Caffeine

Are energy drinks bad for you? They're not going to kill you. But many of these increasingly popular drinks contain significant amounts of caffeine, which can make you jittery and cause insomnia. They also contain loads of sugar, which nobody needs. Worse, these drinks are often marketed to kids and teenagers, many of whom already struggle with weight and don't need to add caffeine addiction to their troubles. "Energy drinks are rip-offs," said Bruce Silverglade, legal director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based consumer watchdog group.

CHICAGO -- Pregnant coffee drinkers, take heart: A new study provides evidence that the mother's moderate caffeine intake will not cause a baby to be born early or underweight. Doctors still agree it's probably not a good idea to have 10 grande lattes a day. But with the new data, "you're essentially telling women, `Don't worry about it.' We can drink coffee during pregnancy and not have problems," said Dr. Marilynn Frederiksen, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Does that cup of decaffeinated coffee give you a jolt? It may, because almost all decaf coffee contains some caffeine, a new University of Florida study shows. The results could have implications for people told to avoid caffeine because of certain medical conditions such as high blood pressure, kidney disease or anxiety disorders, according to the study reported in this month's Journal of Analytical Toxicology. "If someone drinks five to 10 cups of decaffeinated coffee a day, the dose of caffeine could easily reach the level in a cup or two of caffeinated coffee," said co-author Dr. Bruce Goldberger.

I was wondering whether you could answer a few questions for me about coffee and asthma. I've tried coffee, and it certainly works for my asthma! Does it have to be regular coffee, or can it be decaf? Should the coffee be brewed, or can it be instant? Physicians have known about the beneficial effect of coffee for treating asthma since at least 1859 (Edinburgh Medical Journal). Research has shown that caffeine can open airways and improve asthma symptoms (New England Journal of Medicine, March 22, 1984)

When it comes to your heart, coffee has taken a couple of lumps in the past year, although in a recent large study it got a clean bill of health. Tea, on the other hand, consistently is portrayed as a heart-healthy beverage, although the Food and Drug Administration recently denied that claim once again. Coffee and tea have been studied intensely in the past several years, and while medical science has not definitively decided how the popular beverages affect the heart, it is inching closer to a conclusion.

Did you know?-- All types of stress - for example, psychological or heat stress - can increase a person's sensitivity to caffeine. - Mayo Clinic

We've all been there, yawning, tired, brain dead and in desperate need of a quick-hit energy boost. In times like those, we love our caffeinated beverages. A nice, cold soda perks us right up and goodness knows, we will always love, love, love our coffee. But mixed together in a "carbonated beverage that fuses Coke effervescence with coffee essence ... to enliven your senses and welcome new possibilities?" Effervescent coffee? Carbonated fusion java? Soda and coffee, all at once in one brew?

A friend says his trainer told him it is mentally and physically beneficial to take four to six weeks off. I know that this is true for runners, but I have never heard this about weight training. It would seem that the lack of endorphins that your body is used to producing could lead to mild depression. What is your take on this? Most trainers agree that if you take time off from your workout, you're going to need to rebuild again when you return to the gym. If you take a mental-health break, that's fine.

Caffeine is the most widely used stimulant in the world, consumed in coffee, tea and soft drinks by hundreds of millions of people to get started in the morning and as a pick-me-up during the day. That people like the jolt they get from caffeine is no secret, but what caffeine does in the brain has been unknown. Now Austrian researchers using brain imaging technology have discovered that caffeine perks up the part of the brain involved in short-term memory, which helps us focus attention on the tasks at hand.