Caffeine

Guest wrote:I will have to see if my library has that book.

Another book that you should probably read is "The Omega Three Connection" by Dr Andrew L. Stoll. It's about how the deficiency of omega-3 essential fatty acids in the diet is one of the main causes of mental illness. It is an incredibly well researched and written book with recomendations for the treatment of a number of psychiatric problems through diet.

My own view is that our bodies evolved eating a specific diet for 40,000 years then 10,000 years ago we discovered relatively simple agricultural methods. It is only in the past 100 years that we started over-processing our food and our bodies and brains simply don't work well on processed food.
The increase in mental health problems as well as cancer, heart disease and diabetes have all increased in direct correlation with this change in our diet.
If you want your mind and body to function optimally the only answer is to eat the foods we evolved with.
For detailed information on this subject I can recomend "The Paleolithic Prescription" by S. Boyd Eaton.

this has really made me think. cause well, i have been taking medication along with other stuff to take as needed for my migranes since i was 9. everything that i was supposed to "take as needed" was basically large amounts of advil and excedrin migrane.

advil has caffine in it, though i am not sure of how much. one excedrin has supposedly the same amount as "three cups of coffee" according to my doctor, but i dont really what that means.

anyway, yeah, my mom is one of those moms that would get me caffinated stuff from coffee shops if i asked, but i know better now. just one small can make me feel more panicy then id like.

but never until now did i make the connection between that and the medication i take.. (shut up, im only 14..) i guess since caffine makes me really nervious, it probably isnt the best idea since i have ocd, an anxiety disorder. i dont think caffine caused it, i remember having ocd problems back before i was diagnosed with migranes, but it probably makes it way worse. and even worse, i may get headaches because i may be dependant on the caffine in the medicines i take for headaches. ironic. im not really sure what else i could do though. im pretty much stuck. i mean perhaps being dependant on caffine and having my ocd worse is a fair trade off to getting headaches, having blurred vision, and throwing up occasionally. maybe. but i donno, ocd seem worse to me at the moment.

quiet-loner wrote:

Guest wrote:I will have to see if my library has that book.

Another book that you should probably read is "The Omega Three Connection" by Dr Andrew L. Stoll. It's about how the deficiency of omega-3 essential fatty acids in the diet is one of the main causes of mental illness. It is an incredibly well researched and written book with recomendations for the treatment of a number of psychiatric problems through diet.

My own view is that our bodies evolved eating a specific diet for 40,000 years then 10,000 years ago we discovered relatively simple agricultural methods. It is only in the past 100 years that we started over-processing our food and our bodies and brains simply don't work well on processed food.
The increase in mental health problems as well as cancer, heart disease and diabetes have all increased in direct correlation with this change in our diet.
If you want your mind and body to function optimally the only answer is to eat the foods we evolved with.
For detailed information on this subject I can recomend "The Paleolithic Prescription" by S. Boyd Eaton.

quiet-loner,

Thanks for the book recommendations. I read a good rave by Dr D Horobin on Omega 3's and schizophrenia. I took flaxseed oil for 9 months but I didn't really notice much of a change. I've read gluten is a major cause of mental illness and I've done a gluten free diet. No real change again. I've done vitamin B12 increases but that had no real effect either.

The problem, as I see it, is my distress at what I see and hear is real. It is not an illness, it is legitimate distress. No diet is going to change the horror I witness on a daily basis.

I want the pain and suffering that I (and most of us) feel to be legitimised and not fobbed of by some therapist beit a psychiatrist, psychologist, homeopath.....whatever. I am so sick of this "blame the victim" mentality.

I am not the problem.

at_the_drive_in wrote:this has really made me think. cause well, i have been taking medication along with other stuff to take as needed for my migranes since i was 9. everything that i was supposed to "take as needed" was basically large amounts of advil and excedrin migrane.

advil has caffine in it, though i am not sure of how much. one excedrin has supposedly the same amount as "three cups of coffee" according to my doctor, but i dont really what that means.

While caffeine is not harmful if taken in small doses, signs of toxicity can occur at much lower doses than the 6g acute lethal dose. In adults 1g of caffeine (about 10 cups of coffee) can cause symptoms of toxicity ie. heart palpitations, sweating, headaches, muscle tremors etc.
I don't know what the dose would be to cause such symptoms in a child, but it would be significantly lower than 1g.
It could be that the migranes you are experiencing are actually caused by symptoms of caffeine withdrawel which are relieved by pain killers containing a large dose of caffeine! I'd suggest trying to slowly wean yourself off the painkillers and soft drinks.
I wouldn't be too concerned about the occasional cup of normal strength coffee a day though because at 14 your body should be able to tolerate a cup or two per day.

Caffeine when consumed in it's more natural unprocessed forms ie. coffee, tea, cocoa etc is a very bitter tasting alkaloid which children do not naturally like the taste of. If you add a ton of sugar, some colouring and carbon dioxide children can't get enough of it though. It used to be the case that children did not drink coffee. Now however caffeinated beverages are consumed in preference to milk or water.
Could this be one of the causes in the rise of A.D.H.D.?
I don't know, but I do know that this "disease" did not exist when I went to school and we were only allowed to drink milk or water.

Anonymous wrote:According to the DSM IV coffee has it's part to play in the diagnosing of a deranged mind.

Coffee drinking, including coffee nerves (305.90);
Inability to sleep after drinking too much coffee (292.89),

Here are some others

(292.9) Shyness, also known as Asperger’sDisorder);

Shyness is NOT Asperger's Disorder, just to let you know.

I am a heavy caffeine addict. I can gulp down 2-3 liters a day and get all nervous and jumpy when I don't get at least a liter. Coffee helps me sleep because I feel really aggitated when I don't have it.
Almost my entire intake of liquid consists of coffee.
I also smoked but have managed to quit.

What astonishes me is that we can be addicted to stuff like coffee and tobacco that gives us almost no form of intoxication. Were is the reward in it?
Alcohol makes you feel like Prince Charming even if you look like $#%^. Heroin takes away all the bad things in life and makes you feel warm and comfortable. Cocaine turns you into the coolest and smartest guy on earth.
That's the kind of stuff you would think it was easy to get addicted to. But most of the civillized world is gulping down hot water sifted through burned beans, and sucking on smoldering poisonous leaves.
What does coffee and sigarettes give us except the urge for another cup of coffee and a smoke?

Hey check this out its about a women who was diagnosed schizophrenia. Later on they found out it wasn't sz it was a caffine allergy.
http://mentalhealth.about.com/library/y ... 091602.htm

An earlier few posts here mentioned the use of omega 3 fatty acids in the diet.

In the brain, Neural activity occurs as electrical impulses pass
across synapses from one nerve to another. There are various
chemicals called neurotransmitters, that carry the impulse across the
junction. At the receiving end, where those neurotransmitters attach
to the next nerve, is very critical, and yet most experts are not
acutely aware: a very high proportion of the chemical makeup of that
receiving part (dendritic) is composed of docosahexaenoic acid. When
there is insufficient DHA in the body to make the dendritic reception
site properly, the body will substitute trans fatty acids in making
that part of the brain cells. If you will notice, in DHA, the
molecule by virtue of the 6 cis double bonds, is shaped in a
particular bent up way, but trans fatty acids are bent very
differently. Because of this, those brain receivers do not work
properly, producing such things as depression.

Also, although there is a body system of biosynthesis of the DHA, yet
when there is too much omega 6 fatty acids in the body (as in most
vegetable oils), the biogenesis of DHA is lost because the necessary
enzymes are used up by the omega 6 biogenesis of arachidonic acid,
which when not balanced properly produces brain irritation.

Also, when a child's brain is developing, if there is not enough
available docosahexaenoic acid to develop the brain properly, then
the child's IQ will suffer significantly and permanently.

Best sources dietarily:
1. Mackerel, 2. Pink Salmon, and also other salmon to a lesser
extent, 3. Sardines (from cold water sources, not tropical), 4.
Herring.
Also of course, fish oils such as cod liver oil.
Note these all are cold water ocean fish.
Other ocean fish also have some, but not nearly what these do.
Mackerel is number one.


The content of docosahexaenoic acid in
mother's milk depends heavily on her diet, i.e., how much ocean fish
she eats, especially the abovementioned ones. Smarter kid when she
eats lots of these things during pregnancy/lactation.

The rumour that sardines are good for the brain has been proven to be
very true.

Another point, DHA has six double bonds, every one of which can and
will break upon oxidizing cooking. Translates: Best content of DHA
and also the necessary EPA (with its five double bonds) will be when
items containing them are not exposed to open cooking. Example: do
not cook cod liver oil. Example: canned salmon is best without
further cooking. The original cooking was in the can, without
oxygen, and so with negligible oxidation of the DHA and EPA.

So, to get to the point you want to hear:
When it is found that omega 3 fatty acids can help with brain function and certain mental illnesses, it is primarily referring to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and to a lesser extent eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). The omega 3 fatty acids found in for example flax seed oil, although helpful, yet they need to be transformed biochemically to DHA and EPA to be of primary value, and if the person is connsuming much omega 6 fatty acids (vegetable oils), then the needed enzymes are used up, preventing DHA production. Therefore, to get the real benefit, you need to be taking DHA and EPA more directly. And the physiology of how this happens was briefly stated above.

Food for thought.

Just for the sake of the subject matter, I happen to be one of those who does not take well to caffeine.

I have been hospitalized twice because of drinking coffee.
I can fugue or hallucinate or seize with it.
Just for the record.

Wow!Thats interesting.
Why is coffee so damn hard to give up?Iv tried so often but my mind tells me I NEED IT.Without caffeine I feel like im not quite there,spacey,even the taste I need.The whole smoke coffee thing.Surely theres a way?