Coffee and Chocolate Tidbits

Coffee first.  Sunday was a miserable day.  Rain, wind and just plain gloomy.  I made my second cup of coffee for the day and Cheryl notes its decaf and I explain that 2 cups of regular coffee too close together makes me jumpy so if I have a second one, its usually decaf.  She called me a wimp and said I was just imagining it.  Later that day I go to Medscape and there is an article on.....coffee.  Of course I had to read it.

Here's what I learned.  First, the half-life of caffeine is 3-7 hours so it takes that long for most of the caffeine to be cleared out of your system.  Next I learned that the average 5 ounce cup on coffee contains 71-220 mg of caffeine.  Then I learned that a low to moderate dose of caffeine has been shown to increase alertness, concentration and energy but a moderate dose of caffeine can cause anxiety, restlessness, insomnia and tachycardia.  To complicate that effects of caffeine I read that withdrawal from caffeine can begin within 12-24 hours and peaks at 20-48 hours but can last up to a week!  Then I learned that tolerance to the physiological effects of caffeine can begin within a few days of starting coffee.  So apparently I'm one of those wimps that don't develop a tolerance to caffeine like my darling wife does.  So much for coffee, on to chocolate.

This from the American Heart Association's Epidemiology/Lifestyle 2016 Scientific Sessions study of 1153 adults on chocolate.  The study found that 100 mg of chocolate a day lead to decreased insulin resistance, serum insulin and liver enzymes and other markers of heart disease risk.  Chocolate consumers were more likely to be younger, physically active and affluent with higher education levers and fewer chronic health issues.  So in my smart-alecky way I concluded that eating chocolate daily will keep you young, richer, smarter and healthy.

A little coffee and some chocolate every day.  Perfect.