant coffee could make you delusional Coffee can do a lot more than give you the shakes or make sleeping difficult - it can wake the dead.
Heavy caffeine users - those taking in more than the equivalent of seven cups of instant coffee a day - are more prone to hallucinating, with some saying they feel the presence of dead people.
They were three times more likely to suffer delusions, including hearing voices, than those having the equivalent of less than one cup.
The episodes were not necessarily a sign of mental illness but of caffeine's ability to exacerbate the effects of stress, said Durham University researchers.
When stressed, the body releases a hormone called cortisol.
But caffeine - be it in a chocolate bar, energy drink or cup of tea - stimulates larger amounts to be released, potentially pushing a person to hallucinate.
Just 1.7 cups of takeaway coffee can cause delusions, according to Durham University researchers.
More work was needed to establish if caffeine, and nutrition in general, has an impact on distressing visions, said co-author Dr Charles Fernyhough.
The study was criticised by the British Coffee Association for looking only at a very high caffeine intake and ignoring other ingested substances.
Only pregnant women were advised to limit their consumption, said the British Nutrition Foundation.
And mental health charity Mind said a distinction should be made between a temporary hallucination from caffeine and mental illness.

I think a few on this site may be increasing their caffiene outtake accordingly. All in the name of science of course.
 
Does this mean that Coffee will be a controlled substance and the drug squad will be raiding Starbucks and Costa... :D

I'm off to score my morning hit...
 
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