Thursday, March 09, 2006
Too Much Coffee!
Totter into a McDonalds to meet the boys for a gab session and order a senior coffee and you might just be taking your life into your hands. We are not talking about spilling the coffee in your lap anymore but actually drinking it. Scientists have discovered that the CYP1A2 gene (hereafter referred to as the caffeine gene) could put you at risk of a cardiac arrest if you drink two or more cups of coffee per day. And why did you go there in the first place if not to gab and gawk? At 25 cents per cup it is dirt-cheap. Not everyone is at risk--only those who have a slow processing caffeine gene. A study in Costa Rica found that half the people in an urban area were at risk (How much more urban can you get than a McDonalds?). If you decide that trotting down to the nearest Starbucks is a better bet, then you need to think again. There is no senior coffee. Not even close. When the cash register clinks up your total, you might just die of cardiac arrest on the spot. The price can cause a Starbucks novice’s blood pressure to shoot way up. The Costa Rica study clearly shows that caffeine causes a significant increase in blood pressure—especially the second and third cup. The average male consumes 3.1 cups of coffee per day—about a half a cup more than the female. So you had better have your baby aspirin with you! Take two of those with each cup.
Now what can we say about really heavy coffee consumers? My friend Richard runs through a quart thermos bottle every hundred miles on the road. Our rule of thumb was never to get between Richard and the bathroom door. If you happen to go to a one-stall restaurant and someone is beating madly on the door, it is probably Richard. We went to a Chinese Restaurant once with my friend Rheinhart and he confused the hot mustard pitcher with the cream pitcher. Whew! That was close to cardiac arrest right there. And don’t think anyone is going to give you mouth to mouth after you have downed a half a pitcher of hot mustard.
What the Costa Rica study does not tell us is very interesting indeed. Caffeine seems to be everywhere—soft drinks and tea especially. But it is in chocolate as well. A chocolate chip cookie coupled with two cups of java might just put you over the edge.
Now for the silver lining. The Costa Rica Study might just point to a solution for the ever-evasive Social Security day of reckoning. Instead of the annual COLA, just send every social security recipient five pounds of coffee every month. That should clear out all of the folks with the slow caffeine gene in a hurry. The next time someone gives you a pound of gourmet coffee beans, think very carefully. Is someone trying to send me a message?
Totter into a McDonalds to meet the boys for a gab session and order a senior coffee and you might just be taking your life into your hands. We are not talking about spilling the coffee in your lap anymore but actually drinking it. Scientists have discovered that the CYP1A2 gene (hereafter referred to as the caffeine gene) could put you at risk of a cardiac arrest if you drink two or more cups of coffee per day. And why did you go there in the first place if not to gab and gawk? At 25 cents per cup it is dirt-cheap. Not everyone is at risk--only those who have a slow processing caffeine gene. A study in Costa Rica found that half the people in an urban area were at risk (How much more urban can you get than a McDonalds?). If you decide that trotting down to the nearest Starbucks is a better bet, then you need to think again. There is no senior coffee. Not even close. When the cash register clinks up your total, you might just die of cardiac arrest on the spot. The price can cause a Starbucks novice’s blood pressure to shoot way up. The Costa Rica study clearly shows that caffeine causes a significant increase in blood pressure—especially the second and third cup. The average male consumes 3.1 cups of coffee per day—about a half a cup more than the female. So you had better have your baby aspirin with you! Take two of those with each cup.
Now what can we say about really heavy coffee consumers? My friend Richard runs through a quart thermos bottle every hundred miles on the road. Our rule of thumb was never to get between Richard and the bathroom door. If you happen to go to a one-stall restaurant and someone is beating madly on the door, it is probably Richard. We went to a Chinese Restaurant once with my friend Rheinhart and he confused the hot mustard pitcher with the cream pitcher. Whew! That was close to cardiac arrest right there. And don’t think anyone is going to give you mouth to mouth after you have downed a half a pitcher of hot mustard.
What the Costa Rica study does not tell us is very interesting indeed. Caffeine seems to be everywhere—soft drinks and tea especially. But it is in chocolate as well. A chocolate chip cookie coupled with two cups of java might just put you over the edge.
Now for the silver lining. The Costa Rica Study might just point to a solution for the ever-evasive Social Security day of reckoning. Instead of the annual COLA, just send every social security recipient five pounds of coffee every month. That should clear out all of the folks with the slow caffeine gene in a hurry. The next time someone gives you a pound of gourmet coffee beans, think very carefully. Is someone trying to send me a message?
