{"id":9706,"date":"2008-08-09T22:53:53","date_gmt":"2008-08-10T03:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2008\/08\/09\/can-coffee-cure-cranky-counselors\/"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:53:22","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:53:22","slug":"can-coffee-cure-cranky-counselors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2008\/08\/09\/can-coffee-cure-cranky-counselors\/","title":{"rendered":"can coffee cure cranky counselors?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A<\/em><\/strong> few days ago, we told you about cranky sleep–deprived lawyers<\/a>. Because getting more sleep seems unrealistic for most of us, our search for solutions has focused on finding efficient, enjoyable, and easy ways to ingest copious amounts of caffeine. Naturally, a good cup of strong coffee comes to mind as the handiest method for overcoming the effects of too little sleep.<\/p>\n

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morning glories \u2026
\nthe bite & burn
\nof a double espresso<\/p>\n

.. by ed markowski – Haiku Harvest<\/em> (Fall\/Winter 2005)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If you’re at all like the f\/k\/a<\/em> Gang, coffee became an important part of your life right about the time you started your first real office job (for us, it was as a newbie lawyer) and discovered the joys of the bottomless free cup-a-joe in the snack room.<\/p>\n

Monday again\u2013
\nfolks in the latte line
\npraise this morning\u2019s moon<\/p>\n

.. by Billie Wilson – Mariposa<\/em> 11 (2004)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Of course, many Americans (such as Ms. Scheherazade<\/a> at Stay of Execution<\/em>) cringe at the suggestion of coffee as a cure for any ailment. They’ve been brain-washed into believing that there’s something unhealthy about drinking coffee, because all sorts of nannies in the health care sector have been trying over the past few decades to scare us away from coffee and caffeine with dire warnings of short- and long-term health risks.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, despite incessant nagging from close relatives and significant others (mostly of the female variety), most coffee drinkers have refused to give up imbibing their beloved, aromatic drink of choice.<\/p>\n

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I<\/em>ndeed, as we reported in “Your Coffee or Your Life?<\/a>” (April 29, 2004), a survey several years ago found that coffee (not sex or chocolate) was mentioned by Senior Citizens most often as the item they would never<\/em> give up just to stay youthful. Maybe age does bring wisdom.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

the taste
\nof coffee –
\nthe aftertaste<\/p>\n

.. by dagosan<\/em> [07-10-04]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It turns out that our stalwart fidelity to chronic coffee drinking (the real stuff, not that decaf impostor), has been vindicated. Over the past few years, there’s been a steady flow of research results to lighten the load and brighten the spirits of coffee lovers. See, e.g.<\/em>, our post “fill ‘er up<\/a>” (Nov. 19, 2005), discussing the Harvard Gazette<\/em> article “Coffee gets cleared of blood pressure risk<\/a>; ” and the recent story in the Mainichi Daily News<\/em>, “Caffeine enhances memory-forming brain cells<\/a>, researchers find” (Aug. 6, 2008).<\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

If your loved ones, or office mates, need more than your word (or even mine) that coffee is safe — and maybe even advantageous — for your health, the New York Times<\/em> came to your assistance this week big-time, with the article “Sorting Out Coffee’s Contradictions<\/a>” (by Jane E. Brody, Aug. 5, 2008). The Times <\/em>notes that coffee is “America\u2019s leading beverage and caffeine its most widely used drug,” and sees us as a “society determined to run hard on as little sleep as possible.” The article then sets up its central issue:<\/p>\n

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“But as with any product used to excess, consumers often wonder about the health consequences. And researchers readily oblige. Hardly a month goes by without a report that hails coffee, tea or caffeine as healthful or damns them as potential killers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Can all these often contradictory reports be right?” <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

Caffeine Myths Debunked<\/strong>: To counter “misguided information about caffeine and its most common source, coffee,” the NYT<\/em> article presents the recent, comprehensive findings of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and those of other research reports follow. See “Caffeine<\/strong><\/a><\/strong>: The Good, the Bad and the Maybe,” Nutrition Action Health Letter<\/em>, March 2008, Center for Science in the Public Interest (PDF, 2350 Kb). Thus, on a page captioned, What You May Not Need to Worry About, the NAH Letter<\/em> debunks myths related to coffee and caffeine and Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Osteoporosis, Dehydration, PMS, Weight Loss, and Growth.<\/p>\n

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\"coffeeCupSN\" <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font>“Coffee accounts for close to 75% of the caffeine we consumer.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The NAH Letter’<\/em>s Caffeine article, as summarized in the New York Times<\/em>, explains a number of things Caffeine May Be Good For — including Parkinson’s Disease, Gallstones, and Headaches. More important, for our sleep-deprived lawyers and colleagues (who are prone to be cranky and less productive), it describes caffeine’s beneficial effects on Mental Performance, Physical Performance and Mood. For example:<\/p>\n