The Caffeine Advantage: How to Sharpen Your Mind, Improve Your Physical Performance, and Achieve Your Goals--the Healthy Way [Hardcover]

Bennett Alan Weinberg (Author), Bonnie K. Bealer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 8, 2002

We all know that caffeine helps keep you awake and alert, but the things we don't know about caffeine could fill a book. Now Bennett Alan Weinberg and Bonnie K. Bealer, the award-winning authors of The World of Caffeine, the foremost reference book on the science and culture of caffeine, have done just that -- creating an authoritative self-help guide to caffeine's little-known practical secrets and benefits. Based on groundbreaking new research, The Caffeine Advantage offers step-by-step programs that show you how caffeine can improve your IQ, memory, mood, athletic ability, physical condition, and performance at work. In the process, Weinberg and Bealer debunk common myths and misconceptions -- that caffeine causes hypertension, anxiety, heart disease, even cancer -- and show the many positive and life-changing effects of strategic caffeine use.

Everyone in today's competitive environment is looking for an edge, and caffeine can provide the little boost that gives you the advantage you need to succeed. The key is knowing what caffeine can do for you and how to use it effectively. Here are just some of its amazing advantages:

Improves your ability to think clearly and solve problems, and can actually raise your IQ

Increases your short-term memory, helps you concentrate, and relieves boredom

Is a powerful antioxidant, combating muscle damage and helping you to stay younger

Improves your mood and overcomes depression, creating an "attitude of success"

Helps you run, swim, and cycle longer and faster

Increases the painkilling power of common analgesics and is itself a strong pain reliever

Grows brain cells in the areas of the brain responsible for long-term memory

Already widely acclaimed by many of the foremost academic researchers in the world, including Dr. Paul Kulkosky, whose foreword introduces the book, The Caffeine Advantage delivers a comprehensive program for working smarter, not harder, and for improving mood, athletic fitness, and mental performance.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bennett Alan Weinberg is a leading authority on the science of caffeine. In 1986 he founded a consulting firm specializing in pharmaceutical and medical communications, serving many of the Fortune 500 companies. His work includes developing Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs to train physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and in the use of pharmaceuticals. A graduate of Columbia College and New York University School of Law, he has taught at Temple University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; First Edition edition (October 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743228960
• ISBN-13: 978-0743228961
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #573,410 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating information on a very controversial chemical, October 5, 2005

By 

M. Yoder (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Caffeine Advantage: How to Sharpen Your Mind, Improve Your Physical Performance, and Achieve Your Goals--the Healthy Way (Hardcover)

Like a previous reviewer, I have read this book and the opposing one, Caffeine Blues. Both offer a multitude of scientific studies to support their respective viewpoints. I plan to reread them soon, and do a more detailed comparison.

Like another previous reviewer, I especially found the chapter on using caffeine to combat depression fascinating. It gave me the courage (or bravado?) to substitute a small daily dose of caffeine for my Paxil, with encouraging results so far (two months).

It's hard to remain objective about something like caffeine, as is obvious from the tone of some of the other reviews. I remember a friend who I highly respected, once sneering that coffee lovers would explain away studies linking coffee and heart disease by objecting that it was the cream in the coffee rather than the coffee itself causing the problem. Since that was before we had been told about the danger of the transfats used to make those fake "creamers", those coffee apologists were probably right. Moreover, it came to light soon after his sneering remark that some of those early studies had failed to correct for the fact that a disproportionate number of heavy coffee drinkers were also smokers... thus giving an even more compelling reason for the innocence of the coffee.

I admit that I'm hoping caffeine proves to be beneficial rather than harmful. But I plan to be as fair as I can be.

Let me also point out that the caffeine pills recommended by the author are inexpensive and the formula is not susceptible to copyright. You can buy generic versions in any drugstore, or just drink coffee. There is not a whole lot of benefit to any particular pharmaceutical company, so I don't find the claim that he is writing this for his corporate masters very compelling. The author of Caffeine Blues touts a lot of products in his book as well, so the "follow the money" argument doesn't seem to tip the balance in favor of either position.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Interesting Read., July 4, 2011

By 

Scott J. S. - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Caffeine Advantage: How to Sharpen Your Mind, Improve Your Physical Performance, and Achieve Your Goals--the Healthy Way (Hardcover)

A little difficult to read.
A very interesting read.
Only book in it's class
that I know of.
It gives the pros and
cons and effects of
caffeine.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Negative reviews guilty of poisoning the well (coffee)?, February 10, 2011

By 

truthtrumpspc - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Caffeine Advantage: How to Sharpen Your Mind, Improve Your Physical Performance, and Achieve Your Goals--the Healthy Way (Hardcover)

The topic of caffeine generates so much emotion with negative reviewers but they shed little light. Notice how they complain about an alleged lack of evidence, but never state what evidence they would count as sufficient support for the caffeine advantage. If they think the authors don't provide enough evidence, then it's incumbent on them to state what evidence would do so. It stunned me that the authors adduced as much evidence as they did including military research. BTW, who'd ever think anyone would put up megabucks to study the effects of coffee or caffeine. It would be like these negative reviewers like putting up their hard earned money to study the effects of air or water on everyday health? Only Big Pharma at the prodding of Big Gov't puts up big bucks to back up their drugs with research. And that's another thing - if the authors are secretly backed by Starbucks or whatever, how come they only recommend about 100 mg of caffeine to enhance one's mood? Why not recommend several big gulps? But even if they were backed by caffeine based food producers, that would only mean their findings were suspect and worthy of closer examination, not false, and a few abusive cheap shots at their scholarship does nothing to refute their claims.