Caffeine Blues: Wake Up to the Hidden Dangers of America's #1 Drug (Paperback)

~ Stephen Cherniske (Author) "The origins of coffee are lost in legend, although the most popular tale traces its discovery to a goatherd dwelling in Ethiopia..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, Celestial Seasonings, American Medical Association (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Get ready to give up that morning latte and kiss cola goodbye. Here comes Caffeine Blues, by Stephen Cherniske, M.S., the first book to expose the dark side of America's No. 1 drug: caffeine. If you are one of the nearly 80 percent of Americans hooked on caffeine--a natural component of coffee, tea, and chocolate and a common ingredient in drugs, soda, candy, and other products--this book will be a wake-up call.

In Caffeine Blues, Cherniske, a nutritional biochemist with more than 25 years of academic research and clinical experience and author of the bestseller The DHEA Breakthrough, reveals the truth about caffeine and explains how to kick the habit forever. Cherniske discusses how caffeine affects the body and brain and why it can increase your risk of dozens of health disorders ranging from osteoporosis, diabetes, and PMS to hypertension and heartburn. After spending 300 pages documenting all of caffeine's evils, Cherniske finally offers a decaffeinated life line: "Off the Bean and on to Vitality," a step-by-step, clinically proven program to help readers kick the habit and boost energy levels naturally. --Ellen Albertson

From Library Journal

Nutritional biochemist Cherniske claims that people who consume more than 300 milligrams of caffeine per day are victims of caffeinism: a state of chronic toxicity resulting from excess caffeine consumption and a major contributing factor to heart disease, hypertension, stomach ailments, diabetes, and sleep disorders. Cherniske also warns that most coffee beans are contaminated by pesticides, which harm not only drinkers but also exposed agricultural workers. For conservationists, he highlights the effects of the pesticides on the land and water surrounding the plantations as well as the destruction of the rain forest to make room for coffee plantations. The presence of caffeine in over-the-counter medicines, candy, and soft drinks is stressed, especially in the addiction of children. Cherniske also suggests alternatives to caffeine and ways of quitting the habit. While his book is thought-provoking, its rhetoric is somewhat extreme. Not a necessary purchase.?Janet M. Schneider, James A. Haley Veterans Hosp., Tampa, FL
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (December 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446673919
• ISBN-13: 978-0446673914
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,927 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

120 of 130 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Caffeine or Snake Oil?, February 12, 2003

By	C Olson "Philosophical bean counter" (Tokyo Japan) - See all my reviews

This book will scare the coffee right out of you -- at first. Maybe growing up around Mormons made me always a bit suspicious of coffee, and drinking the strong brew served in Tokyo certainly confirmed that you can overdose on it.
But Caffeine Blues laid more crimes to the body at the door of the Bean than there are Kennedy conspirosy theories. Except for regular strident comments about the medical profession ignoring caffeine (I have certainly seen plenty of warnings), he makes a logical case that caffeine induces stress-like reactions in the body, which long term, are bad for the body. Enough said for me to give it a go.
The disappointment sets in with his Off the Bean program which includes good advice about easing off coffee and adding exercise and sleep, but also suggests taking half a dozen supplements that I would need to read a dozen books to feel safe with. Precious little is said about them.
It turns out he is president of a company that makes stuff to make you better. And the FDA did make him sign a consent agreement to stop over-promising about his fountain of youth consummables and tests. (Search Findlaw under his name). So I worry he has overstated some of the research referred to related to caffeine.
But he has raised enough points about caffeine, and done it in a reasonable enough tone, that I will go without for a while.
Interesting read, but maybe to be taken with a grain of salt.

61 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Informative, December 16, 2001

By	Deborah A. Woehr (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Caffeine Blues has a wealth of information about the side affects, most of which I was experiencing. At the beginning is a checklist to see how addicted you are. In the next chapter, Cherniske explains the origins of caffeine, which was interesting. The majority of the book explains what caffeine does to the major organs of your body, including your brain and your cognitive thinking skills.

It took Cherniske 301 pages to say that caffeine is legalized speed. Yeah, no kidding. I tried to go turkey and fell flat on my face. Caffeine is a highly addictive drug, one which can produce severe withdrawals. He lists several alternatives to wean yourself off, such as weakening your coffee with milk. For the soda addicts, he suggests alternating every other can with caffeine-free soda, herbal drinks, or water. Plus he suggests Ginseng, Vitamin B-6, and St. John's Wort, among others to keep you alert. Exercise was another suggestion. With that, he warns the reader not to get out of breath because that will lower your blood sugar, thus making you more tired.

I have to say that this book was helpful, although I have to agreee with some of the other reviewers in that he seemed overzealous in his campaign against caffeine and its products. One cup of coffee or one can of soda per day isn't going to hurt you. But if you drink eight cups a day for 10+ years, yes, you will feel the effects.

I give this book three stars because it is well written and informative; however, I feel that the author spent way too much time brow-beating us to the point where I wondered if this wasn't some sort of political, Thought Police kind of ploy to incite a mass panic within the general public. While I would recommend this book, I would also read others in order to make an intelligent, educated choice about caffeine and its long-term effects.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A VERY Intriguing Book, February 8, 2004

By	Daniel Dean (Myrtle Beach, SC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was a very intriguing book. For a long time now, I've had a feeling that caffeine was not so good for you. I've been reading Men's Health magazine, regularly, and every issue seems to have two or three blurbs about why coffee is either bad or good for you. It seems like every study comes up with new evidence for one case or the another. Contradiction after contradiction.

So, I was dying for a good book to give me some facts. I saw this one in the library, and scooped it up. I tried to be open-minded and skeptical at the same time, as I usually do when I read one-sided books like this, but I really became alarmed as I turned more pages. What Cherniske has to say really rings true, so I followed his advice and gave up the bean, and as he promised, I felt MUCH better once my withdrawal pains eased off. The biggest improvements were in my energy level, and the quality of sleep. I felt fully alert and ready to go as soon as I woke up every morning- without a single cup!

The most compelling statement he makes is that it will take about eight weeks of no caffeine to truly feel the benefits of its absence. Then he asks, "What do you have to lose?" If after two months of no coffee you don't feel a lot better, go back to drinking it for all we care. However, you'll be amazed at how hard it is to quit caffeine for two months. After two or three days, you will get some really hairy headaches unless you wean yourself off it slowly. And just try to walk by a coffee shop or the flavored coffee display in the grocery store without getting the shakes as soon as that old familiar aroma hits you.

Anyway, if you try to quit, you'll have no doubt that this is one powerful drug, and when you get those headaches, you can feel how bad it must be for your body.

-The only problem I have with this book, is that it was published in 1998, and there is no updated version, or newer books on the subject, and even Cherniske's website hasn't been updated in ages. Meanwhile, I still see plenty of new pro-coffee research articles in health magazines and such, and I *still* get the cravings every now and then, and I have to wonder how bad could one cup be now and then, or every two days or so? My will power is beginning to buckle here, and I could use some positive reinforcement despite the benefits I've felt. The pressure is pretty strong!

How about it Steve? We need you to refute these new claims!