Mmmm, coffee...

When I was a kid, I remember that in the mornings you just didn't talk to either of my parents until they'd had their first cup of coffee. Up until that point in the day they were just craaaaaaanky! That, and they were smokers, so their early morning cigarette had to have taken effect as well before they seemed to be able to deal with the reality of their lives, having children and jobs and all that.
Me, I just started drinking coffee a few years ago (and am lucky enough to have never started smoking, ugh!). When I was younger younger and everyone I know was addicted to their 10 cups a day I really didn't like the taste of coffee, so I just didn't drink it. Now I like the taste of only one coffee, the maxwell house original roast you get in the grocery store, and pretty much only if it's brewed at home. I'm not a fan of Tim Horton's (gasp! bad Canadian, I know), Second Cup or Starbuck's, though I have been known to drink the occasional mochaccino!). When I do make it to Starbucks and I'm willing to cough up $6 for a hot drink I usually order a soy chai latte with a vanilla shot (ohh, or a superhot chai eggnog latte at christmas!), and there ain't no coffee to be found in there!! 

Now I drink it in the mornings, carried around until lunch in my big stainless blue indestructible Starbuck's travel mug that holds 20oz. S calls the mug my babba, as she says I carry it around like a baby does with their bottle (I have even been found napping on the couch with my babba tucked securely under my arm!!). I am quite fond of my mug, and I can mix the perfect cup of coffee in it (it just doesn't turn out the same in one of those little ceramic coffee cups!) that stays hot and yummy until lunchtime - this is a good thing, because I'm so distractible that it takes me about 5 hours to get to the bottom of my cup anyway!

Recently I decided that I'm going to stop drinking my lovely morning brew for a bit, because I am curious to find out whether or not it is indeed having any kind of effect on me in the mornings. Am I slower without it? Grumpier? More tired? Irritable? I don't know, so I'm waiting to find out. It wasn't a health decision, most research today suggests that coffee does a lot of good things for you. Working in a hospital means that my inbox spam is very often filled with new research articles (some well done, others not-so-much!), so I have read quite a few things lately that contrast the 'old news' about coffee.  For example, did you know that for your average healthy adult... (1) The water you drink in coffee does count toward that '8 glasses per day' that the health-conscious are supposed to drink! Although coffee has diuretic properties, the water that it contains does the same thing as when you drink water. (2) Drinking coffee has been suggested to be a protective factor against alzheime's, parkinson's and dementia later in life. (3) People who drink 1-2 cups of coffee before an exam or other mentally demanding task produce higher scores than those who do not (caffeine enhances mental efficiency, reaction times, memory and IQ).

Over the next 2 weeks I'm going to keep an eye on myself and see if anything is different. So far this is day 2 coffee free, and there's no noticeable difference, so we'll see!!  Stay tuned...