I fully admit that I can’t function without my morning coffee. My brain seems foggy, and I’m bleary-eyed (even if I’ve gotten plenty of sleep). Just ask my family what my mood is like -- my daughter even knows when “Mommy hasn’t had her coffee yet.”
I’ve always assumed that the caffeine in my java had some kind of power over me, but I was OK with that because I like the taste of coffee and how it makes me feel. And let’s face it: It’s not hard to get, and it’s not expensive if you brew it yourself. Plus, I’m comforted by the studies that show that drinking a cup or two of coffee daily can actually be good for your health, reducing the risk of certain kinds of cancer and heart problems.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I ran across some research that made me question my assumptions. Doctors at the University of East London gave coffee drinkers a cup of joe and then asked them to play a series of games that tested their attention and reaction time. So far, no biggie. But only half of the participants drank regular coffee; the rest unwittingly received decaf! When doctors analyzed the test results, they found that the decaf group performed just as well on the tests as those who got the regular java. Now I’m worried: Is the boost I get from coffee all in my mind?
I asked Lynne Dawkins, the lead author of the study, that very question. “Well, yes and no,” she said. “It’s the result of conditioning. The taste and smell of coffee can trigger the same feel-good brain chemicals as the caffeine itself.” She added that if the participants had known they had received decaf, the results of her study would likely have been different.
I’d like to think of it this way: The boost I receive from coffee is real. But if the barista at Starbucks accidently pours me a decaf one day, I still should be as ready to face the world as I usually am.
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