24. CAFFEINE “PICKS UP” THEN “LETS DOWN”
After spending time with my childhood friend, I came away feeling great concern for her 20-year-old daughter. Jane is 20-years-old and drinks coffee daily. She has had attention deficit disorder for years and claims coffee makes her think more clearly.
This raises a big question. I am not an authority on ADD, but I got turned off this all-American drink when I was a young married in my twenties. My husband and I went to an evening social event where coffee was served. Not wanting to appear naïve, I took the cup that was offered and slowly drank the whole amount. I didn’t like the taste, but it was important to me to be accepted.
I remember that others in the room drank like they enjoyed it, but I thought to myself, “If I get this cup down, I will not drink another.” Perhaps I would have found the coffee more tolerable if I had added a little sugar, but I didn’t want to ask for anything extra.
I paid a price for conforming to the crowd. We arrived home from the engagement about 10:00 and went to bed. I tossed and turned. I got up to use the bathroom, then went back to bed to toss and turn some more. It seemed like there was a driving force inside me telling me to get up and start my day. I felt like I could conquer the world. I tried counting sheep. I tried to empty my mind. Nothing worked. I laid awake for what seemed hours, then fell asleep and had a difficult time getting up the next morning.
My body was not used to any drink but water, and the amount of caffeine in one cup of coffee wreaked havoc with me for several hours. Those who love coffee consider the drink harmless, but for me, it was damaging, making me know that any food or drink that drives away sleep has to be harmful.
I have heard this order made many times when I have eaten in a restaurant with friends or family and the waitress asks what we want to drink: “Please bring me coffee. I can’t really get moving until I get my shot of caffeine in the morning.” Before the meal is over, the coffee cup may have been filled two or three times. Undoubtedly, the person has drunk coffee for so many years that he has an addiction that requires coffee to start his day. The amount he drinks has no noticeable effect, showing that the body will develop toleration to this drug.
Those occasions always remind me of my experience many years ago. Perhaps if I had continued drinking coffee, I would have developed an addiction to it. I would have learned to like the taste and I wouldn’t be able to walk out my door each morning with only cereal, fruit and nuts in my stomach. I would have perked a pot of coffee and drank a cup or two to give me the “pick me up” I would have needed to start my day.
Remembering how the coffee “let me down” in the middle of the night so that I finally fell asleep, I would keep the pot warm. Instead of drinking water mid-morning as I do now, I would have another cup of coffee to “pick me up.”
Coffee may help ADD, but Jane must bear in mind that it is also an addictive poison. Fifty cups of coffee would kill a 120-pound person. Knowing that, I hope Jane will search for another way to treat her ADD besides drinking this addictive poison.
LET YOUR “PICK ME UP” BE WATER!
MEXICAN CHARRO BEANS WITH BROWN RICE
Soak 2 1/2 pounds pintos overnight
Add:
the juice of 2 limes
1 chopped onion
3 chopped tomatoes
1 jar green chiles (don’t drain)
3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 t cumin
1 t sea salt
Add all ingredients to the soaked beans, bring to a boil
and simmer until done, 3 to 6 hours.
FLLUFFY BROWN RICE
Dextrinize 1 cup of washed brown rice in a dry skillet
over a medium-low burner until golden brown, stirring
constantly. Place in a pan with 2 cups of water, bring
to a boil, cover and simmer one hour. Serve the beans
over the rice.