# Caffeine or other natural stimulants- good/bad effects



## rosegeranium (Apr 1, 2013)

How has caffeine helped or hindered your health? Obviously it perks us up or makes us too jittery and dehydrated. What are your experiences? Do you have any unconvential uses for it? 

Do you use any unconvential natural stimulants or foods/herbs that serve as stimulants? Myself, I have noticed eating chia seeds makes me hyper as hell. I have no idea why other than perhaps my body responding to the healthy oils.

I don't consume very much caffeine, but occasionally I do drink Yerba Mate which has some. I also put espresso on my scalp and it seems to have made my hair grow in a little thicker. Too much caffiene makes my mind race terribly and I become oversensitive to everything around me.

I look forward to your replies.


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## Mr Canis (Mar 3, 2012)

I have played with a variety of substances with "thermogenic" properties and while I have seen some success in cutting a tenth of a percent of body fat here and there that might be attributed to them, for the most part I am not a big fan. It's just not sustainable and I am not convinced you don't rebound and end up with even more work on your hands. 

I don't drink coffee, just an occasional cup of tea and I otherwise I don't come into contact with much in the way of stimulants.


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## Tad Cooper (Apr 10, 2010)

I drank a lot of coffee when I was younger which made me unable to sleep properly and I got palpitations. I kind of have an on/off relationship with caffeine and drink it when stressed, which then means I get the addiction again and have to go through withdrawals again! I never drink coffee anymore, but do have fizzy drinks with caffeine.
I used to be addicted to sugar but that didn't really do much, I just began to worry about my teeth (no reason except people say they get damaged by it).


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## Snakecharmer (Oct 26, 2010)

Coffee, and lots of it, almost every day. 

*sips on caramel frappucino*


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## rosegeranium (Apr 1, 2013)

Snakecharmer said:


> Coffee, and lots of it, almost every day.
> 
> *sips on caramel frappucino*


Do you find that you need it to fully "wake up"? 

The yerba mate I drink has some caffiene but it also has caffiene like substances in it that are easier on the nervous system. I can drink yerba mate and not become addicted to it, but when I would drink coffee it got to the point where I needed it to wake up in the morning.
@_Mr _Canis Yeah, I think that is a load of palooka. Caffiene, ephedra...They suppress your appetite, at best, but that's it. Also, I can't believe that people drink energy drinks or the like before they work out. That's frickin' dangerous in the long run. 

I have used skin products with caffeine in them and I believe they do rejuvenate the skin if only on a superficial level.


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## DAPHNE XO (Jan 16, 2012)

I take caffeine pills for that mental sharpness and l-theanine to counteract the jitters I get when I consume too much caffeine.
On these two, doing uni work is soooo much easier and I'm a million times more productive and I can even focus for more than ten minutes lol.


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## Foibleful (Oct 2, 2012)

I drink caffeine rarely. I don't like the idea of stimulating my body. If I'm tired, I want to know it. My personal theory is that our current culture is out of balance; so many people sleep way too little and then make it up with caffeine. They drive themselves to exhaustion and beyond and think of it as normal. I would think that, after a while (years? decades?), your body would be very negatively impacted by it.

A warm shower first thing in the morning wakes me up just fine.


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## Sat Nam (Jan 30, 2013)

Coffee and other natural stimulants make me really jittery lol. I don't like the taste of most energy drinks and they make me feel insane, so I don't drink them lol. To date, two energy supplements have given me prolonged heart palpitations. One was an amino acid supplement and one was an all natural, organic juice drink with acai, guarana, and yerba mate. 

I've had a few chia seed drinks, and they gave me a nice energy boost without any negative side effects. I think they're called Mama Chia. They're pretty bland, but I like the texture. The take home for me is that I don't do well with most energy supplements or caffeine. I'll stick to maintaining a healthy, balanced diet with lots of naturally occurring vitamins. 

Sat Nam : )


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## rosegeranium (Apr 1, 2013)

Sat Nam said:


> Coffee and other natural stimulants make me really jittery lol. I don't like the taste of most energy drinks and they make me feel insane, so I don't drink them lol. To date, two energy supplements have given me prolonged heart palpitations. One was an amino acid supplement and one was an all natural, organic juice drink with acai, guarana, and yerba mate.
> 
> I've had a few chia seed drinks, and they gave me a nice energy boost without any negative side effects. I think they're called Mama Chia. They're pretty bland, but I like the texture. The take home for me is that I don't do well with most energy supplements or caffeine. I'll stick to maintaining a healthy, balanced diet with lots of naturally occurring vitamins.
> 
> Sat Nam : )


Energy drinks..I've taken the 5 hour energy one before and it gave me horrible gas, lol XP. I want to try the Mama Chia, sounds good. I drink the GTs Chia Kombucha and I feel pretty perky afterwards. I used to wonder if it was just the placebo effect, but my body reacts too strongly and for too long afterwards for it to be so.

Lemon juice and water every day makes me feel great, I try to drink it every day. Getting enough fluid in general really helps give me more energy, as well as cutting back on table salt. Meditation gives a lot of energy too.


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## Sat Nam (Jan 30, 2013)

rosegeranium said:


> Energy drinks..I've taken the 5 hour energy one before and it gave me horrible gas, lol XP. I want to try the Mama Chia, sounds good. I drink the GTs Chia Kombucha and I feel pretty perky afterwards. I used to wonder if it was just the placebo effect, but my body reacts too strongly and for too long afterwards for it to be so.
> 
> Lemon juice and water every day makes me feel great, I try to drink it every day. Getting enough fluid in general really helps give me more energy, as well as cutting back on table salt. Meditation gives a lot of energy too.


I had 5 hour energy back when it first came out (years ago) and it was gross! I almost vomited when I first tasted it. I had to mix it with juice to get it down lol. It didn't make me jittery and I felt pretty energized, but it was disgusting so I didn't take it again lol. Nowadays, I try to stick to healthy and natural food/drinks. Water is so plain and boring lol, but I try to drink a good bit of it daily. I recommend the Mama Chia. It gives me a nice, refreshing energy boost. I thought it was a placebo when I first had it, but I had like 4 over the months and I think it's the drink lol. I don't swear by it or anything, but I like to try stuff (as long as it seems healthy) lol. I've never had the one you mentioned; I'll have to give it a try. I agree that meditation gives me a huge energy boost. Hope you have a good evening : )

Sat Nam


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## Devin87 (May 15, 2011)

Right now I'm pretty good on caffeine. I start with a giant cup of coffee every morning and sometimes I'll have a soda in the afternoon/evening, but not always. Once my summer job gets into full swing, however, I become addicted. I love the blue low carb Monster drinks or 5-hour energy shots. I've also become fairly partial to the Mio Energy stuff, although I go through the bottle way too quickly. I haven't resorted to caffeine pills _yet_. My absolute worst last ditch "I REALLY need caffeine" substance is Redline. That stuff is insane. It sends my Ne into overdrive.

I honestly don't see it hurting my health that much. I'm much more concerned with the effect all that caffeine is having on my wallet. When my caffeine habit's at it's heaviest, it costs more than smoking a pack a day...

I actually may need to start upping my intake already as I'm coming up on my 3rd week of my 9 week stretch without a single day off between the two jobs...


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## Fleetfoot (May 9, 2011)

They have organic caffeine chews from the Cliff company at Walmart nowadays that my roommate gets. They are phenomenal. I usually drink tea on a daily basis, and have coffee at least once a week. I take migraine pills with caffeine because it feels so much better. 

I do take a lot of caffeine, but it keeps me on a regular sleep schedule. Otherwise I'd sleep for a day.


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

I drink green tea and sometimes to be efficient take caffeine pills. Every once and a while I'll buy an energy drink.


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## SugarForBreakfast (Jun 25, 2012)

Love/hate relationship with it. 

I love the rush it gives me sometimes, and the taste of black coffee these days has become more appealing; but if a bad day is coming, it's going to increase my chances of higher anxiety or panic attacks. 2 cups a morning currently keeps me at homeostasis. 

Trying to withdraw from it, however, induces depressive symptoms; I'll feel irritable, tired, mopey, unless there are cool things to distract me but then I tend to realize those cool things suddenly don't have much zest to them anymore.

I've been caffeine free about two-three times in my life for at least a month, and I did notice during those times that I woke up easier. But then the habits came back and when I woke up, I needed my fix, otherwise... grogginess.


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## Echoe (Apr 23, 2012)

I usually have 2 (US units) cups in the morning. It just perks me up and helps me focus for the time being. I guess just because I've been doing it so long the dose doesn't give me jitters or anything. 
I use exercise to help calm my mind and wake me up too when I'm being foggy-headed and inattetive. Deep breathing has made a noticeable difference on my attention span, and I mean I don't just take a minute to do a deep breathing round but I also just try to breathe more from my belly in general. My mind is less racy and I am more grounded now, plus my responses to stressors is even more relaxed than before.


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## jd_ (Feb 5, 2011)

One of the best things I ever did was quit caffeine altogether. Way less anxiety, more energy, and lots of money saved. I tried tapering off but that never worked. Had to quit cold turkey. I think a lot more clearly now also. On caffiene it's mostly task oriented stuff... and don't get big projects done.


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## Promethea (Aug 24, 2009)

I was just saying to someone yesterday, getting the balance right is difficult. Its either too little, and a lack of motivation ensues, or I have too much and feel all tweaked out and jittery.


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## Fleetfoot (May 9, 2011)

Maybe I change my mind on the coffee. I can't take much more of this:


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## The Plot (Jan 31, 2012)

JungleDisco said:


> I take caffeine pills for that mental sharpness and l-theanine to counteract the jitters I get when I consume too much caffeine.
> On these two, doing uni work is soooo much easier and I'm a million times more productive and I can even focus for more than ten minutes lol.


Agreed. Mixing caffeine and l-Theanine in the right proportions produces a state of mind I like to describe as "chemically induced zen".

To the point: This semester I thought I was going to be a superhero and carry a maximum credit course load while working full time. Long story short, summer break is come and I need to reduce my caffeine intake drastically. I've been drinking Earl Grey and white teas for the above-mentioned theanine and the tiny bit of caffeine they're worth but do any of you know any simple tricks to take the edge off the withdrawals (just enough to prevent me from sleeping for 12 hours and stabbing someone upon waking)?

Thanks in advance.


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## DAPHNE XO (Jan 16, 2012)

A Mole of Photons said:


> Agreed. Mixing caffeine and l-Theanine in the right proportions produces a state of mind I like to describe as "chemically induced zen".
> 
> To the point: This semester I thought I was going to be a superhero and carry a maximum credit course load while working full time. Long story short, summer break is come and I need to reduce my caffeine intake drastically. I've been drinking Earl Grey and white teas for the above-mentioned theanine and the tiny bit of caffeine they're worth but do any of you know any simple tricks to take the edge off the withdrawals (just enough to prevent me from sleeping for 12 hours and stabbing someone upon waking)?
> 
> Thanks in advance.


The ratio that works for me is 1:1 so I take 200mg caffeine with 200mg l-theanine in capped pill form.
I rotate caffeine with modafinil. That has no withdrawals.
I also take any energy supplements, I hate relying on caffeine lol.


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