It's no secret that we programmers consume more coffee (or caffine products) per indervidual in any given time than any other group (obviously with a few exceptions).
Generally each cup of mine is with sugar, a tiny amount of milk and enough bean goodness to drive a freight train for a month [:D].
The question is... how do you like your coffee?
I drink about 2 cups of coffee in the morning(? - well afternoon when I wake up) before Uni, then just drink Tea afterwards, and then kinda just easily manage to stay awake till 2am each night.
Generally I find that too much coffee is kinda bad for programming, as it'll get me far too finiky and figety so less coding gets done.
Caffiene is good for twitch reflex gaming though :)
I'm a bit of a health nut myself so generally I have a fair bit of energy. "Eat more" is what I say (but do exercise to keep the metabolism going) - generally a better tactic than using caffiene. Drinking heaps of water is good too, caffiene dehydrates too much, lose concentration span.
Another 2c...
Take one mug and add 1 or 2 heaped teaspoons of nescafe gold and 1 level teaspoon of white sugar. Add hot water until mug is almost overflowing. Place on saucer with 3 arnotts nice or mum's choc-chip biscuits for dunking.
If I don't have at least 1 coffee each day, I end up with a splitting headache. =[ Damn caffiene addiction.
Well My coffee.. HEHE.. Gotta be percolated Coffee, white, Straight up. For a Quick Fix Double Shot Short Blacks.
Hot Mocha though is for relaxation Coffee.
And a Good sized Capacino for a long discussion.
If Coffee is Unavailable Will resort to a Red Eye, V, or Lift Plus. Any energy Drink.
He He.. Coffee Is Important to a coder, though when I have a few Scotches, my code so much better. I look at it the following day and question how it was possible why does it work, and why is it so fast. but hey i dont question it for long cause it does what i needed it to.
0xBaaDf00d,
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Too much blood in my caffeine system.
quote:Originally posted by 0xBaaDf00d
Too much blood in my caffeine system.
I always thought a drip right into the ole blood stream would be a much quicker way :)
I am fussy with my coffee so I can't stand "generic office coffee". Normally its at least a Mocha Kenya but when I pull out the ole brew pot its my Folgers coffee. Its a US import I know - Shoot me. Sad part is that even as an import its still cheaper then most of the coffee here. And its got the best smell *drool*
I think an average coffee day for me is about 6 or 7 cups of coffee. I normally do 1 small spoon of coffee and 1 small spoon of sugar - both level. I try to keep away from moo milk so I use soy milk.
As for coffee messing up your system I am proof that it doesnt. I drink a coffee before bed and go right to sleep! I am way past the coffee affecting me stage. I am just feeding my addiction.
Its my one bad habit. I dont smoke or do drugs. My drinking is kept to about once a month at school social functions - Canberra City Walk be very afraid!
I am the opposite of you, Jacana. I haven't drunk coffee in about a year (it was on a social occasion, so hey.. I was pressured! ;)). If I drink coffee now (say, with just two tea spoons of it), that'll pretty much gurantee me staying awake for another 24 hours... Where I used to work, I did have coffee in the morning at times, but I usually felt so crook for the rest of the day.. Down with coffee!! *boo!!* :) 7 cups of coffee a day! Yikes! :)
There's plenty of pros and cons to coffee in terms of health, it does depend on your bodies natural metabolic rate. If you are fit and on the lean side of the body mass index then coffee generally does more harm than good - you should probably have enough energy as it is and you probably don't need the extra kick.
If you are on the not so lean side and don't do much exercise, the increase in metabolic activity can be good for you except in the case where you over-stress your heart for a prolonged period of time. If you are at the point where you body's metabolism is really dependent on coffee, then don't go cold turkey - it really screws you up - you have to make some pretty big lifestyle changes in order to stay healthy off the caffeine and maintain a reasonable amount of activity. :)
Also it can fiddle with your blood pressure if you aren't careful, but this isn't a huge problem for most people.
If anything it 'statistically' has more effect over a prolonged period of time (like ten years of ridiculous consumption) rather than being able to notice anything in the short term.
This has been a public service announcement :)
Now I can definitely say that Coke and Jolt aren't good for you :)
Contain *too* many simple carbohydrates (there's obviously acceptable levels of everything), not good for consistent blood glucose levels, not so good for the internals.
I can't talk though, I drink way too much Farmer's Union Iced Coffee and that has more sugar by volume than coke.
quote:Originally posted by Maitrek
There's plenty of pros and cons to coffee in terms of health, it does depend on your bodies natural metabolic rate.If you are on the not so lean side and don't do much exercise, the increase in metabolic activity can be good for you except in the case where you over-stress your heart for a prolonged period of time.
If you are at the point where you body's metabolism is really dependent on coffee, then don't go cold turkey - it really screws you up
Also it can fiddle with your blood pressure if you aren't careful, but this isn't a huge problem for most people.
Lol :) Thanks for all of that!
I will say that you have hit on quite a few of the right areas. When I had time (and $$$) I was going to the gym. I was told that coffee can be good because it does exactly what you said. Speeds up your metabolic rate.
The down side of the addiction (as you said) is horrid. It can be so nasty to kick! Lovely migraines for a couple of days. Long live asprin!
As for heartrate - again you are correct. I have quite low blood pressure normally and was prone to blacking out from time to time. Since having more coffee I haven't had a blackout. Says good stuff to me :)
On the bad side of that - you will find that it triggers a fight or flight response in your body. Thus the increased heart rate etc. This also causes your vessles to restrict and slow down circulation. I find that my hands get cold quite easily. Tho I had poor circulation to start with!
Coffee is really my one major "bad" in life. I have a well balanced diet otherwise!
Also read someone talking about simple carb's! Those are so no-no! Your system ends up turning them into fat because it can not use them up fast enough. Simple carb's are the root to all evil. I am sure Dr Atkins would agree - if he were still alive. The only really good carb's for your body are complex ones. Slow burn!
I have been trying to watch what I eat a bit. Not a diet :) Just better general eating habits and carb's have been quite interesting to learn about.
I realise this has totally gone off coffee so I am just going to shut up and go back to coffee now.....
*drinks coffee*
if you are in canberra, the iced coffee at valentinos in civic is the best, i used to hang out with morgan jaffit game designer at irrational a while back, playing go, near the end of freedom force work -- *all* afternoon
be warned tho, an iced coffee ever afternoon for 2 weeks has the adverse side effect of making you gain ~ 5 kilos ;)
I probably don't drink that much - but I classify as a Uni student not a real programmer - but I have one sugar, and one teaspoon of coffee and bit of milk...I reserve coffee for emergencies when I really *really* need to stay awake.