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Comment by cutler | Hacker News Reader

If caffeine is so good for us and not simply the drug that it is why do I feel so lousy for at least 2 weeks after giving it up? There is most definitely a withdrawal effect. Furthermore this article muddies the water between caffeine and coffee. How many of the listed benefits are due to the non-caffeine elements within coffee?

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By that logic, giving up water for two weeks would lead to withdrawal effects. Does that make it bad? Not defending caffeine, only pointing out poor logic.

I posit that you, sir/madam, are the one exhibiting poor logic. Giving up water for two weeks would lead to death. That's hardly the same as temporary mild withdrawal symptoms of coffee. That is the difference between a drug/supplement like caffeine, and an essential nutrient like water or vitamin C.

The logic is not poor at all, for quite mundane reasons. Giving up water will kill you, while giving up caffeine for enough time means it is no longer needed (and it is also, quite obviously, not needed for people who don't drink it already).

Ok, try giving up fibre in your diet for a while. Or vitamins A/B/C/D/whatever, or many other nutrients.

You’d be dead, without water for two weeks. Slight difference between a withdraw and a biological need, no?

I feel kind of lousy if I stop daily workouts but then I get used the new schedule/metabolism after a few weeks. Caffeine might be bad but I don't find this argument perfectly compelling.

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