Get happy! Grab a coffee, brew some tea, break out the brownies. Let’s explore caffeine together, because:
Caffeine is weird –
totally beguiling and wonderfully wacky.
Now more than ever, caffeine’s the sparky, feel-good drug of the masses. It’s quirky, energizing, mood lifting, addictive, fickle, and despite decades of research, remains both mysterious and illuminating.
As a journalist, I’m utterly obsessed with caffeine – and all its complexities. From seductive coffee to melting chocolate, to jittery energy products, to mellow matcha tea. From brain boosts and body benefits, to social and genetic twists, to safe and sane consumption.
Think about this: Almost every person in the world (90%) consumes this drug – tiny tots, aging grandparents, me, and (probably) you. We revere caffeine – as coffee, chocolate, and tea – but recently we’ve begun questioning the merits of hyper-caffeinated products, like energy drinks. So how much do you know about caffeine?
“What is caffeine doing to me?”
A simple question, right? But no simple answer. Discovering it pushed me over a caffeine cliff – paddling through pools of research for three years. I resurfaced with an online book, plus another book in the making, and this blogsite, CaffeineAndYou.com. (See more about me and my previous eight books.)
My mission: To connect the dots between caffeine-the-substance and what appears to be happening in The Big Context. For instance, how is caffeine impacting our species, our social behavior, mental and physical evolution, the planet and even the global economy? There is no such thing as a caffeine-free world. But there used to be. So what’s changed since caffeine conquered our world?
Caffeine itself is neither good nor bad – yet it can have both good and bad effects depending on the quantity consumed and who’s doing the consuming. Which makes caffeine an endlessly fascinating topic: We are our own lab rats (or guinea pigs, if you prefer).
Buzz through this site to discover:
CAFFEINE BASICS: My Online Book
Start with Caffeine Basics, an online book I wrote to cover the fundamentals of caffeine. Caffeine came without instructions. THIS is the missing manual.
BLOG
My blog spotlights caffeine as it happens: updates, products, recipes, fun, research, science, medicine, practical news you can use. Spiced with commentary and opinion.
COMMENT
You’re the star here: Chime in! Post comments, ask questions, stir up a conversation. Get buzzed.
CONNECT
Follow Caffeine and You, and me, on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn and through my newsletter. If you’ve got a caffeinated personality, I’ll follow back.
COOK
Coffee, tea and chocolate taste good (duh!). Eat and drink up in Recipes. You’ll find even more at my Pinterest board for Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate Recipes, and at my other website, GlobalGourmet.com.
Have fun!
Kate Heyhoe (aka: The Queen of Caffeine)
Tamale: DeCaffeinated Blogger-in-Chief