Tampa, Fla., most caffeinated U.S. city

[Richard]

Reuters
updated 10:31 a.m. ET, Tues., Jan. 13, 2009

NEW YORK - Tampa, Fla., tops the charts as the most caffeinated city in the United States, followed by Seattle and Chicago, according to a new poll.

But the southern city did not earn the distinction simply due to its residents' fondness for coffee. People living in Tampa admitted to being the most likely to take pain relievers containing caffeine daily and to drinking lots of tea, the study showed.

"Despite Tampa being the most caffeinated, respondents in Tampa rank number one in saying they're least likely to be addicted to caffeine," said Todd Smith of HealthSaver, a healthcare discount service which commissioned the survey.

"They are number one in pain reliever consumption and they are also third most likely to do energy drink consumption," he added in an interview.

New York and Los Angeles rounded out the top five most caffeinated cities in the telephone poll of 2,005 people living in 20 major metropolitan areas in the United States.

People living in the twin cities Riverside/San Bernardino in California consumed the least amount of caffeine in the country, followed by Atlanta, San Diego, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Dallas.

Tampa moved into first place from second in 2007, while second-place Seattle, the home of coffee shop giant Starbucks, ranked the highest in coffee consumption for the second straight year.

The poll conducted by Prince Market Research looked at caffeine consumption including coffee, tea, sodas, energy drinks, chocolate, pain relievers and caffeine pills. It also questioned people about their attitudes and habits.

Forty-nine percent of all people said they drink caffeinated coffee daily, with cola and tea tied at a 20 percent daily consumption rate.

Sweets containing chocolate ranked fourth among caffeine products, with 13 percent of people saying they ate it daily.

But nearly three quarters of people who took part in the poll said they are not addicted to caffeine. Women were more likely than men to say they are addicted to caffeine, the poll showed.

The older the consumer was, the more likely they were to say that coffee would be the most difficult caffeinated product to give up.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28635976/

[Sily]

Give. Me. Coffee.

Lots of coffee.

 icon_megagrin  icon_2kaffee

[Richard]

It sounds like you’re a big coffee drinker. I usually only have 2 cups a day in the morning to get my motor started. icon_2kaffee

[Sily]

If I made it sound like I drink a lot, I apologize.  I must have my 2-3 cups in the morning - French Press - cream... you know, all that good stuff.

I hit your forum first this morning (of course!)  hehe... then I headed over to GLP and what article do I see up at the top of the page... lol... Drink Coffee, See Dead People.  Ummm.. yes I SWEAR I have seen dead people but I think it had to do with the house I was in at the time!

Link

Drink coffee, see dead people By Danny Rose
AAP
January 14, 2009 12:50pm
HEAVY coffee drinkers are more likely to have hallucinations or feel "the presence of dead people", according to new research. A UK-based study quizzed 200 students on their caffeine intake and found those with the highest consumption were also more prone to report seeing, or hearing, things that were not there.
Those who consumed a daily equivalent of seven cups of instant coffee or more - high caffeine users - were three times more likely to have extra-sensory experiences than low users, who had less than one cup daily.
The Durham University study took in all caffeine consumption including coffee but also tea, caffeinated energy drinks or chocolate bars and caffeine pills.
"This is a first step towards looking at the wider factors associated with hallucinations," said lead author, Simon Jones, a PhD student at the university's psychology department.
"Previous research has highlighted a number of important factors, such as childhood trauma, which may lead to clinically relevant hallucinations.
"Given the link between food and mood, and particularly between caffeine and the body's response to stress, it seems sensible to examine what a nutritional perspective may add."
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When under stress, the body releases a stress hormone called cortisol. More of this stress hormone is released in response to stress when people have recently had caffeine.
It is this extra boost of cortisol which may link caffeine intake with an increased tendency to hallucinate, say the scientists.
"However, one interpretation may be that those students who were more prone to hallucinations used caffeine to help cope with their experiences," said study co-author Dr Charles Fernyhough.
"More work is needed to establish whether caffeine consumption, and nutrition in general, has an impact on those kinds of hallucination that cause distress."
People taking part in the study reported "seeing things that were not there, hearing voices, and sensing the presence of dead people".
Mr Jones said such hallucinations were not necessarily a sign of mental illness, and around three per cent of people regularly heard such voices.
Results of the study are published in the academic journal Personality and Individual Differences.

[Richard]

I just saw this in the news too. I never drink a lot of coffee because it gives me the jitters, so I can’t say that I’ve ever had hallucinations from it. 

Go easy on the coffee, you could start seeing things

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:33 AM on 14th January 2009

Drinking more than seven cups of coffee a day can give you hallucinations.

Drinking cup after cup of coffee dramatically increases the risk of hallucinating, research shows.
 
Healthy young men and women who had more than seven cups of instant coffee a day were three times more likely to hear or see things that were not there than those who limited their intake to less than a cup.

It is thought that caffeine boosts levels of cortisol, a stress hormone.

Confirming the link could lead to new treatments for those who suffer severe hallucinations, including schizophrenics, some victims of child abuse and the recently bereaved.

The Durham University researchers asked 219 students to document their caffeine intake, working on the principle that a cup of instant coffee contains 45mg of caffeine.
 
Coffee brewed at home contains more than twice as much, while that from cafes such as Starbucks can have almost 190mg of caffeine.
 
The volunteers were also asked how often they suffered hallucinations.

The high caffeine users were three times as likely to have had problems as those who rarely drank coffee.

Large amounts of caffeine also made people more likely to think they could sense the presence of ghosts, the journal Personality and Individual Differences reports.
 
The British Coffee Association said that a moderate intake of four to five cups a day has been shown to be safe for the general population and may confer health benefits.

The Food Standard Agency recommends that pregnant women limit themselves to 200mg of caffeine a day.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/articl...hings.html