Caffeine Basics: A User’s Manual

* Caffeine came without instructions. THIS is the missing manual.*

Welcome to my free online book about the basics of caffeine – including coffee, tea, chocolate, soda energy drinks and more. Think of this as your “user’s manual” for caffeine. It’s a complete book and separate from my blog posts. You can move through the chapters sequentially: arrows at the bottom of each Caffeine Basics Post lead you to the next entry in the book. Or you can jump around using the Table of Contents below. Blog readers may also use the site’s SEARCH button to find info in the book’s chapters and in the blog posts. NOTE: New chapters are uploaded as soon as they are completed.

Table of Contents:

• 1. How Caffeine Works: Flipping the Switch
• A Quick Inventory of Caffeine's Effects
• What Does Caffeine Do in Your Brain?
• Why We Love Caffeine

• 2. Natural Caffeine: Coffee, Tea, Chocolate, and Other Plants
• Coffee Profile
• Tea Profile
• Chocolate Profile
• Guarana Profile
• Mate or Yerba Mate Profile
• Other Natural Caffeine Sources

• 3. Added Caffeine: Pumped Up Sodas, Energy Drinks and Shots
• Soft Drinks vs. Energy Drinks: Big Differences
• Profile: Caffeinated Soft Drinks
• Sunkist Orange Soda: More Peppy Than Pepsi
• Supersize Sodas: Caffeine + Sugar
• Profile: Energy Drinks and Shots
• Energy Drinks: The Whole Story
• Energized Number Crunching: Energy Drinks
• Calculate Your Caffeine
• Supplements in Energy Drinks
• 5-Hour ENERGY Shot: More amps than advertised?
• Taking Risks: Energy Drinks and Alcohol

• 4. Hip New Products and Hidden Caffeine
• The New Buzz of Niche Markets
• An Army Marches on Caffeine
• Death by Caffeine Powder

• 5. Wacky Regulations and Misguided Marketing
• Is Caffeine a Drug or a Food?
• What Exactly Is a Dietary Supplement?
• Energy Drinks Change Marketing, Not Caffeine
• Flavor-Enhancer Myth: Colas Get a Pass
• Future Regulations for Energy Drinks

• 6. Making Caffeine Work for You
• Caffeine in the Toolbox
• Low or High Doses: Caffeine's Biphasic Buzz

• 7. Uniquely You: Set Point, Genes, and Half-Life
• Your Habit: Set Point, Tolerance, Withdrawal
• Caffeine's Complicated Half-Life
• The Caffeine Gene and You

• 8. Caffeine: Addiction, Withdrawal, Disorders
• Caffeine: Are You Addicted?
• Caffeine Addiction Symptoms
• Caffeine Withdrawal Symptoms: Ouch!
• Caffeine Intoxication: 5 Symptoms
• Caffeine Toxicity: Dosage Risks
• Caffeine and Mental Health

The complete book includes 12 chapters in all. Chapters will be added here as they are uploaded.