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Abstinence Paper

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Erin Bosman

The author conducted an experiment to abstain from caffeine for 28 days in February. She has consumed caffeine daily since childhood. She lasted 5 days before having caffeine at an airport due to lack of sleep from travel. She tracked her cravings and caffeine consumption, finding her focus decreased without it. She consumed caffeine on 20 of the 28 days and her cravings fluctuated, being highest in the beginning and after resuming caffeine. The author realized how prevalent and influential caffeine is in her daily life and society.

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Erin Bosman 1 Twenty-Eight Days and Caffeine Abstinence is the act of refraining from something. Caffeine, xanthine, is a psychoactive drug. Psychoactive drugs cross the blood- brain barrier and create changes in central nervous system functioning. In terms of caffeine, concentration and wakefulness are often affected. Psychoactive drugs are consumed for personal enjoyment, health benefits, increased focus, and various other reasons. I personally consume caffeine, mainly for enjoyment and occasionally for increased energy. In this project, I had planned to refrain from caffeine for twenty-eight days, the month of February. I have been drinking coffee since I was three years old, my grandmother had small mugs that she would give us filled with approximately three tablespoons of coffee, ¼ cup of milk, and a couple sugar cubes. The amount of coffee increased greatly over the years and I now consume caffeine in the form of coffee, tea, or chocolate often. I only lasted five days abstaining from caffeine before giving in at an airport in Norway. After having spent the previous night in an airport in London and then flying to Norway with very little sleep, I felt that I needed a stimulant to make it through the day. Caffeine blocks the neurotransmitter adenosine and results in dopamine to work more effectively. After that, I no longer abstained from caffeine. Caffeine is definitely addictive. I know that if I had really wanted and was not traveling and studying simultaneously, I could easily consume even less of it or completely abstain. However, I did consume significantly less than I do when at home in the United States, which I believe did allow me to experience some of the symptoms associated with withdrawal from Caffeine. Results that I found were that I was less focused than I usually tend to be and took long naps nearly every day. During the month of February, I
Erin Bosman 2 consumed caffeine twenty of the twenty- eight days. The first five days I managed to abstain completely and then I also did not consume caffeine on a few random days. I tracked the days I consumed caffeine, the level of craving I had, and then how many times I consumed, how many times I wanted, and how much I saved on chocolate, tea, coffee, and pain medicine. Within the first five days where I fully abstained from Caffeine, I had fairly high levels of cravings at first and then had lower level cravings on the fifth day. I had adjusted to not having caffeine and was fairly distracted with schoolwork and travel. After a couple days, my level of craving slowly went back up and then bounced around between a medium level and high level of craving. The form of caffeine that I both wanted and consumed the most during this time was coffee. I saved about fifteen pounds on coffee when on trips and day trips; if I had fully abstained I would have saved a little more. I mostly drank coffee from the Refectory at mealtimes, some days I had coffee twice. On average I would say I consume three containers of coffee a day, each ranging between twelve and sixteen ounces, when in the states. Although I consumed less of chocolate and tea, they were offered to me various times, and many of those were offers from my meet a family. I did not want to be rude and therefor accepted their multiple offers. I enjoy the taste of all of these things and that is why I generally consume them rather than for the effects. Prior to this project, I had not fully realized the effects caffeine has on my concentration and level of wakefulness. I think that this is partially due to the fact that I started consuming caffeine when I was young and grew a tolerance to the effects that caffeine has. This is also potentially why I consume so much caffeine when I
Erin Bosman 3 am in the United States. I’ve also noticed how prevalent caffeine is, with caffeine available on almost every street in gas stations, grocery stores, coffee shops, vending machines, and candy stores among other places. Throughout this project, I became more aware of how present caffeine is in society and how it affects my behavior. Date   Level  of  Craving   Days  Consumed   1   Medium   No   2   High   No   3   High     No   4   High     No   5   Low   No   6   Low   Yes   7   Medium   No   8   Low   Yes   9   High     No   10   High   Yes   11   Medium   Yes   12   High   No   13   Medium   Yes   14   Medium   Yes   15   Medium   Yes   16   Medium   Yes   17   High     Yes   18   Low   Yes   19   High     Yes   20   Medium   Yes   21   High     Yes   22   High     Yes   23   High   Yes   24   Medium   Yes   25   High   Yes   26   Medium   Yes   27   Medium   Yes   28   Medium   Yes  
Erin Bosman 4 10   4   18   1   15   9   28   1   5   15   0   5   10   15   20   25   30   Chocolate   Tea   Coffee   Pain  Medicine   Consumed   Wanted   Money  Saved  

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Abstinence Paper

  • 1. Erin Bosman 1 Twenty-Eight Days and Caffeine Abstinence is the act of refraining from something. Caffeine, xanthine, is a psychoactive drug. Psychoactive drugs cross the blood- brain barrier and create changes in central nervous system functioning. In terms of caffeine, concentration and wakefulness are often affected. Psychoactive drugs are consumed for personal enjoyment, health benefits, increased focus, and various other reasons. I personally consume caffeine, mainly for enjoyment and occasionally for increased energy. In this project, I had planned to refrain from caffeine for twenty-eight days, the month of February. I have been drinking coffee since I was three years old, my grandmother had small mugs that she would give us filled with approximately three tablespoons of coffee, ¼ cup of milk, and a couple sugar cubes. The amount of coffee increased greatly over the years and I now consume caffeine in the form of coffee, tea, or chocolate often. I only lasted five days abstaining from caffeine before giving in at an airport in Norway. After having spent the previous night in an airport in London and then flying to Norway with very little sleep, I felt that I needed a stimulant to make it through the day. Caffeine blocks the neurotransmitter adenosine and results in dopamine to work more effectively. After that, I no longer abstained from caffeine. Caffeine is definitely addictive. I know that if I had really wanted and was not traveling and studying simultaneously, I could easily consume even less of it or completely abstain. However, I did consume significantly less than I do when at home in the United States, which I believe did allow me to experience some of the symptoms associated with withdrawal from Caffeine. Results that I found were that I was less focused than I usually tend to be and took long naps nearly every day. During the month of February, I
  • 2. Erin Bosman 2 consumed caffeine twenty of the twenty- eight days. The first five days I managed to abstain completely and then I also did not consume caffeine on a few random days. I tracked the days I consumed caffeine, the level of craving I had, and then how many times I consumed, how many times I wanted, and how much I saved on chocolate, tea, coffee, and pain medicine. Within the first five days where I fully abstained from Caffeine, I had fairly high levels of cravings at first and then had lower level cravings on the fifth day. I had adjusted to not having caffeine and was fairly distracted with schoolwork and travel. After a couple days, my level of craving slowly went back up and then bounced around between a medium level and high level of craving. The form of caffeine that I both wanted and consumed the most during this time was coffee. I saved about fifteen pounds on coffee when on trips and day trips; if I had fully abstained I would have saved a little more. I mostly drank coffee from the Refectory at mealtimes, some days I had coffee twice. On average I would say I consume three containers of coffee a day, each ranging between twelve and sixteen ounces, when in the states. Although I consumed less of chocolate and tea, they were offered to me various times, and many of those were offers from my meet a family. I did not want to be rude and therefor accepted their multiple offers. I enjoy the taste of all of these things and that is why I generally consume them rather than for the effects. Prior to this project, I had not fully realized the effects caffeine has on my concentration and level of wakefulness. I think that this is partially due to the fact that I started consuming caffeine when I was young and grew a tolerance to the effects that caffeine has. This is also potentially why I consume so much caffeine when I
  • 3. Erin Bosman 3 am in the United States. I’ve also noticed how prevalent caffeine is, with caffeine available on almost every street in gas stations, grocery stores, coffee shops, vending machines, and candy stores among other places. Throughout this project, I became more aware of how present caffeine is in society and how it affects my behavior. Date   Level  of  Craving   Days  Consumed   1   Medium   No   2   High   No   3   High     No   4   High     No   5   Low   No   6   Low   Yes   7   Medium   No   8   Low   Yes   9   High     No   10   High   Yes   11   Medium   Yes   12   High   No   13   Medium   Yes   14   Medium   Yes   15   Medium   Yes   16   Medium   Yes   17   High     Yes   18   Low   Yes   19   High     Yes   20   Medium   Yes   21   High     Yes   22   High     Yes   23   High   Yes   24   Medium   Yes   25   High   Yes   26   Medium   Yes   27   Medium   Yes   28   Medium   Yes  
  • 4. Erin Bosman 4 10   4   18   1   15   9   28   1   5   15   0   5   10   15   20   25   30   Chocolate   Tea   Coffee   Pain  Medicine   Consumed   Wanted   Money  Saved Â