Why is that water is needed to live as opposed to alternative liquids? If coffee is just bean-flavoured water, why couldn’t you survive by only drinking coffee? If you were lost on a desert island and had only coffee, juice or soda to drink, could you survive?
In: Biology
Drinking lots of coffee every day has its own set of problems. People like to poke fun at “[MUST HAVE COFFEE](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MustHaveCaffeine)” but caffeine addiction is a real thing, especially in terms of chemical dependence and dose acclimatization, and I can personally attest to the dreadful headaches caffeine withdrawal can bring. Coffee is not “just bean-flavoured water”, (if that’s what your coffee tastes like to you, you’re either making it wrong or need a new barista) it’s an organic suspension of alkaloids, carbohydrates, hydrocarbons, triglycerides, phenols and over a thousand more compounds that are subjects of active research. Caffeine is, among other things, a vasodilator (it makes veins and arteries widen to allow more blood flow, bringing more oxygen to the brain), which means if you were to suddenly cut down after drinking half a dozen coffees a day, the resulting vasoconstriction (narrowing of blood vessels) can reduce the flow of blood – and consequently oxygen – resulting in what feels like ischaemic pain (pain caused by lack of oxygen supply to limbs or organs). So, yes, you could survive on coffee, but it’s a terrible (and medically dangerous) idea and your body will make you regret it.
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