Coffee, a friend or a foe?

Coffee drinkers like me are somehow dependent in one way or another in our morning coffee rituals.

I want to explore about it since it has been my brain fuel and comfort for theses past months. Is coffee a friend to be trusted or an enemy in hiding?

The caffeine in brewed coffee is a legal stimulant and has no side effect either except it drives your brain cells to get working. According to this article in Huffington post, "Coffee may make you more intelligent" because the chemicals in the coffee beans can boost the brain to work and think more efficiently and smarter. My example for this is right now, I have my morning brewed coffee beside me while writing this, isn't it brilliant?! Another example is not only i am active in the morning, it helps me in my motor skills to be sharp and accurate and my brain to be alert, exactly what i needed in my job.

Coffee has not just been very helpful to me in waking me up in the morning and drives me to go to work everyday but it has been my close friend, it has never failed me whenever i need a driving force in my work and in my study, and whenever i need to relax when i am stressed. Throughout this years, coffee has been my companion in every twists and turns of my life. Just a few moments in a cafe or coffee shop feels like I'm entering to a new world dimension that takes me away from stress and dealings of this world to the wonderful world of imagination that is just a door step away. (Disclaimer: This is not what you think about pots and smoke, though in other countries it is legal combination with coffee, but here in my country is strictly prohibited, and a drug is different from a stimulant, take it from me, i'm a certified drug analyst, so.... it's not what you think, sorry!) What i mean is, i'm entering to a new world of ideas, this is the time where concepts and understanding is being brewed in my mind at the same time there is the smell the fresh aroma of brewed coffee by the barista. I came to understand a lot of things such as. what is life is about and what it means and in depth wisdom that only can be compounded wherever i am around with coffee.

Just like any other things, coffee can be very addictive. To some, 6-7 cups of coffee per day is not enough, and there we could see a perceivable problem in the future about control issues and discipline. The cliche "keep in moderation" is easier said than done, it has been said many times all over again but the reality still remains that coffee is addicting. The problem lies when the body starts to be dependent of the caffeine and at the same time immune of its effects, and thus, the reason for the increase and escalation of coffee consumption. It takes will of power and strong decision and moral support from loved ones and to some extent from professional help to keep the coffee consumption in moderation.

We can see the reason why coffee drinkers like me turns to coffee not just for social events but to keep me mentally focus and alert in the morning, and it is also an array and a means by which we could delve into the world of ideas and concepts even if it sometimes can be very addictive. It takes strong will power and attitude, moral and emotional support from friends and family to be able be healthy coffee drinker.

Classical Music, Coffee and Studying

By: Christine R. Guerrero, RMT, MLS (ASCPi)CM

Febuary 14, 2016

"Without my morning coffee I'm just like a dried up piece of roast goat."

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) The Coffee Cantata

"Coffee: Induces wit. ..."

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)

Most people do not think of classical music and coffee together, and yet one of the  best ways to maximize one's thinking is listening to classical music while sipping a  strong, brewed cup of coffee. Many indeed challenge this notion, saying that any music  (including heavy metal or death rock!) one enjoys maximizes ones thinking, and brewed  coffee a mere luxury for people with money. Even though brewed coffee is expensive and  classical music is often boring or tiring or both, still one should start listening to  classical music while studying and reading with brewed coffee or cappuccino or  espresso, whatever your preference because while the classical music stimulates our  brain into working effectively, it does even more by improving the attention span  and by enhancing  concentration and focus.

A bag of coffee beans can cost more than half of a day's salary and a cup of freshly  brewed coffee can range from a thirty pesos to a One Hundred and fifty pesos depending  on the branding or the name of the coffee shop or establishment. And although the taste of fresh coffee is irresistible, not  everybody likes the taste of coffee, sometimes it maybe too acidic or too strong for  them and these could turn them away and would prefer a better alternative than coffee  such as adequate water consumption, organic veggies, balanced diet and tea for healthier brain leading to an effective studying and concentration. Same in the case of classical music, not all has a love for classical music or has a taste  for one. Because classical  music is not very popular in today's societal musical taste, it will be very difficult  to ask a college student to switch music genre from pop to classical; In my own  experience, transistioning from pop musical preference to a classical music did really  took me a long time to like it, at first I thought of it as boring and uninteresting.  Greg Sandow argued in Pop vs. Classical that pop music has the same effect as of the classical music, it can also stir one's emotion, evoking emotional and spiritual content, implying that listening to  pop music could also improve one's concentration and studying.

But although brewed coffee can be expensive and classical music is often boring or tiring or  both to modern hearers used to pop music, still one should start listening to classical music while studying and reading  with brewed coffee because while pop music may have the same effect as classical music, it is classical music that has a greater effect than pop music in stimulating our brain into working effectively. According to the article Studying for finals? Let classical music help,  

University research in France, published in Learning and Individual Differences, found  that students who listened to a one-hour lecture where classical music was played in  the background scored significantly higher in a quiz on the lecture when compared to a  similar group of students who ?heard the lecture with no music.

The researchers  speculated that the music put students in a heightened emotional state, making them  more receptive to information.

And if one is inclined to think that any other genre of music will have the same effect, the article continues, "But make sure you are listening to classical music, because not all music aids blood pressure, a University of San Diego study found."

Scientists at the university compared changes in blood pressure among individuals listening to classical, jazz or pop music. Those listening to classical had significantly lower systolic blood pressure when compared to those listening to other musical genres or no music at all.

If testing anxiety causes sleepless nights, classical music can help soothe insomnia. A team of researchers at the University of Toronto found that tuning into classical music before bedtime helped  people fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Works by Brahms, Handel, Mozart, Strauss and Bach  were effective sleep aids because they use rhythms and tonal patterns that create a meditative mood and slow brainwaves, the study found.

What this means is that while a person studying to the tune of classical music is just as receptive to one studying with pop music in the background, listener of classical music is more relaxed which enhances significantly the effect of study.

The most important reason why one should start listening to classical music is, according to Chris Boyd Brewer, "Baroque music, such as that composed by Bach, Handel or  Telemann, that is 50 to 80 beats per minute creates an atmosphere of focus that leads  students into deep concentration in the alpha brain wave state. Learning vocabulary,  memorizing facts or reading to this music is highly effective." Thus, it help establish  a more positive learning state than pop music, create a more desired relaxing atmosphere, increases attention span, focus concentration and improve memory. This all the more when combined with coffee, which improve the brain's memory and attention span because of caffeine's  cognitive enhancing effect, one might find classical music and freshly brewed coffee a perfect combination for optimal  learning.

So you can see that although brewed coffee is expensive and classical music is perceived as either boring or tiring, still one should start listening to classical music while  studying and reading with brewed coffee or cappuccino or espresso, whatever your  preference for two main reasons. First, while both pop and classical music may have the same effect (which is debatable, at best), classical music stimulates our brains more effectively than pop music, it does even more by improving the attention span especially  when combined with coffee. But most importantly, the combination of classical music (or more specifically, Baroque music and Mozart) and coffee has greater effect on the person's concentration and focus than pop music ever would, for pop music is more distracting and therefore less conducive to focused study. Bach, the preeminent Baroque composer whose music is one of the suggested listening for studying, has expressed his love for coffee through the Cantata he made about coffee. I think that Gustave Flaubert got it right when said, "Coffee induces wit," for many years later  science proved his assertion. I had my caffeine fix this morning and Vivaldi on the background, this two components when combined together instantly enriched my brain with so much ideas  that needed to be written down, so here it is, my thesis on coffee and classical music.  And coffee need not be very expensive at all, for one doesn't have to go to a coffee shop  to get one's caffeine fix. There are now easier and cheaper ways to brew fresh coffee at home. So try sipping warm coffee, turn on youtube and play some classical  music for studying and concentration--simple and easy as pie.

Citations:

Greg Sandow, Pop vs. Classical, www.artsjournal.com, 2008

Allison Engel, Studying for finals? Let classical music help, www.news.usc.edu, 2014

Chris Boyd Brewer, Music and Learning: Integrating Music in the Classroom, John Hopkins  School of Education, 1995

For My Sister

I made this drawing for my lovely sister. Hopes she likes it.

brain equation

A right kind of classical music + freshly brewed good coffee + review notes + and a few minutes rest in between = makes my brain activated in its maximum performance. 

( I hope to keep it this way until the judgement day arrives, hopefully by God's will I could make it)



Definition:

classical music = mostly baroque, or Mozart, Bach, and other few classical composers

good coffee = is usually freshly grounded, and freshly brewed, any kind of hot coffee drinks will do may it be plain brewed coffee, cappuccino, creamy latte, full flavored mocha, fancy caramel latte and much more....

review notes = keep it short, condensed organized information, a small notebook will do (that you can bring anywhere when you have time to scan and read). Have only a  one or two review materials that is good enough to cover every subject that needed, maybe three would do if time doesn't matter much.

rest in between = and lastly remember to have short breaks in between study time, for the brain to be able to digest every information that has entered in the memory bank.

I hope this one helps.

home cafe

my coffee collection

home-made nutritious tuna with malunggay pasta and a hot cup of yummy cafe mocha 

frothy cappuccino, beef steak with crunchy carrots and fresh parsley on the side, garden salad drizzled with apple cider vinaigrette, and last but not the least espresso con panna. 

 cafe mocha

Want a perfect cup of coffee in the morning?

Want a perfect cup of coffee in the morning? here's how.

1. Better to have coffee beans in advance (store in cool,dry place, airtight) 

2. Grinds it freshly, according to how you want to brew your coffee whether in coffee maker, espresso  maker, or coffee press. If grinder is not an option, just brew the whole beans in a pot. (reminder: never boil it!)

3. Brew the coffee grounds.

4. Pour the hot coffee or espresso in a glass or cup, add some hot steamed frothed milk. (heat the milk but do not scald!)

5. Add some sugar, if desired.

6. Last, top on a sprinkle of cinnamon, or spice or chocolate shavings or some flavorings to add more taste.



"Stir it with love, sip it with a kiss, share the moments in a cup of coffee"

by:
tinee g.