The aroma hits your senses when crossing the door and you feel the delight of anticipation. The large coffee machine, the smiley barista, 3 or 4 locals greet you on the way to the counter. The tiny white cup in stark contrast to the drop of hot, dark liquid. 1 or 2 sips, a bite to a croissant and a look at the newspaper, the gratification of rituals, the comfort of routine.
Stimulants help pace our lives. So much so we need a retreat of some sort to stop our nervous and endocrine systems being constantly triggered by the sugar, salt, caffeine, alcohol or junk food. Had a long day at work? A glass or two in the evening will sort you out. Going cold turkey can produce notable physical withdrawal symptoms and a psychological void we might not find easy to fill.
Even social media, images of sex, violence, wealth and power we get through TV and the web can trigger release of dopamine and be subtle, addictive stimulants. A bit bored? Let’s scour the Internet for some light reading.
The culture of coffee is long standing in Italy and has been gradually growing elsewhere. It often used to involve a ritual of tobacco too. Coffee and cigarette, a biscuit or two, what a heavenly combination for the senses!
Espresso, latte or cappuccino, most of Western society relies on caffeine to get up in the morning, go through the afternoon lull, keep on going till dinner time. The largest market for coffee is the US where 83% of the adult population is drinking it everyday. If everyone is taking it, it can’t be all bad, right?
One a day can be OK and research is not conclusive. Antioxidant rich, coffee has its benefits. Caffeine is really tough on the adrenals though, and your relationship with it will tell more about you than you might think.
Enjoy coffee at the weekend or as a leisurely treat? So many need it to function, as a shortcut to push a tired, malnourished body and mind to the end of the day. Besides the loss of minerals and B vitamins, drinking 3-4 cups a day will substitute your natural vitality with an induced metabolic stress which will help you meet the demands of work and life. The body is meant to build tolerance and might require higher doses, or a combination with sugar and alcohol, to help regulate changing moods and states of mind as well as fluctuating energy levels.
I used to love partying. Some of the best experiences of my life and treasured memories include alcohol. I can picture myself animatedly chatting to people I just met, usually in beautiful settings while travelling abroad. I mostly quit 4 years ago and I feel for the Belarusians, Moldovans and Lithuanians who lead the per capita alcohol consumption charts. I lived in London for 15 years and I well remember the crave for the Friday evening booze.
Do you remember the first time you had a drink? Surely you didn’t like the taste of it, like smokers probably hated their first cigarette. No one succeeds without effort, and those who succeed owe their success to perseverance. Drinking in your 20s can be fun. In your 30s it can develop into a habit, a way to escape the discomfort of the weekly grind. Alcohol is 10% of the UK burden of disease and death, one of the three biggest lifestyle risk factors after smoking and obesity. Do you regularly and often get drunk in your 40s or 50s? Does that follow any specific pattern? As socially accepted as it is in some parts of the world, that could be a serious addiction, maybe a form of self-medication.
I am not talking about a small glass of red wine with dinner here, which could actually be healthy. Not even a bit more to celebrate something meaningful every once in awhile, to let off steam. It’s the weekly habit of drinking in excess we should be mindful of, the urge to regularly numb out of a state of mind you don’t like.
And sugar? That’s the stimulant we give children. And lots of it. Do you really want me to indulge in the subject? Research shows refined sugar is more addictive than cocaine. 94 percent of rats who were allowed to choose mutually-exclusively between sugar water and cocaine, chose sugar. It creates havoc on insulin metabolism and promotes low-grade inflammation, which can lead to all sort of issues.
We all need respite every once in awhile, a bit of pleasure and mode to unwind. Nothing is absolutely good or bad and this applies to stimulants too. In my opinion it is not much the substance or stimulant per se which matters. It is more the awareness (or lack of) that goes with it. The quantity, quality and frequency of use, and most importantly the why and how we are taking it.
If you are struggling to find the energy to cope with the pace of an unfitting lifestyle, you gotta change lifestyle. High quantities of sugar and refined carbs, caffeine and alcohol might make you fat and ill, but certainly won’t make you happy in the long run.
I have the same issues as everyone, particularly around sugar. No one is really immune to stimulants and addictions and we all watch way too much TV and silly Internet media. Even some highly developed spiritual teachers and famous yogis fell for the metabolic allure of simple carbs and sugar and developed type 2 diabetes.
What to do? Awareness, awareness, awareness! And moderation. Get to know yourself, identify what bothers you and how this drives the assumption of stimulants. Find a more fitting lifestyle and enjoy healthier types of stimulation: sport, literature and art, conscious but fun sexuality, connection with friends and family are just a few healthy stimulants and source of pleasure we want more of in life.
If you think your relationship with stimulants isn’t benign and you want to do something about it, as a first step, swap one coffee a day with green tea, move from refined sugar to more natural ones and have high quality, artisanal sweets two or three times a week only. Cut back on TV and silly media, read more books, learn new things, thrive in what you do and who you are and do Yoga!
DISCLAIMER: I just finished a cup of honey pear tea with a (high quality) chocolate muffin. As you can see below, I was a Friday and Saturday night drinker for years. I used to smoke too (can you believe it???)
