undefined | Better HN

Skip to content

Top Best Ask Show New Jobs

0 pointsbondarchuk3h ago0 comments

>Participants first abstained from coffee for two weeks before being reintroduced to either caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee in a blinded trial.

So it could easily just be cessation of withdrawal symptoms.

0 comments

6 comments · 3 top-level

wk_end3h ago· 3 in thread

The sentence immediately before the one you quoted notes that there was a group of non-coffee drinkers in the study, and the sentence immediately after states that both groups experienced the positive effects.

sph3h ago

Yes, that's how stimulants work. The first hit, after abstinence, is always the best.

wk_end3h ago

Are you replying to the right comment? Or maybe just haven't had your morning coffee yet? ;)

The point I'm making is that a non-coffee drinker won't have "withdrawal symptoms", so OP's suggestion that the beneficial effects they observed were just "cessation of withdrawal symptoms" doesn't make any sense. As in literally nonsense: "a non-coffee drinker's withdrawal symptoms" is nonsensical in the same way the idea of a square circle is.

jchw3h ago

Well obviously, the study could be bunk, but decaf essentially contains no stimulant, so this isn't really enough to explain the results.

2 weeks isn't long enough to reduce ∆FosB expression after drug (caffeine) use. Most likely I'd say you're right; the subjects are in withdrawal and getting a dose is relaxing.

literalAardvark3h ago

Only if they hadn't also tested decaf. There's clearly another factor at play.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse