h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The dangers of coffee.

Don't get me wrong, I LUV coffee, however, This is the only non-alcoholic drink I'm aware of that can make you feel just as bad a a night on the good stuff !!!

Think about it. You can drink all types of tea, fruit tea, mint tea, jasmine tea, green tea, every colour of the rainbow tea, hot chocolate drinks(excluding those that contain coffee), bovril, horlicks, what ever your choice may be, but none can cause the same effects of drinking too much coffee.

It begins innocently enough, you can't stop your mind contemplating the mysterys of the universe, thinking about some useless piece of information you read, or heard about 3 years ago.

After this initial mind altering state you continue to drink it, it's addictive. I know! Nothing can stop you. You must have more!

Next comes the strange, but mildly amusing shakes! This is when most of us think "I've had enough". For those who don't think this, the next stage gets a bit hard to deal with, the caffine headache!

It starts as a mild annoyance in the front of the brain and continues to get stronger until you can hardly see straight. This is the point at which bed is required!

AH HA! It's got you! You cannot sleep! You lie there suffering and you can do nothing about it but ride it out. I'd like to point out that even with copious amounts of alcohol you do not suffer this indignity, you lie down, you sleep, you wake up the next day, hungover maybe, but at least you slept through the worst of it.

Here's the clincher. The next day you are tired, you can hardly stay awake. What do we all do - drink a cup of coffee.

What is it about this miraculous drink that keeps us coming back for more. It is as addictive as heroin with the effects of a night of drinking on the town and yet we can't stop!

Do we ban it, I think not. The entire IT industry would collapse around our ears over night. The black market on coffee would be worth billions within a year! Of course, I'm biased towards it, I AM addicted.

My name is Keef2020 and I'm a coffee addict!

Now I've said it, will it change anything. not likely....

Keef, you've got a point about it. I used to love the juice of the bean as well, until it ate a hole in my stomache, and I do agree with you, that addiction was a pain to break cold turkey.

That being said, you can also OD on Tea. I have gotten worse shakes after a tea bender than I ever did with coffee, and the tea, though containing less caffeine, has some fun chemicals in that make the feeling last for several hours.

As well, I find that I can drink mass quantities of tea without my tastebuds shriveling from the bitterness, making it much worse. Some of my worst experiences have been all night (naturally) study sessions involving calculus, physics and upwards of a gallon and a half of PG tips, Lapsang Suchong, and/or a luvverly blend we have here called Lifeboat tea. Most people dont get the shakes, however because they do not brew it and suck it down a quart at a time, as I am prone to do.

I also find that I am much more tipsy after my tea benders than I ever get while drunk (introspective drunk, you see), So while everybody else has their shots, I have my quart o' PG and the party is on.

Ahhhh, well, that's my story, do wi' it what you will.

Until I post again,
TUUUYSCS,
Deuce, TCR-ARMAMfCAV.