Category

caffeine

Aug 19
Love0

With Starbucks Imminent, The Mormon Church Gives Tips On How To Avoid Coffee

By brigham young university, byu, caffeine, latter day saints, mormon church, provo, starbucks, THE GUARDIAN, utah, Wire

Space may be the depths for which the phrase was coined, but for the coffee world, a cafe space at Brigham Young University may be the actual final frontier. The Provo, Utah private college is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints—also known as the Mormon Church—who have pretty strict rules about caffeine consumption: in short, you can’t. So when Starbucks announced plans to open a stand-alone coffee shop near BYU, the LDS responded by putting out a guide on tips to avoid getting sucked into coffee’s dark orbit.

Starbucks’ rapid expansion has long been the stuff of lols, but this reaches new level of thirst. Provo is a city where, as of a 2010 census, 89% of the population aren’t allowed to consume the company’s main offering. This is uncharted territory, and in response, according to The Guardian, the church has issued “official guidance” on how to navigate any coffee-adjacent situations the youths may find themselves in. Released as part of the August issue of a magazine directed at the LDS youth, the church offers some (frankly good) advice that “the word coffee isn’t always in the name of coffee drinks” and that “drinks with names that include cafe or caffe, mocha, latte, espresso, or anything ending in -ccino usually have coffee in them.”

So, before you try what you think is just some new milkshake flavor, here are a couple of rules of thumb: one, if you’re in a coffee shop (or any other shop that’s well-known for its coffee), the drink you’re ordering probably has coffee in it, so either never buy drinks at coffee shops or always ask if there’s coffee in it.

Now, I may not agree with the Mormon Church’s stance on coffee (and about a million other things), but if they are the moral compass you’ve chosen to direct your life, then good on you. I wouldn’t want you to inadvertently do something against your guiding principles, so I’m all for these tips. I mean, how the heck is anyone supposed to know that there is coffee in something called a “pour-over” or a “macchiato”?

But the magazine’s guidance may be more than just some friendly tips. As The Guardian notes, “a 2016 survey found that four in 10 active church members under age 51 had drunk coffee during the previous six months.” The guidance may be more of a “we see what you are doing, you rebellious youths.”

Despite efforts to modernize some of the church’s rules, coffee remains off the table. (Hey, at least there may be a little cannabis in your future.) And for what it’s worth, if you’re a coffee-curious BYU student looking to experiment, Salt Lake City’s excellent indie coffee scene is just an hour away.

Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

The post With Starbucks Imminent, The Mormon Church Gives Tips On How To Avoid Coffee appeared first on Sprudge.


Source: Coffee News

Aug 13
Love0

Study Finds Link Between Caffeine Consumption And Migraines

By American Journal of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, caffeine, Harvard Medical School, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Headaches, migraines, Suzanne Bertisch, Wire

It’s not all roses when it comes to coffee consumption’s affect on individuals, though I’d gladly keep my head buried in the grounds or lie—to myself and to others—to espouse the contrary. But alas, a new study from researchers at Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health finds that caffeine consumption in migraine sufferers can trigger an attack.

But don’t worry, migraine sufferers, it’s not any and all caffeine consumption; there’s a discrete point of no return: three caffeinated beverages.

For their study that was recently published in the American Journal of Medicine, the researchers followed 98 adults with frequent episodic migraines for at least six weeks, having them log diaries twice daily. In the diaries, participants would report on the total number of caffeinated beverages they consumed—coffee, tea, soda, and energy drinks—“headache reports detailing the onset, duration, intensity and medications used for migraines,” as well as “information about other common migraine triggers, including medication use, alcoholic beverage intake, activity levels, depressive symptoms, psychological stress, sleep patterns and menstrual cycles.”

Using “self-matching,” an approach where the number of migraine attacks on days without caffeine were compared to the number on days with caffeine or an individual level, the researcher found “no association between one to two servings of caffeinated beverages and the odds of headaches on the same day.” They did find, however, higher incidents of same-day headaches where the participant consumed three or more caffeinated beverages. Participants who infrequently consumed caffeine saw a similar increase in headaches at even one or two beverages.

Principle investigator Dr. Suzanne Bertisch, a Harvard Medical School assistant professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess, had this to say:

This study was a novel opportunity to examine the short-term effects of daily caffeinated beverage intake on the risk of migraine headaches. Interestingly, despite some patients with episodic migraine thinking they need to avoid caffeine, we found that drinking one to two servings per day was not associated with higher risk of headache. More work is needed to confirm these findings, but it is an important first step.

These results comes as somewhat good news for coffee-loving migraine sufferers. Caffeine has been generally thought of as a cause of headaches, and according to this research, in some cases it is. But it may not be true across the board. Two cups of coffee may just be the way to go.

Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

The post Study Finds Link Between Caffeine Consumption And Migraines appeared first on Sprudge.


Source: Coffee News