Perhaps best known for “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” Michael Pollan wrote a book called “How To Change Your Mind: What The Science Of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, And Transcendence.“
In that book, he wrote about his experiences with psychedelics. His latest audiobook is about the psychoactive substance that most of humanity is hopelessly addicted to: caffeine.
In this delightful interview, which comes in both transcript as well as recorded formats, Pollan shared about about the project.
Caffeine is powerful stuff. Like the drug trade in general, there is a ton of ugliness associated with its cultivation and distribution. But without it, Pollan wonders if there would have ever been an Industrial Revolution.
He gave up coffee for three months to better understand the effect it had on his own life, a necessary first step. As a psychoactive substance, caffeine is uniquely transparent. While there may be a sense of heightened alertness or focus, one does not feel significantly altered as might be the case with alcohol or other substances. You don’t really know the effect it’s having until you give it up.
But the siren song of caffeine is lovely and will often bait us back into physiological and emotional dependence. Pollan shares an observation made by another colleague, “if you have a steady supply of something, you can afford it, and it’s not interfering with your life, there’s nothing wrong with being addicted.”
Caffeine stays in our system for a long time. At midnight, there is still about 1/4 of the caffeine left over from whatever you drank at noon. Not only does this affect the quality of our sleep, but it also suggests that, for the daily doser, we are essentially staving off the effects of withdrawal with our morning coffee. No longer are we enjoying the euphoric highs of our initial caffeine encounters. We’re just trying to function without a headache.
It seems that intermittent use is the best of all worlds. Have a cup of coffee on a Saturday morning and feel a surge of productivity. Let it taper out of your system and enjoy quality sleep for the rest of the week.
Pollan tried that, “But eventually, the slippery slope intervened.”
You can find the interview here.
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