10 years (or 14,600 cups of coffee) later, caffeine is still good for you.

Ten years ago, I shared the encouraging news that caffeine is good for you.

Specifically, for your endothelial function.

Science marches forward and knowledge is constantly advancing, so I’m happy to report that it’s still safe, and even beneficial, to indulge in caffeinated coffee and black tea. (Green tea too, although that’s hardly news.)

However, if (like me) you fancy an after-dinner espresso or a cup of tea before bed, there are some excellent decaf options out there. My unleaded favorites are Ty-Phoo decaf tea, L’Or Decaf Espresso (Nespresso capsules), and Peet’s Decaf Dark Roast (K-Cups).

Now I’m off to brew a big pot of tea and sit down to write!

How Caffeine Can Keep You Honest

PAFF_031116_CaffeineHonest_newsfeatureCaffeine is the most commonly used psychoactive drug in the world. And anyone who has ever worked in an office probably has a good reason for this socially accepted drug use: Caffeine enhances many cognitive processes, particularly when people are tired. This could explain why around 90% of Americans consume caffeine every day.
In addition to wreaking havoc on productivity and safety, researchers have found evidence that sleepiness may also play a role in unethical behavior. Sleep deprivation increases the presence of adenosine, an inhibitory neuromodulator that decreases cellular activity in the brain. One known mechanism by which caffeine counteracts the negative effects of sleep deprivation is by blocking adenosine receptors and increasing availability of the nerve cell messenger glutamate.
In one study, psychological scientists Michael Christian (University of North Carolina) and Aleksander P.J. Ellis (University of Arizona) found that sleep-deprived employees, those who received less than 6 hours of sleep in a night, were more likely to be engage in negative and unethical behavior at work the next day. However, in another study, Christian, Ellis, and colleagues David Welsh (University of Washington) and Ke Michael Mai (University of Arizona) found that providing tired people with a jolt of caffeine may help ward of negative behavior.
For the study, about 100 college students were kept awake all night in a lab where they could watch TV and play board games. The next morning, they were joined by a group of 100 well-rested students. At the start of the experiment, all of the students were given two pieces of mint-flavored gum. Half of the participants were given normal gum, but the other half received gum with 200 mg of caffeine — approximately the same amount of caffeine contained in a 12-ounce coffee.
Participants then took part in a money-sharing game. They were led to believe they were splitting $7 with another person in the study, but in reality they were playing against a computer opponent. In the game, the participant was given information about two options for splitting the money; in option A the participant received $5, while in option B they would receive $2. They could send their partner either an honest message (choose option A and you get $5) or a deceptive one (choose option B and you get $5).
Half the participants were assigned to a social influence condition, in which one of the experimenters encouraged them to send the deceptive message. In the control condition, participants received no encouragement either way.
Overall, sleep-deprived students were far more likely than their well-rested counterparts to send the deceptive message. But caffeine appeared to help tired students stick to their ethical principles. Among sleep-deprived students, those who had consumed caffeine were significantly less likely to send a deceptive message compared to their un-caffeinated counterparts, even under social pressure from the experimenter.
“The effects we found might be even stronger in an organizational context where employees not only have to stay awake all night but must also fulfill challenging job responsibilities during this period,” the researchers write.
Organizations need to be aware that the negative costs of sleep deprivation not only hurt employees, but can also hurt the bottom line. In a recent special section of Perspectives on Psychological Science, researchers argue that policymakers need to start taking steps to prioritize sleep health in the workplace with stronger regulation of work hours and schedules.
While Welsh and colleagues suggest that providing caffeine in the workplace is one way to help avoid ethical lapses, they also warn that caffeine is no substitute for getting a good night’s sleep.
 
Reference
Welsh, D. T., Ellis, A. P., Christian, M. S., & Mai, K. M. (2014). Building a self-regulatory model of sleep deprivation and deception: The role of caffeine and social influence. Journal of Applied Psychology99(6), 1268. doi: 10.1037/a0036202
from Association for Psychological Science » Minds for Business http://bit.ly/1MbEiih


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Can an author of police procedurals write cozies? COFFEE IS MURDER by Carolyn Arnold

Of course she can.

FOR SARA, COFFEE WAS ONE of life’s
greatest—and simplest—pleasures. Every time
she took a draw of freshly brewed java, her
eyelids automatically lowered in appreciation of
the robust flavor. Somehow, when drinking it,
life seemed less complicated, or maybe it was
just how it coated the palate and calmed her
nerves despite what some scientific studies
might say.

She was in her home office, seated behind her
desk, staring at the blinking cursor on her
monitor, but it wasn’t because she had writer’s
block. Her wrists needed a break. Better yet, she
needed to indulge in this cup.

Leaning back in her chair, she swiveled from
side to side and closed her eyes, savoring the
aroma ofthe dark beans. While they were ground
at the time she pressed the button, the only way
to get it any fresher was picking the beans off the
plants in Brazil. With their money, she supposed
it was an option

Carolyn Arnold writes three different series, under the same author name. As she describes them,

THE MADISON KNIGHT SERIES falls neatly into the police procedural genre with murder investigations and forensics. Think Law & Order meets CSI. There is some foul language and limited graphic violence.

THE BRANDON FISHER FBI SERIES toys with the edge between the police procedural genre and thriller genre. Due to this, you will find foul language and graphic violence in this series.

THE MCKINLEY MYSTERY SERIES ventures outside of the typical crime genre, lending itself to the cozy variety with no foul language or graphic violence. The series combines romance, mystery, humor, and adventure for a lighthearted, easy read.

So with the same author name, how can you tell what kind of book you’re getting? Good question.

Cozy.
Cozy.

Not Cozy.
Not Cozy.

 Coffee is Murder is #9 in Carolyn Arnold’s popular McKinley Mysteries.  If you prefer to start with the first book in the series, try The Day Job is Murder.

Coffee is Murder
Coffee is Murder
(McKinley Mysteries Book 9)

Cozy Mystery
File Size: 641 KB
Print Length: 155 pages
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
ASIN: B00U2HCG5S
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You might want to rethink your morning routine.
A cup a day won’t kill you, but a few might.

Author Links:

Website: https://carolynarnold.net

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Carolyn_Arnold

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCarolynArnold

Purchase Link:
Amazon


 

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THE MUSUBI MURDER August 2015 Amazon / B&N /Powell’s /Audible / iTunes

 

Coffee is like sin

It always smells better than it tastes.*  And now, Science tells us why!

Carmen Miranda

“The act of swallowing the drink sends a burst of aroma up the back of the nose from inside the mouth, activating a “second sense of smell” in the brain that is less receptive to the flavour, causing a completely different and less satisfying sensation…the taste is also hampered by the fact that 300 of the 631 chemicals that combine to form its complex aroma are wiped out by saliva, causing the flavour to change before we swallow it.”

It still tastes pretty good though.  Coffee, I mean.

*Also, the second cup isn’t quite as good as the first, but that’s another post.

Coffee makes us happy

A study from Ruhr University in Germany, finds that “caffeine enhances the neural processing of positive words, but not those with neutral or negative associations.”

 

It takes about 200 mg of caffeine, or 2-3 cups of coffee, to get those rose-colored glasses onto your brain.