I can clearly hear the sound of Dad slowly stirring his
coffee. The sound of the spoon scraping and chiming in those old white glass
coffee mugs is distinctive and clear. And I always stop and inhale deeply at the coffee grinders in
grocery stores, the same as I have done since I was little at the Beulah
A&P or IGA. I wish coffee tasted as good as it smells. From my memory, it seems like coffee was more of a man’s
drink. My grandma Johnson drank Pepsi, so we had Pepsi when we went there, in
glass bottles. My grandmother Maginity taught me how to drink tea from fine
china cups with the pinky extended and everything. No one, back in those days,
drank store-bought pre-bottled coffees or waters or teas. Pop was not an
absolute necessity.
That was then. This is now.
When I went to high school the times were changing. Pop (or
Soda or Coke, depending on where you are from) was becoming more of a daily
drink. Faygo was the choice for family gatherings, and real root beer at the A
& W or the Dog n Suds was a super duper treat. But then Mountain Dew
started becoming popular. Somewhere near graduation, someone introduced
Jolt. They should have named that pop
“spazz” or something snappy like that.
 |
| Me as a teen WITHOUT caffeine |
And all of the sudden, everyone needs to have at least a
couple of pops a day. Some people actually buy two liter bottles and drink the
whole thing over the day. I guess that isn’t much of a stretch, when you think
of how many 20 ouncers it takes to make two liters. Don’t make me do the math.
Please. (Four 20 ounce pops is more than 2 liters.)
It isn’t only pop: There are little five ounce energy
drinks, caffeine pills, caffeinated water (why in the world?) candy with
caffeine added and energy drinks like Monster. In huge whopping cans. Some fool
actually came up with an idea to make caffeinated alcoholic drinks! Caffeinated
beer. To what purpose would that be?
My husband came home from his job at a factory and told me
that young people (which means anyone forty or younger) were drinking up to
four big cans of energy drinks a shift. All I can picture for these young
people is a bunch of jittery deaf people (deaf due to the bass booming in their
cars) who think their cell phone is an extension of their brain. (This is my
social commentary and I am entitled to my opinion. You kids get off my yard!)
I have gone on Mountain Dew binges while studying for
college exams. I never drank coffee myself until I was in my late twenties, and
I am a coffee wimp: Lots of cream and sugar, not much coffee. I tried espresso but prefer to have more to
drink with fewer flavors of burnt coffee grounds please. One of my classmates
at Baker College had chocolate covered espresso beans and offered me one. My
heart rate shot way and the heck up there, and I could hardly sit still in
class. That was just from smelling of it!
What the heck are we doing to ourselves?
Let me first say that I am not a doctor. It seems to me that
if you looked at recent changes in health demographics you would find a
noticeable difference this past forty years. Heart issues are the top killers
these days, as was illustrated in a chart I posted previously. I suspect that if you did a search on
percentages of people suffering from anxiety and panic attacks, you might see
an increase in numbers these recent years in correlation to the increases sales
of highly caffeinated beverages. There have been some stories recently of teenagers who have died of heart attacks who were drinkers of the huge cans of
caffeine infused beverage. Moderation, people. Moderation is the key.
A little wisdom. If you are prone to heart palpitations, racy
heart, or have heart problems in general other than a slow heart rate, mind how
much caffeine you consume. I get palpitations after a cup of regular coffee or
a bottle of pop these days. I can relate one to the other. Betcha I am not
alone in this.
If you suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, do you really
want to have a high intake of caffeine? Some of the reactions your body is
signaling you with could be that the caffeine level is high right now. I have
had panic attacks, and I am not spoofing those who suffer from these horrid
experiences. It is just something to consider. If you are an insomniac, monitor your caffeine intake. I have family members who drink coffee, and that is really strong coffee,
around the clock. They say it doesn’t affect them, but I get a contact caffeine
buzz when I am around them.
Oh, I am far from being a perfect roll model with this, but I am aware when I drink regular coffee or Mountain Dew. My ankles swell up, for one thing. Since I am older, caffeine just doesn't give me the wake up it used to, so I am looking into changing habits to get more energy. Like, waking up in the morning and going for a walk. Cutting out caffeine (including chocolate) helps me sleep better. Being a spazz these days is not fun, it is embarrassing.
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