What makes our Caffeine Diet plan unique, you ask? Well, with our plan you not only can lose weight, but lose any desire for sleep as well.

As with any diet plan consult your physician before starting. I can just see her face now when you tell her you’re starting the Caffeine Diet.

Caffeine Diet Basics

Our plan is simple just follow this menu and watch as the sleep sheds away. Now with all that extra time and energy, you may even find time to go to the gym or maybe your sitting aerobic heart rate will do the work for you.

Sample Meal Plan

Pros

• No sleep needed with the caffeine diet.
• Get your work done in 1/3 the time.
• Have conversations in 1/8 of the time.
• Lose weight while resting with an aerobic heart rate.
• Build caffeine tolerance.
• Possibility of seeing dead relatives.

Cons

• Possibility of seeing scary dead relatives.
• Heart palpitations.
• Huge caffeine withdrawal headache when you complete the caffeine diet.
• You may have to get a second job to pay for all the caffeinated products, but  hey, you can work nights since you don’t need sleep!

Conclusions

What are you waiting for? Get started today with the Caffeine Diet from Energy Fiend.  By the way, this post was meant to be a joke so if you take it seriously, I have some ocean front property in Sheboygan to sell you.

Since then this post has received over 190 comments from mostly those who have experienced some type of adverse reaction to caffeine.

I have painstakingly sifted through all those comments and have derived the top 20 caffeine allergic reactions in order from most common to least common. Note that this is entirely anecdotal evidence so don’t take it as gospel, but rather consider these caffeine allergy symptoms as possible since they were reported by a number of people.

Also, there is a fine line between caffeine sensitivity and allergy, but overall we’re dealing with the body not being able to correctly process the caffeine molecule so whether you want to call that sensitivity or allergy it’s up to you. In most cases these symptoms were reported after only having a little to moderate amount of caffeine.

1. Skin problems such as hives, eczema, rashes, acne, severe itching.
2. Headaches/ migraines.
3. Anxiety and panic attacks.
4. Can’t focus or concentrate
5. Tongue, glands, or throat swelling.
6. Heart racing/ palpitations.
7. Angry, irritable, bad mood.
8. Fatigue.
9. Dizziness.
10. Extreme jitters.
11. Chest Pain.
12. Depression.
13. Numbness in face, hands, or feet.
14. Muscle pain.
15. Shortness of breath/ tightness of chest.
16. Delusions/ hallucinations.
17. Flu/ cold like symptoms.
18. Vision problems.
19. Cold sweats.
20. Eyes swollen shut.

Most people reported several of the above symptoms and some of the caffeine allergy symptoms were quite bizarre. The ones that take the cake were itchy ears and anus suffered by one poor soul and a sweaty butt crack reported by another……..

With the plethora of caffeinated products in the market place, one could assume that overdosing on caffeine would be becoming quite common.

I think with most subjects there is truth and then there are half truths, here say, urban legends, media hype, and even down right lies. Caffeine overdose is no exception. Let’s take an honest look at the subject and try to put all of the information into perspective.

Caffeine Overdose Documented Cases

Caffeine overdose does happen and has been documented. Here are some of the cases easily found on Google;

• 19 year old James Stone dies after taking 25 to 30 No Doz pills in 2007. (at least 2.5 grams of caffeine)
• 40 Seagulls die from caffeine overdose in Canada this year from eating used coffee grinds. (ok, that one is just funny, sorry)
• 17 year old Jasmine Willis, a Durham, UK waitress overdosed by drinking 7 double espressos in 2007. She was taken to the hospital, but recovered soon after. (that’s roughly 1.078 grams)
• In the late 1990’s an Australian women, with a heart condition died after consuming a guarana based shot from her local health food store. This product is no longer on the market. (10g/liter, ok that’s just nuts!)

I’m sure there are more cases, but they certainly aren’t on the first few pages of Google and I think we get the idea.

Caffeine Overdose Facts

Luckily for us, we have mechanisms built into the human body that let us know we’ve had enough of something. This is true with caffeine overdose. Well before we are at a toxic level we experience side effects that prevent us from consuming more, ie. nausea. Well before the 149 or so cans of Red Bull that it would take to kill an average adult male, vomiting would most certainly happen. For me at about can number 5!

In the overdose cases above we can see that what caused the deaths were extremely poor judgment, or an underlying medical condition. As for the girl, her body clearly let her know before she reached the toxic level. The seagulls were just being pigs and the world is fine with a few less.

Caffeine containing beverages are 2nd behind water as the most consumed drinks, so if caffeine overdose was really that common or easy we would have a load of statistics on our hands because of the billions of people who use the drug everyday. The fact is we don’t and the stats we do have on caffeine overdose are few and far between. In fact about 2800 people die a year from choking in the USA alone from eating normal healthy foods. We don’t see the media hyping this up and legislators calling for the ban of solid food.

Conclusions

Instead of banning products and protest, the best caffeine overdose prevention is education. That is part of our mission here at Energy Fiend, to educate the consumer about caffeine and help the consumer to be aware of the caffeine content of products. This way the irrational fear of caffeine overdose that seems to be fed and hyped by the media will be put to rest.

So we’ve scoured the news about caffeine and here are 5 stories worth reading.

1. Energy Drink Tax: If you live in the good state of Illinois you are about to pay more for your energy drink as they will fall under the soda tax soon in that state.  10.25% Ouch!
2. Red Bull Strikes back: I’m sure you’ve heard that Red Bull has been banned from schools all around the globe. However, Red bull recently crashed one such school in Australia, handing out free samples and promotional materials after school.
3. Nerd Energy Scholarships: Need some extra money for school? Nerd Energy is giving away 2 scholarships for completing two “Nerdling” tasks; Making  the most creative Nerd inspired video and for the photo with the most amount of people posing in it.
4. Red Bull Heist: Some masterminds devised a covert plan to break into the highly secure, beverage delivery truck and make off with 12 cases of Red Bull in Texas.
5. Starbucks goes instant: After months of test marketing, Starbucks is distributing their  new instant coffee (VIA) nationwide, but will people want to pay around $1 a cup for instant coffee?

Well, there you have it. If you have read other cool caffeine related news lately tell us about it in the comments below!

Written by Dusty Smith

A reader has requested that we help her out with a research project. You can read about the study below and if you have a few minutes follow the link to complete the on-line survey.

Feel free to post your comments on the topic below if you want.

Research Study on the Relationship Between Caffeine, Self-Injury, and Family-of-Origin Relationships

This study has been approved by the International Review Board at Alliant International University and is being conducted by Dr. Steven Jella and Cassandra Curtis

Anxiety and physical and emotional abuse have been shown to be prevalent among people who self-injure (including skin-picking and hair-pulling). People who self-injure are often found to have higher rates of anxiety than those who do not and research has shown that most people who self-injure have a diagnosable anxiety disorder. Research has also reported that people who self-injure have reported higher rates of physical and emotional abuse in childhood than those who do not.

Research on stressful early parent-child relationships has demonstrated increased sensitivity to anxiety in adulthood by way of altered dopaminergic and serotonergic systems, which are two neurological systems that caffeine acts upon. The study below aims to examine the relationships between caffeine, self-injury, and early family dynamics.

By participating in the study you may help contribute to society gaining a more holistic perspective of self-injury and in helping to develop more comprehensive treatment modalities for people dealing with self-injurious behavior.

Please click here to access the survey. All responses will be kept anonymous and confidential.  Thank you for participating.

Update: 11/18/09 The study is now complete and the results will be posted soon.

Caribou Coffee began in 1992 after it’s founders made a trek to Alaska and were inspired to start the business. Caribou started in Minneapolis, but is now in 16 states with 500 company owned locations.

Since they are gaining traction across the country and into a few other countries as well, we thought it was time we developed a handy guide to the caffeine content at Caribou.

• One product that stands is the “Depth Charge” with a whopping 445mg/(20oz) of caffeine and the Iced Americano with 450mg/(20oz). Now that’s some bang for your buck!

Caribou has teamed up with Coca-Cola to bring bottled coffee drinks to your local convenience store.

Caffeine causes jitters, heart palpitations, toxic jock syndrome, people to steal, hyperactivity…blah blah blah…

I would be the first to agree that caffeine has addictive qualities and I need my two cups of java every morning, but if the anti-caffeine groups out there had their way, we would all be going to the street corner to illegally get our daily fix. There is even a lobby group wanting caffeine to be labeled as a gateway drug.

There are over 500 groups on Facebook dealing with caffeine, most all in favor, but some preaching it’s evils. The medical community can’t agree either with some doctors saying it causes no long term ill effects and others stating it does. Then we have all the studies that depending on who they were funded by have conflicting results.

Other groups warn that caffeine addicts just want more and more because of tolerance until they eventually OD.

So what do you think? Participate in the poll below and let us know.

It seems that every time we check the latest caffeine news feed there’s some article about the evils of caffeine.

Schools are banning energy drinks left and right in hopes that they can control their caffeine dependent student body.

However, thanks to some clever thinking, companies have found ways for you to smuggle your caffeine past the strictest of screenings and body cavity searches that your school has developed in hopes of keeping the magic out of their “learning laboratories”.

Here are the top 10 ways to smuggle in your fix.

1. Spot On Energy Patches- Just slap a few on under your clothes and you’re set for the day. Miss Crabottom will never know!
2. Fixx Extreme Energy Shot- With this flat 5ml packet you can smuggle 400mg of caffeine in your textbook.  Mr. Butts will be so impressed that you are now remembering your science text.
3. Stay Alert Gum-  With 100mg per piece, you will have plenty of time to get your fix before Ms. Heiny makes you spit it out.
4. Primer Breath Spray- One squirt puts 33mg directly into your mouth and is great for that hallway pash!
5. Crackheads 2 – These powerful little wonders look like candy, but punch a whopping 600mg per box. Hide these inside a fat pen!
6. Spazz Stick – This caffeinated lip balm makes your lips soft yet  turns them into a caffeine absorbing organ. You’ll be sure to pull one over on Mr. Awhol with this.
7. Koru Energy Strips- These tiny little strips dissolve instantly on your tongue and deliver 40mgs per strip.  Now you know why they made that 5th pocket in your jeans.
8. Shower Shock- Showering after P.E. has never been this much fun with caffeinated bodywash. Smell great and stay awake in Miss Buttram’s english class.
9. Revive Mints – These all natural and tasty mints contain 85mg per mint. Hide these babies in your highlighter!
10. Loud Truck Gummies – These fruity little bears have 32mg hiding inside. Tucked away in your pocket they’ll be warm and soft…..

Well folks there you have it, our top 10 ways to smuggle caffeine. Good Luck!

Disclaimer: If you get busted, don’t rat us out saying that you read it here because then this list will fall into the hands of Mr. Asser the Principal!

Teacher names compliments of  College Confidential

Is it a thief……?  A psycho serial killer……?

No it’s just my grandma wondering around the house thinking she is lost in the woods going as far as peeing in her closet because she thought it was a bush.

I’m sure everyone reading this has been touched somehow by the disease of dementia or Alzheimer’s. It truly is awful what the disease does to our loved ones and if it wasn’t for the funny things they do it would be almost unbearable.

Well, there is hope and good news for all of us caffeine addicts. New research has shown evidence that caffeine helps to prevent this disease.  I won’t bore you with all the technical details, but you can read more about the study at BBC News. Basically caffeine protects the brain from one of the believed causes of Alzheimer’s.

Yet another reason to crack open that energy drink or have that 5th cup of coffee so that when you reach your golden years you won’t have conversations with dead people and eat dog food thinking it’s candy.