News: Jolt from coffee may be a myth, study

A new study on the effects of coffee suggests that frequent coffee drinkers develop a tolerance to the stimulating effects of caffeine. Researchers, who published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, found that, for people who drink lots of coffee, sipping a morning java doesn’t shake off their morning groggies’it merely brings them back to their baseline level of alertness. The reason:

"Because when you take caffeine away from them their alertness falls, they go into caffeine withdrawal … you feel fatigued, headachy and so on and you need more caffeine just to get you back to the normal level," biological psychology professor Peter Rogers told The Canadian Press.

What’s particularly interesting about Rogers’ interview with CP is that he doesn’t recommend that people stop drinking coffee to avoid these withdrawal symptoms. Instead, he advises coffee drinkers to keep drinking the stuff all through the week (rather than cutting it out on the weekends, for example)  to avoid feeling worn down. As a coffee lover, I tend to ignore results of coffee studies because, whether it’s ill-advised or not, I will never, ever give up coffee. Never. What about you? Does the fact that your body actually goes into withdrawal from caffeine freak you out, or are you too dedicated to your coffee habit to care?

Related:
‘ How to quit coffee
‘ 5 strange-but-true health cures
‘ Coffee Smoothie