Coffee Addiction

Health Effects of Coffee Addiction

Coffee is undoubtedly the most cherished hot beverage of many developed countries, particularly those in North America and Europe. For quite some time, health-conscious individuals and researchers have been worrying about the health effects of caffeine (the active chemical component in coffee) and the craving for coffee that has come to be called ‘coffee addiction’. The findings of these studies suggest the need to keep the intake of coffee in moderation due to the harmful effects of caffeine.

Harmful Effects of Coffee Addiction

Coffee is a stimulating drink and its immediate effect on the body and mind is invigorating-augmenting both physical and mental energy. The later effects of coffee are, however, quite the opposite and even dangerous. Coffee stimulates the brain by causing the body to release stress hormones in the blood. The presence of these hormones induces an unusual alertness and practically robs the body and mind of their energy by excessive stimulation. The result is an irritable mood with feelings of fatigue and bouts of depressed mood. To make things worse, coffee also interferes with the night sleep and perpetuates the feelings of fatigue. To regain the vigor, one needs to take more coffee and hence the problem of coffee addiction. Before long, the coffee addict faces other health effects like acidity (heartburn), irregular heartbeat, and dark circles around the eyes. Other health effects of coffee addiction are also being verified by researchers.

Symptoms of Coffee Addiction

Common symptoms experienced by coffee addicts include excessive craving for coffee (the primary symptoms), a feeling of fatigue that lingers throughout the day (except when taking coffee and some time after it), heartburn, irritability, sleep disturbances (lack of restorative sleep), and stiffness or discomfort in the neck, shoulders, back, stomach, hands, and legs. Anxiety, constipation, heaviness, difficulty in concentrating, dizziness, and pre-menstrual syndrome, or PMS, (in women) are other symptoms of coffee addiction.

Coming Off Coffee Addiction

It is important for coffee addicts to reduce their daily coffee intake or give it up altogether. For one thing, quitting coffee is not so easy since the drink is an addiction for many people and cause disturbing effects if left or brought down suddenly. Withdrawal symptoms of coffee addiction include fatigue, nausea, headaches, difficulty in concentrating and poor orientation, increase in the intensity of PMS (in women) constipation, and frequent memory lapses. To avoid the severity of withdrawal symptoms, it is advisable that one tries to come off coffee gradually. This would mean taking half as much coffee daily as one is addicted to in routine; the missing half being replaced by green tea or herbal tea that is good for health. The remaining daily intake of coffee should be gradually reduced to two cups of coffee, or less, by replacing with herbal tea, soup, or fresh fruit juice.

Flavored Coffee

Flavored Coffee: Your Favorite Beverage With A Special Twist!

Coffee lovers everywhere no longer have to settle for the same old flavors when choosing a blend of their favorite beverage. Moving beyond the darkness and mildness of coffee flavor, coffee manufacturers are beginning to offer flavored coffee in several different varieties. These coffees are now available in dozens of different flavors, and can be purchased at your local grocer, as well as online. Our expert team of coffee lovers went on a taste testing spree of some of the more popular varieties of flavored coffee. Once the caffeine rush wore off, and they were able to get a few hours of sleep again, they sat down and reported to us what their favorite types of flavored coffee were.

The "Typical" Flavors

Of course we're certain that you've heard of the most common types of coffee. Even though the flavors may not be new to you, they were still among the top choices in our panel. Flavors like hazelnut and amaretto topped the list when our panel was asked their all time favorite type of flavored coffee; but lesser know flavors such as Irish cream (all the flavor with none of the kick!) and cinnamon were also quite popular.

Dessert Coffees

Next on the list of favorites were the dessert coffee types. Of these, the chocolate and raspberry combination seemed to be the most popular, with peppermint flavored coffee a close second. Both blends were dark and rich as a dessert coffee should be, and carried all of the flavor their names bespoke. Other popular flavors were caramel and toffee flavored coffee, as well as the ever popular French vanilla.

Fruit Coffees

Some of the more unusual types of flavored coffee we found were available in several different fruit flavors. These unusual flavors came in varieties such as Blueberry flavored coffee, orange chai coffee, and even apple flavored coffee.

With so many different flavors to choose from, you may spend years tasting thousands of different flavors before you find your favorite. There are classics like chocolate flavored coffee, and more modern flavors like maple pecan. Whichever you choose as your favorite, you're sure to be pleased with the many different varieties available. And if you have a coffee lover in your life, you can also purchase gift baskets with several different varieties of flavored coffee inside, so that he or she can choose their favorite flavor, as well.