It happens to almost all of us, especially here in the over-caffeinated U.S. We have a tough time getting started in the morning, so we foster a dependence on coffee not unlike our dependence on foreign oil. We refuse to believe our natural resources will cut it, and then our energy gets revving and we feel so much better, are able to shower, get the kids up and fed and out, get the animals fed and walked, sweep a little, read something, drive too long, work, and then, well, crash.
Depending on what time you had your first cup of coffee it might be 10 a.m. or it might be 11:30, but either way, now you feel like you want to curl up in the corner of your office and sleep for 15 days.
But you know the solution.
Of course, having another cup of coffee will fix everything! So it goes. And goes. Until you're nodding off at the wheel on the way home and just in time for that evening cup of joe or the after dinner cappuccino, just to keep you at your best with the loved ones, the family, the company, or whatever.
It's a tough treadmill to get off of, particularly since our whole notion of relaxing involves coffee. It's more than an oxymoron, it's just strange. Granted, this comes from the English Tea tradition and tea, too, contains a lot of caffeine, at least black tea does. But since Starbucks has become synonymous with having fun with friends or substituting dessert, or typing an article for an online women's health magazine with your latte, it seems almost ridiculous to even consider using your own energy and a lot of vegetables and water to keep you going all day.
Not to mention getting enough sleep.
But the truth is, these false energy rushes from coffee and the subsequent crashes are not good for you. Caffeine dependence can affect your sleep patterns, your mood and even your ability to handle things should your latte pipeline become unavailable.
For a great source of information on this coffee roller coaster, please follow this link: http://www.caffeinedependence.org/caffeine_dependence.html
Edited by Alison Stanton
Aimee Boyle is a regular contributor to EmpowHER. She lives with her family in CT.