"caffeine" news and stories

...well, not forever. Technically, only for 21 days, along with all animal products, caffeine, sugar, alcohol, and gluten. Oh, right: and she's calling it a "cleanse," in hopes that it will prepare her for her "inner makeover."

Now, giving up alcohol, caffeine, and animal products is a difficult decision, and one that shouldn't be taken lightly.

But, (big surprise), I have several issues with this. First of all, I dislike the word "cleanse." It's often associated with that ridiculous maple syrup/cayenne pepper diet, and don't even try to convince me that it works, because depriving yourself of food is simply unhealthy, I don't care if you feel "amazing" or not (most likely, that "amazing, high" feeling is the effects of oxygen depletion to your brain, sweetie).

All I can say is, "wow". I came across these Engobi snacks on Cakehead, and I couldn't get over it. I mean, caffeinated snack chips? It doesn't sound very good to me, and Cakehead didn't give the snacks a great review. Surely you can't be so hard up for a caffeine fix that you can't grab a cup of coffee, or even bring some chocolate covered beans with you.

One commenter in Cakehead mentioned some caffeinated Japanese candies. What do you think? Is this a good product? What are some of your favorite caffeine products?

Japan is always ahead of us when it comes to the latest trends: tech gadgets, game shows, clothing. And now, coffee and cigarettes...in the same package!

Oh, this is so great for coffee and cigarette addicts aficionados. Not really sure what the drink is though. Emblem Black Georgia Coffee? Is it cold coffee or coffee put in a soda can?

The post title, by the way, is from the song "Black Coffee." Here's my favorite version, by Julie London.

[via Boing Boing]

Thanks to the huge role the media plays in our daily lives, pregnant women now have way more to worry about than even ten years ago. Getting pregnant means you are suddenly victim to tons of fear-inducing claims and studies, each new one seeming to contract the last. Exercise! Don't over-burden yourself! Eat chocolate! Go easy on the fat!

And now, claims that a little bit of caffeine probably won't hurt you are challenged by a recent study in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology that suggests that women who consume more than 200 mg of caffeine (one small cup of coffee) a day are at a greater risk for miscarrying.

In the study, documented in a NY Times article, 1,063 pregnant women were interviewed about their caffeine intake. Out of the total, 172 women had previously miscarried. The rate of miscarriages was higher in those who consumed 200 mg or more per day (24.5% out of 164) compared to those who drank no caffeine during their pregnancy (12.5% out of 264 women).

But of course, miscarriage occurs for reasons other than caffeine, some which can't be explained away through a study. But I'd love to hear from women who were once or are currently pregnant (or their significant others) to get their take on this news. Do reports like this make you nervous? Do you drink caffeine now? If so, would this study make you think twice? Or do you eschew science in place of good ol' common sense?

Source

Hey, it's always National Tea Month is my house.

This is a good opportunity to update everyone on my tea infuser search. I've switched from store bought tea bags to loose tea, and my first purchase was this Tovolo tea infuser. It works great (and looks funky, a nice bonus). I also bought the Melitta tea filters, which are something I didn't even know existed until recently. My local supermarkets didn't have them, but I found them at Borders. They're like big tea bags, but you can put as much loose tea in as you want, and they make a fine cup of tea (I wanted to say "fine cup of Joe" there, but that's coffee - does tea have a slang term that's a name too?).

Tell me in the comments how you make your tea (tea bag, infuser, etc) and what brands of tea you always come back to. For me, it's been Twinings.