Caffeine Conniption

Journal Entry: Weight = 178.4; Money Found = $1.41, 26 pennies, 1 nickel, 1 dime, 4 quarters; Glass bottles retrieved = 18. Four quarters found in one walk is rare. One large penny scatter netted 11 pennies.



Feature Entry: Earlier this week, the MoneyWalker found two quarters in the USA Newspaper vending machine next to the Bean Gallery Coffee Shop in Mid-City New Orleans. Money is found so frequently around this place, it should be in the money finding hall of fame.

What gives? It may be that the customers are buying their newspapers before they have had their “wake-me-up” chemical—caffeine. They can’t function well enough to negotiate those pesky coin slots. At another coffee spot, I recently found a quarter in both newspaper vending machines. Also, I always look on the ground around the vending machines, plenty mullah is lost there as well. Folks, could it be that these coffee shop customers are having caffeine conniptions?

As a fitness mentor, helping followers in their management of caffeine is an important responsibility. It is true that beverages with caffeine including coffee do boost energy and mental awareness. According to Mary D Eades MD, this effect is short lived. Chronic use of caffeine (3 cups a day) may cause fatigue, headache, moodiness, and depression in some people. Ray Sahelian, M.D. acknowledges the controversy of caffeine in the medical community as the benefits or harm of coffee consumption. Dr Sahelina’s personal belief, “…one cup of coffee a day could be of benefit, but drinking three or more cups a day could have adverse effects on the cardiovascular system. The one cup rule should be a special warning for the thousands that drink coffee for appetite suppression.

“Well, I will just substitute decaffeinated coffee for the high octane stuff!” Hold on, decaffeinated coffee is not caffeine free. A regular cup of coffee has from 85 to 100 milligrams of caffeine. A 10-12 oz cup of decaf at one national chain contained 32 milligrams of caffeine, about the same as a 12 ounce Coca-Cola Classic. However other decaffeinated coffees tested had less than five milligrams. Still, drinking several cups of decaf represents a significant amount of caffeine.

I’ve got to bring this blog to a close; it’s time for my coffee break.

MoneyWalker