Greetings! According to the Financial Times reports, “Coffee climbs as locked-down consumers seek caffeine fix.” The sales for packaged coffee has went up 70% from last year in America. Find out in today’s lesson why we should avoid this present trend.

*All tea mentioned in this lesson refers to caffeinated tea.

Group Three, Stimulating Drinks

Stimulating drinks are habit-forming and tend to create a craving for tobacco, alcohol and liquors in general, and for narcotics known as “dope.” It should be remembered that alkaloids include morphine, cocaine, nicotine, and caffeine. The drinks included in this class are: tea, coffee, coca-cola, cocoa, all caffeinated drinks.

“Coffee is a drug. Those who are addicted to its use are drug addicts. The people of the United States are among the largest users of coffee of all the people of the world. Its use is on the increase. From the standpoint of public hygiene, the coffee question is worthwhile. It is much the most widespread form of drug addiction. Some people are certain that it harms them. The largest number enjoy their cup of coffee, and they care not at all whether it harms them.

“Tea contains about twice as much caffeine as does coffee. “One to four grains of caffeine caused a slight tremor, six grains caused an appreciable unsteadiness of the hands, coming on about an hour after taking and increased for three hours. In order that no misunderstanding may arise, I should say that physiologists regard coffee, tea, tobacco and whiskey as drugs in the same sense that opium and cocaine are. The craving for tea and that for whiskey, the hunger for a cigarette and that for a dose of morphine are of the same kind. Each comes of an inborn willingness to cheat in playing the game of life.”

Weak Drugs Lead to Stronger Ones

“Among the poisons which must be kept out of the body should be mentioned habit-forming drugs, such as opium, morphine, cocaine, heroin, choral, acetanilid, alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine. The best rule for those who wish to attain the highest physical and mental efficiency is total abstinence from all substances which contain poisons, including spirits, wine, beer, tobacco, many much-advertised patent drinks served at soda-water fountains, most patent medicines, and even tea and coffee….The natural tendency of drug craving is…from weak drugs to stronger ones.”

Tea and Vinegar Lead to Alcohol

“Dr. Hawkes found in Finsbury that the women and girls drank three or four pints of tea poison in the day, and their solid meals often consisted of pickles and vinegar. An enormous amount of dyspepsia is thus set up, often finally leading to alcoholism for relief. Many stint themselves terribly in order to afford more expense in personal adornment.”

Coffee Habit, Alcohol Habit, Morphine Habit

“Coffee, as everyone knows, produces a nervous excitement, which, if abused may lead to insomnia, hallucinations, troubles of the circulation, muscular innervation, to precordial distress and to dyspnoea. One may become caffeic just as one can become alcoholic, or a morphia maniac….It ought to be especially forbidden to arthritics, or uratics, amongst whom it often cases gravel, to gastralgics, to dyspeptics and to those suffering from Bright’s disease.”

Tea and Coffee Drunkards

“This country is full of tea and coffee drunkards. The most common drug in this country is caffeine….Your children, innocent of any knowledge of its deleterious effects, consume it freely. They do this to their great physical and mental detriment. Coffee drunkenness is a commoner failing than the whiskey habit. The misuse of caffeine as a stimulant and as a beverage is more prevalent than the use of alcohol. Caffeine has a direct tendency to create Bright’s disease. Caffeine is the essential alkaloid of coffee, as then is of tea. Both are dangerous and detriments.”

A Quote to Note: “Tea, coffee, and flesh meat should not be used. Place in the Lord’s treasury the amount that the use of these things would cost you. Let those who have neglected this good work repent of their backslidings. All who live in these last days need to be fully established in the principles of health reform.” Lt 177, 1901

Grab a friend and share the wealth, from what you’ve learned in the School of Health! In our next class, we shall learn more about the negative effects of coffee and caffeinated tea. Until then, God bless!

Tell us what you learned from today’s class, in the comment section, below!

                                                            Previous Class: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3,