Hi, my name is... (Read 907 times)

Hmmm...but could we be as fast...? I hear you on the eating thing. I started running to lose weight--hasn't worked. I do an awful lot of justifying overeating, "hey, I ran 10+ miles, I can eat half that pizza!" k

ROFL... I eat the WHOLE pizza... and then... wash it down with a hot fudge Sunday! But, I do drink either water or diet soda when I am binging.

Worse than tobacco? Tell that to my dad who had a stroke on Easter and my friend who has breast cancer while she watches her mom die from lung cancer.

I know more people that abuse caffeine than I know people that abuse alcohol or tobacco. We get our kids hooked on it before they know any better; it's almost encouraged. What is worse, a small sampling of people that are alcoholics and however many lung cancer deaths there are that are related to tobacco (as opposed to all of the other junk we breath every day)? Or the millions of dollars that are spent by taxpayers and employers on the sad state of the average person's health in the US? On the millions of miserable people that do not even know how much happier their lives would be if they weren't over weight and if they tried to take better care of their bodies, just because they are used to the status quo and have developed a dependency on caffeine to wake them up in the morning and keep them awake throughout the day? I don't mean to take anything away from people that have suffered from alcohol abuse or cancer or their loved ones that have had to deal with such. While I have not had to deal with those specific problems, I have had people very close to me deal with much more narcotic drugs than any of those three, and cancer is no stranger in my family. Also bear in mind that the people in this forum are likely to be healthier than the average person, which will grossly offset the problems caused by caffeine. It will not completely eliminate them, though. I took caffeine out of my diet around a decade ago because it was a catalyst for me to get hallucinations and blinding headaches (literally and figuratively). For anybody looking to take up a new hobby, I highly advise against cluster migraines. After going blind for two weeks in high school I decided to get rid of my doctor and find somebody that was not an idiot. One of the nice side effects of eliminating the caffeine (after I had gone through the whole withdrawal bit) was that I felt healthier and became a much more positive person after that. So, I may be biased, and no matter what anybody says there is very little chance that I will ever change my mind on this one because I don't like being blind and I like the pain that comes from my vision coming back even less. For those interested, I've written about caffeine being bad for you at Run to Win before. If you want a bit of humor, I recommend looking at this cartoon: How to Quit Drinking Coffee.

I like this thread. It makes me giggle. I like the caffeine line best. I have another one - "cigarettes are harder to give up than heroin or cocaine." This is also crap. I know this by experience. I never ended up shitting myself giving up cigarettes or lying in a puddle of vomit shaking from fear or worse. Having given up practically everything (bar sex) in my life at one point or another (even caffeine) - I want to reiterate that this thread makes me giggle. Although I did get a headache when I gave up caffeine, which I rate as comparatively minor to the depression I sank into and the phlegm I coughed up when giving up smoking. All those cigarettes that I smoked may still give me cancer. The alcohol that I consumed gave me acute pancreatitis and has probably permanently damaged my liver.. The heroin that I took has left me with destroyed veins and many scars and a history that would make most blush. The caffeine? Well it gave me coffee. Now gambling. That's an addiction worth holding in esteem whilst you sip on a cappuccino. Blaine - I still love you though. You have a nice avatar. Rick - Welcome to RA! I don't run. I heal stress fractures. Running, so it seems - is also more dangerous than caffeine. Claire xxx

I have many weaknesses....one being my daily coffee. Another being RA.

So, I may be biased, and no matter what anybody says there is very little chance that I will ever change my mind on this one because I don't like being blind and I like the pain that comes from my vision coming back even less.

Yeah, you are biased, and so am I. Migraines suck, but they aren't cancer or stroke. Migraines may make a person feel as though they want to die, but it's not the same as actually having a fatal illness. There have also been ample, recent medical reports from reliable sources touting benefits of caffeine. The same can never be said for tobacco products. There is no such thing as a safe and moderate amount of tobacco useage.

My bias is why I will never change my mind, since caffeine is much worse for me than for others. My reasoning for why it is worse though has nothing to do with the bias and everything to do with the impact of the drug. Cancer is worse for an individual, but there are fewer people with cancer than are unhealthy due to being inactive and that aren't helping themselves with caffeine addictions.

Cancer is far more than merely "worse for an individual." My FIL died nearly a year ago from cancer. Tell my son, my husband, my FIL's brother, elderly mother, and my MIL that cancer is only harmful to an individual. Know what...when I was 50#s overweight it had nothing to do with caffeine intake and EVERYTHING to do with my diet and lack of exercise. In fact, I didn't even start drinking coffee or caffeinated beverages until YEARS after I lost the bulk of my weight (and I still don't consume caffeine every day, so there's not really an addiction factor, I simply like coffee...often drink decaf later in the day to avoid sleep conflicts). Your cause and effect don't seem to apply to most people. Heck, I'd wager that there are more RA members who enjoy coffee and other caffeinated beverages than there are those who abstain. So that right there would pretty much blow your theory. But I know of no one who smokes (there is no safe level of smoking, unlike caffeine consumption for a healthy person) or drinks to excess who can claim no significant and long-term health issues. And to claim that we are all feeding our kids caffeine at an early age--where do you get that? My son is pushing 7 and has never even had soda, much less caffeinated ones...the only caffeine he gets would be in the form of a chocolate milk treat. My parents also never served us caffeinated beverages, nor do any of the parents I know.

Hi, my name is Rick and... I'm sorry for posting this thread. "Can't we all just get along?" - Rodney King

(((Rick))) I think you're gonna do just fine around here.... k