Coffee

Caffeine is a drug, yes, but a very sweet one at that. It enhances the senses and uplifts the spirits. Coffee is, without a doubt, a culture unto itself. Used as a means to gather, laugh and debate. Coffee is a social beverage. Its roots are as storied and full as the roasts you may drink.

Within the borders of Turkey coffee has become an institution. It has its own culture complete with ritual and house of worship (coffeehouses). Turkish coffee, in particular may, without a doubt in most coffee lovers’ minds be the be all and end all of coffee. It was introduced to Turkey in the early to mid 1500′s, finding the first coffeehouse opening soon after.

Coffee came at a rather interesting time in Turkish history as it was geared more toward decadence than business. This gave way to many rituals. One of which was to brew the beans slowly over fifteen to twenty minutes in a copper coffee pot nestled among the embers of smoldering charcoal. The pot was removed frequently to prevent overheating. You can certainly tell the difference, if you are a coffee connoisseur, between Turkish coffee and your run of the mill modern day restaurant coffee.

The Turks believed in delicate brewing and all that was needed was a copper pot that came to a point, a teaspoon and something to heat it with. Water was always cold and the coffee fresh ground right before brewing. One thing that makes Turkish coffee so good, rich and special as that many would add cardamom and or sugar to the ground prior to brewing. Also unique is that the ingredients were added to the water instead of the water added to the ingredients. After all of the ingredients are added, they are stirred, spoon removed and pot placed on the heating source. No more stirring occurs and the pot is removed periodically to prevent the overheating mentioned earlier.

Identifying well prepared Turkish coffee is easy. It’s not too hot and has a thick foam resting comfortably on top and is free of any dark particles. In some circumstances, the coffee is brought to a boil and just before boiling over is removed the heat then replaced to do it all over again. This process is done two or three times and concentrates the coffee down. Cold water is served and drank before the coffee to cleanse the palette. Traditionally, the pastry known as Turkish Delight was served alongside the coffee and afterward you’re treated to mint liqueur.

Turkish coffee is special. Not because it tastes good, but because of the care and love that is put into the preparation and consumption of it. Coffee has a very special meaning to the Turkish people and to the culture of their land and that should be respected. The whole premise and life of coffee in Turkey gave way to all of the coffeehouses and coffee business that we partake in to this day from our Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts to your mom and pop Beatnik Coffee Dens. Without Turkish coffee, we would have no coffee at all.

Steve is a regular contributor to Coffee Maker Review an informational website for Coffee Maker ratings and reviews on the top brands including Bunn Coffee Makers and Senseo Coffee Makers

Author: Stephen Haworth
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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If I can give up coffee, anyone can, including you! I was totally addicted. I LOVED coffee and the caffeine rush! I drank coffee all day, everyday. I depended on it for motivation, creativity, and problem solving.

Without coffee, I became depressed, lethargic, and anxious. I would go into a panic if I couldn’t get some coffee before an important event like giving a speech, taking an exam, or leading a meeting.

It took countless attempts before I figured out how to give up coffee. Between each try, I learned a little bit more about how to quit coffee. Eventually the information and experience accumulated into a formula that proved successful. Armed with this formula I found it rather easy to give up coffee. Here’s how I did it.

Caffeine Addiction Knowledge

The first step is to learn about what you are dealing with in terms of caffeine’s addictive properties and the likely withdrawal symptoms.

Caffeine is a drug. The human body actually becomes physically addicted to it. That’s why you feel good when you get your first cup of coffee in the morning and it’s why you feel bad when you try to give it up. The pleasure that you feel when you drink your first cup comes from satisfying the caffeine cravings produced by your body’s initial withdrawal symptoms. This happens because your body wasn’t getting its periodic fix of caffeine for 6-8 hours while you slept.

The pleasures you feel are not the fulfillment of those comforting storylines that you see in coffee commercials and print ads. The pleasure is your body’s relief response to getting the caffeine that it needs to function normally!

Withdrawal symptoms from caffeine include anxiety, nausea, lethargy, muscle tension, headache, constipation, and inability to think clearly. The inability to think clearly is also one of the disadvantages to drinking too much coffee.

There is a host of emotional addictions to the caffeine high as well. Some of them include the belief that with the caffeine stimulation you will perform better and have more confidence. The rush certainly provides that illusion, but the rush is brief and when it’s gone you get the opposite effect.

In order to give up coffee successfully, it’s important to understand what your body and emotions will go through for a few days during withdrawal. The intensity of the withdrawal depends on many factors including your daily intake amount, how long you’ve been drinking coffee, and your age.

As with most drugs, physical withdrawal lasts about 3-7 days. Symptoms are the most intense at the beginning and then they taper off significantly. Psychological withdrawal lasts about 30-90 days. Symptoms are the most intense during the first 21 days and then they are sporadic and progressively easier to handle in the weeks and months that follow. These durations vary depending on the individual.

If you understand ahead of time how you’re going to feel for a few days after you give up coffee, you can prepare yourself emotionally and arrange your schedule if need be. This does not mean that you should focus on the withdrawal symptoms, however. In fact, you should focus on anything else but the subject of coffee. Selecting issues and activities to concentrate on during this period is a crucial part of preparation.

Disadvantages and Advantages to Giving Up Coffee

If you consider just the withdrawal symptoms, it would be hard to see any advantages to drinking coffee. I know that there are proponents who talk about the so-called benefits of coffee. I wonder who’s distributing this information… the coffee companies?

Although coffee is not anywhere near as bad for you as cigarettes, I find it interesting how the brainwashing methods are similar. After you’ve seen or listened to thousands of coffee commercials over dozens of years you can understand how you associate the good life and pleasure with drinking coffee. These are that same tactics cigarette companies used during the early to mid 20th century to get millions of people to use their product.

Coffee and cigarettes are two of the greatest products ever conceived. Why? Because they are both highly additive! Your eventual physical need (withdrawal symptoms) forces you to buy their product on a continual basis. How much different is that from a person on the street corner who sells crack cocaine or methamphetamine? Is this discussion making you angry? I hope so. Use it as one of your motivations to give up coffee, and cigarettes too!

I was motivated to give up coffee because of the physical and emotional seesaw I experienced throughout the day and the difficulty I had sleeping at night. The reason that it’s difficult to sleep at night — assuming the you don’t drink coffee too late in the evening — is that your body is in the beginning stages of withdrawal.

I grew tired of relying on a drug for my motivation, enthusiasm, and energy. Coffee’s promise of providing energy is a crock! You’ll find out when you quit that it actually takes it away!

I also wanted to give up coffee in order to improve my appearance. Coffee stained my teeth and made my face look drawn and tired.

My number one reason for giving up coffee was my determination not to be controlled through addiction or brainwashing to use a drug that did me no good.

Come up with you own list of reasons for giving up coffee. This doesn’t have to be a complicated task. Just jot down the most powerful reasons for you to give up coffee. Keep this list handy, as you may need to refer to it during the first few days after quitting.

Gradual Reduction, Then Replace with Green or Herbal Tea

You can give up coffee cold turkey, but why put yourself through that unless you need an unpleasant experience to refer to later to bolster your resolve.

To ease yourself off caffeine, I would recommend that you do it in these two steps.

1. Gradually reduce the amount of coffee you drink based on a predetermined schedule. Let’s say you normally drink 5 cups of coffee a day. Over a one week period, cut out one cup per day so that by the sixth day you’re at zero.
2. On your first day without coffee, which would be the sixth if you follow step 1, replace the habit and preparation ritual with green or non-caffeinated herbal tea. Green tea has the lowest amount of caffeine of most teas, but don’t expect any similar coffee rush – it will be very mild.

Your best choice is non-caffeinated herbal tea. But if you need a little transitional assistance, as I did, drink green tea for few days and then non-caffeinated herbal tea for a few days after that.

Sneak Away From the Addiction and Habit

During the first couple of weeks, and especially during the first few days, you may get messages from your physical and psychological body that screams, “I want some caffeine!” What it wants is the rush! It wants the pleasure of satisfying the cravings! Your mind may come up with some amazing excuses, justifications, and reasons for giving in. The key is to recognize them for what they are — caffeine cravings – and ignore them.

The way I dealt with this was to postpone consideration of whether I was going to give in or even give up coffee forever. The idea of forever was a difficult concept to get my head around at that point. I would tell myself, “I’ll think about that later on or tomorrow. I have other issues to deal with right now.”

Looking back on how I played this game with myself several months later, I defined it as sneaking away from the addiction and habit. Trying to deal with it intellectually when you are in the middle of physical and psychological withdrawal is a game that you can easily lose. If you consider how your brain is in an upheaval and misfiring during withdrawal, you can understand why you cannot trust it for a few days. All it knows is that it needs and wants caffeine to function normally and it will tell you anything to get it. When a person quits smoking cigarettes, they go through the same thing but it is much more intense. I know what it’s like, I quit smoking as well.

The stronger the reasons you identify for giving up coffee, the lesser the impact that the physical and psychological withdrawal will have on you, if any. My reasons as discussed above, were a diverse mix fuel by some strong feelings of being fed up and angry.

I was tired of being controlled by caffeine. I was tired of the negative impact caffeine was having on my body and emotions. I was tired of the stains coffee was putting on my teeth. And I was tired of being a victim of the brainwashing by the coffee companies.

I do not believe that coffee companies are evil enterprises selling a product that maims and kills like the cigarette companies do. But I can not see any benefits to putting their product into my body. Knowing how much better I feel physically and emotionally without it is certainly solid evidence to me. When you give up coffee, I think you’ll feel the same.

Brad Paul
http://www.guruhabits.com/

Copyright Brad Paul

To see the original article with graphics and links, click: http://www.guruhabits.com/give-up-coffee.html. Brad Paul is the founder of Guru Habits.com, which provides FREE self improvement and lifestyle enhancement resources. Brad left home at 15, lived in a boy’s home, graduated college with honors, headed a marketing group responsible for $400 million in annual sales, wrote 3 books, and now works on projects that improve people’s lives.

Author: Brad Paul
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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If you are looking for a drug that will lower your risk of developing diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and colon cancer, than continue reading this article. If you are looking for a drug that could lift your mood and help headaches, keep reading this article. If you are looking for a drug that could protect against cavities, keep on reading.

The good news is, this drug is easily accessible and is legal! It is coffee! Yes coffee, the much maligned and beloved beverage. Coffee recently made headlines across North America for possibly cutting the risk of the latest disease epidemic, type 2 diabetes. The real news seems to be that the more you drink, the better it is for you!

Reduces Disease Risk Harvard researchers studied 126,000 people for as long as 18 years. The researchers calculate that compared to not drinking coffee, downing one to three cups of caffeinated coffee daily can reduce diabetes risk by single digits. But if you drink six cups or more each day, the risk for men is slashed by 54% and for women it is cut by 30% over java avoiders.

Although scientists advise that “more research is needed” before they can recommend you do overtime at Starbucks to avoid developing diabetes, the finding are very similar to those in a less- publicized study by Dutch scientists And perhaps more importantly it’s the latest of hundreds of studies suggesting that coffee may be something of a health food- especially in high amounts.

There have been some 19.000 studies in recent decades examining coffee’s impact on heath.

Thomas DePaulis, PHD, a research scientist at Vanderbilt University’s Institute for Coffee Studies says, “Overall, the research shows that coffee is far more healthful than it is harmful.” The institute conducts its own research and tracks coffee studies from around the world. “For most people, very little bad comes from drinking it, but a lot of good.”

Consider this: At least six studies indicate that people who drink coffee on a regular basis are up to 80% less likely to develop Parkinson’s, with three showing the more they drink, the lower the risk. Other research shows that compared to not drinking coffee, at least two cups daily can translate to a 25% reduced risk of colon cancer, an 80% drop in liver cirrhosis risk, and nearly half the risk of gallstones.

Drinking coffee regularly even offsets some of the damage causes by other vices, some research indicates. “People who smoke and are heavy drinkers have less heart disease and liver damage when they regularly consume large amounts of coffee compared to those who don’t,” says DePaulis.

Some evidence also suggests that coffee may help manage asthma and even control attacks when medication if unavailable, stop a headache, boost mood and even help prevent cavities.

What causes the coffee to benefit your health? Is it the caffeine in the coffee? The oodles of antioxidants in coffee beans, some of which become especially potent during the roasting process? Even the mysterious properties that warrant this intensive study?

The answer is yes to all of these.

Some of the health benefits of coffee are a direct result of its higher caffeine content: An eight ounce cup of drip brewed coffee contains about 85 mg–about three and half times more than the same serving of tea or cola or one ounce of chocolate.

DePaulis recently said that the evidence is very strong that regular coffee consumption reduces risk of Parkinson’s disease and for that; it’s directly related to the caffeine in coffee. In fact, Parkinson’s drugs that are now being developed contain a derivative of caffeine based on this evidence.

Coffee is a Performance Enhancer It’s also caffeine–and not coffee, per se–that makes java a powerful aid in enhancing athletic endurance and performance, says physiologist and longtime coffee researcher Terry Graham, PhD, of the University of Guelph in Canada. So powerful, that until recently, caffeine in coffee or other forms was deemed a “controlled” substance by the Olympic Games Committee, meaning that I could only in small, designated amounts by competing athletes.

“What caffeine likely does is stimulate the brain and nervous system to do things differently,” he says. “That may include signaling you to ignore fatigue or recruit extra units of muscle themselves, causing them to produce a stronger contraction. But what’s amazing about it is that unlike some performance enhancing manipulation some athletes do that are specific for strength or sprinting or endurance, studies show that caffeine positively enhances all of these things.”

Simply put, if you consume enough caffeine- whether from coffee or another source- and you will likely run faster, last longer and be stronger. What is enough? As little as one cup can offer some benefit, but the real impact comes from at lease two mugs, says Graham. By comparison, it would take at least eight glasses of cola to get the same effect, which would not be good if running say a marathon.

The harder you work the more benefit you would receive from the caffeine. “Unfortunately, where you see the enhancing effects from caffeine is in hard-working athletes, who are able to work longer and somewhat harder,” says Graham, who has studied the effects of caffeine and coffee for nearly two decades. “I you are a recreational athlete who is working out to reduce weight or just feel better, you are not pushing yourself hard enough to get an athletic benefit from coffee or other caffeinated products.

That may explain why in that new study at Harvard, those drinking decaf coffee but not tea beverages also showed a reduced diabetes risk, though it was half as much as those drinking coffee.

Chris Weaver is the president of C.C.W. Enterprises of Brantford Ontario Canada. His company also owns My Coffee Gourmet (http://www.mycoffeegourmet.com) whick offers its customers gourmet coffee beans, flavored coffee and Pickwick Tea.

Author: Chris Weaver
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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