I've just put a link at Vegan Voice to a coffee site though I don't know if it is Amerian or English. But after an exchange of emails, decided to exchange links with them. Check it out here: http://www.coffeecaffeine.com/coffee...deorganic.html
What are your opinions on the consumption of coffee?
(organic and fair-trade, of course!)
I have never been a big drinker of coffee, but lately my consumption
has been increasing, I usually try and stop for a month or two so I dont
feel so dependent on the stuff...
I know moderation of anything, is a good thing.
I am a bit confused, because articles in the past I've read, have
always been indifferent, or inconclusive of the daily consumption of coffee..
and I've also heard it depleats your body of nutrients...
I think that the occasional coffee is fine, but since I tend to use it too much it is better for me to not have it except on the rarest of occasions.
There are numerous reports quoting both the health benefits or otherwise of coffee; but considering so many people around the world drink it - I would stick to the idea of moderation.
"if compassion is extreme, then call me an extremist"
I would never even dream of drinking coffee or tea. Of course, it's a part of everyday life for most people here in Britain. But so is eating animals.
If you want to drink these things, go ahead! It won't have a MASSIVE impact on your life. But it's certainly unhealthy.
As a general rule, when you consume products that purport to give you an "energy burst", they have to get that additional energy from somewhere. And that source tends to be your body's natural "backup supply" of energy.
So when you use up such energy, you need to somehow get it back. So if you consume coffee or tea every day, it may be a long time before your body can regain its natural energy supply.
I'm with Stu. Latley there has been some press saying that coffee contains some compounds that are beneficial but overall it strips your body of nutrients, and is massivley acidic which is bad for you. Once in a while it won't hurt you but best not to have it. If you have any pre-existing medical conditions it can exacerbate them. You eczema people stay away from it. That's why I don't drink it.
I guess the other issue is what people have already noted it depends where it comes from. Most countries and peoples who produce it are significantly ripped off in virtual slavery, like cocoa production. I don't like that either.
All this coffee talk. I am now going downstairs to brew a fresh pot of shade-grown, organic, family owned beans roasted by a little non-corporate business. With all the caffeine, of course.
I'll be back soon, typing faster.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein
I rarely have coffee. I'm a tea drinker - 6 or 7 cups a day. Tea is an elixir of youth and health. I, too, have seen reports of the benefits of coffee but, as others have said, you have to weigh the benefits against the dangers.
Strangely, I can drink coffee last thing at night and then sleep like a baby.
I don't mean that I sleep in a nappy. Just that I have a sound sleep. This is more to do with the fact that I have a clear conscience.
I avoid caffeinated coffee and tea like the plague, although I drink decaf, mainly tea though. If I have more than one cup of coffee I get really jittery and anxious and can often develop headaches.
i suffered from bad anxiety and insomnia during my exams and didn't realise coffee could trigger this i was drinking LOTS of VERY strong coffee, not suprising huh?
I don't really like coffee apart from the occassional 'push down plunger' coffee <how posh> but even then I have it rarely. I like proper tea (all proper tea ia theft an old anarchist saying hehehe), green tea or herbal tea (peppermint being my fav). Also rooibosch is rather groovy like normal tea without the caffine!!
I drink coffee on a daily basis too. Usually 1 or sometimes 2 cups in the morning. It's the coffee-pot kind where the water runs through the coffee and drips into the pot below.
It's always organic free-trade coffee and I don't mind paying the extra expense for it.
Also rooibosch is rather groovy like normal tea without the caffine!!
you should look this up, it's a powerful antioxident and contains many trace elements ,it's like a superfood in a cup of tea. it's originally from south africa, very alkaline too.
Rooibos is the only tea I drink, but not often. It grows naturally without caffeine, unlike other drinks that have chemicals added to get rid of the caffeine.
I drink coffee on a daily basis too. Usually 1 or sometimes 2 cups in the morning. It's the coffee-pot kind where the water runs through the coffee and drips into the pot below.
It's always organic free-trade coffee and I don't mind paying the extra expense for it.
Just like me, Roxy - 1 to 2 cups a day. I love coffee!
"Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends". ~ George Bernhard Shaw.
Rooibos is the only tea I drink, but not often. It grows naturally without caffeine, unlike other drinks that have chemicals added to get rid of the caffeine.
I came across it when i wass looking into foods that would reduce the acidity in the body. when i read the known effects of it i thought i'd better give it a go. then a lady i work with gave me some. she's froum south africa, of indian extraction. it's not to bad, what do you think Eve. i gave up coffee completely earlier this year.
I drank three cups of tea and one coffee yesterday which is a lot for me. It made me feel a bit sick Too much and I feel nervous and get a headache. I do have some really nice organic fairtrade coffee but I never have more than one cup of that a day. I think I read somewhere that coffee production is having a terrible effect on the environment in South America/South East Asia. Tons of coffee husks clogging the rivers etc. Maybe I'll give up coffee after I finish this packet.
I LOVE COFFEE! That being said, I generally feel better when I am not drinking it as often. I got better about only haveing it once or twice a week over the summer but now I have a cup almost every day. At one point last year, I was drinking so much coffee that I would wake up and have a huge headache until I had my coffee....that just isn't healthy. So as much as I love my coffee, I definitely DO feel that it is not the best thing for your body and will try to cut down on the usage of it if I can....we'll see. Taking 20 credit hours and working 15-20 hours in a psych sleep lab aren't helping with this....
I only drink decaf a couple of times a week from cafes. I have fibromyalgia, and caffeine really does me no favours. The rest of the time I drink only water.
I used to have this theory that caffiene may one day be outlawed due to all I hear about what it does to people.
But really, it doesn't do any more to me than having a slight diruetic effect.
I go on and off with coffee. I will go months without coffee, than drink it every weekday morning. I really like coffee.
I think the caffiene depends on the roast and the way it is prepared. I know darker roasts actually have less caffiene, as does espresso (as the grounds do not steep as long).
I make my coffee in one of those "posh pots with the plunger". I call it a french press!
I also drink the occasional cup of black tea and green tea during the day at work.
Insomnia is usually the sign of a guilty conscience. Anxiety is usually the sign of a guilty conscience.
i am screwed!!
not from the uk so i don't know much about tea - i drink it iced every morning but are the leaves naturally caffinated? if not why do they add caffine? if so, how do they make it that way?
I only drink decaf a couple of times a week from cafes. I have fibromyalgia, and caffeine really does me no favours. The rest of the time I drink only water.
I was reading the other day about magnesium malate. This is a combination of magnesium and malic acid. It is used by people who want to increase their strength but there was reference to it being used to relieve the pain of fibromyalgia.
No, Stu is right. By dry weight, tea has more caffeine than coffee. But the brewing methods for each are different, so the coffee beverage ends up with more caffeine in it than the tea beverage does. The caffeine from coffee is more easily absorbed by the body, too.
I was reading the other day about magnesium malate. This is a combination of magnesium and malic acid. It is used by people who want to increase their strength but there was reference to it being used to relieve the pain of fibromyalgia.
Thanks for the info! Fortunately I don't have so much pain anymore. A combination of diet/vitamins and exercise have helped me to reduce it greatly. It's tricky finding the right balance.
click the above link for the web site I found this at
While coffee and tea are both sources of caffeine, the amounts of caffeine in any single serving of these beverages varies significantly. An average serving of coffee contains the most caffeine, yet the same serving size of tea provides only 1/2 to 1/3 as much.(Ref.: Caffeine by The Institute of Food Technologists' Expert Panel on Food Safety & Nutrition.) One of the more confusing aspects of caffeine content is the fact that coffee contains less caffeine than tea when measured in its dry form. The caffeine content of a prepared cup of coffee is significantly higher than the caffeine content of a prepared cup of tea.
Coffee is great, but I don't drink it for the caffeine. Caffeine makes me sleepy, sluggish and headachey if i have too much. I only drink espresso based coffee (americano, lattes etc) and despise filter and instant. I've done loads of research (too many hours) into acquiring a good espresso machine, but ultimately I don't think I want to start drinking coffee too much. Although it works out more expensive if you do it every day (which I don't), I actually quite like going out for a coffee to the Italian deli at the end of my road. They do fairtrade/organic stuff already anyway.
"Mr Flibble - forum corruptor of innocents!!" - Hemlock
No, Stu is right. By dry weight, tea has more caffeine than coffee. But the brewing methods for each are different, so the coffee beverage ends up with more caffeine in it than the tea beverage does. The caffeine from coffee is more easily absorbed by the body, too.
i was talking about prepared coffee and tea seaside!
of course by dry wieght tea has more caffinne that coffee... a pound of coffee is like 25-35 cups of strong coffee
a pound of tea can make about 300 cups of tea...
the aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, dunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.
-henry miller
The first time I had coffee was probably in the womb. o.0
Then when I was younger, my mom would sometimes let me have the last sugary sip of her coffee.
My friends and I, in high school, used to hang out in a coffee shop, so I probably had about one cup every week or two for about a year. But then I admitted to myself that I didn't like the taste (unless I dumped tons of sugar into it) or the way it made me feel (jittery, etc.) so I stopped drinking it. Which was easy because I never relied on it to wake up or anything.
I'm trying to cut out unnecessary junk from my diet. I'm also trying to not end up a coffee junkie like my parents and grandma who have at least three cups every morning! I try not to rely on anything if I don't need to because there's a history of various kinds of addictions in my family (coffee, cigarettes, alcohol).
Now I have the added worry of B12 deficiency if I drink too much coffee or caffeinated tea... So I just won't bother with those things.
"I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants." ~A. Whitney Brown
I don't drink coffee, but I occasionally take a little sip of my partner's coffee! I used to hate it, now I find it's not so bad.
I love tea, on the other hand, except now that I'm vegan I find I rarely drink it. I know tea can interfere with mineral absorption (iron), so I tend to avoid it when I'm having mineral-rich foods. I used to eat fruit and drink tea for my afternoon snack, but lately I've been finding myself including protein-rich, mineral-rich foods like almond butter and blackstrap molasses on toast with this - as well as all other - meals/snacks, so I skip the tea to ensure better absorption. I don't really miss it, though. I still have lots of tea, will enjoy it as a treat from time to time.
The first time I had coffee was probably in the womb. o.0
Then when I was younger, my mom would sometimes let me have the last sugary sip of her coffee.
I find that Europe and the US differ greatly on their attitude to coffee. Most Americans I've spoken to are usually morally opposed to the idea of giving children coffee, treating it as a very potent drug. However, most Europeans (UK included) have no qualms about this. I grew up drinking lukewarm coffee from a beaker. I find that it doesn't have much effect on me now, which is why I rarely drink it.
Last edited by jimmeh; Jul 4th, 2010 at 01:43 PM.
Reason: sp
Those same Americans that give their children coke?
I know exactly what you mean! I used to work at a movie theater and I saw parents buying their children (even small ones) pop all the time. One time that I saw a kid young enough to be in a stroller (maybe four or five?) and he had his own bottle of Coke! Aside from the negative health effects of pop, why would any parents want their kids that hyped up on sugar and caffeine?! Oh well, maybe I'll understand whenever I'm a parent, but hopefully not.
"I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants." ~A. Whitney Brown
Re: Link: Coffee: but it's good for you! :)
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Stormypagan
Re: Coffee.. good or bad?
Oh well, maybe I'll understand whenever I'm a parent, but hopefully not.
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