|
|
|
Coffee For Your Health
Go Ahead…Have Some Coffee… Many of us rely on coffee to get us going in the mornings, wake us up in the afternoons, and prepare us for that special business meeting. Go ahead, have a cup of coffee. It’s much healthier than you may be thinking right...
Coffee on Campaign: How to Roast Your Coffee Like Civil War Soldiers
Coffee on Campaign Confederate and Union Soldiers Roast their Own Coffee, and You Can Do it Just Like them and other Little Beans about their Coffee Drinkin’ Habits and the War Between the States by Paula McCoach as dictated by the Coach The Coffee...
History of Spanish Coffee
When we think of Spanish coffee we tend to think of a steaming mug of coffee with rum or other alcohol and topped with whipped cream, but the Spanish influence on the coffee industry reaches much further than the bar in a ski lodge. Spanish ships...
How Starbucks Chooses, Roasts And Blends Their Coffee
Starbucks® Coffee knows the perfect cup of coffee starts with only the best beans. Finding and purchasing the best green beans in the world is the first step that differentiates them from the rest of the coffee industry. They are well-known for...
The Best Cup of Drip Coffee Possible
With a “good” cup of coffee costing almost as much as a good sandwich these days, more and more people are taking to making their coffee at home from an “old fashioned” drip coffee machine. With the influence of Starbucks and the others out...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Coffee Breaks - Do they create Stress?
The American custom of taking break during the working hours. Thus coffee breaks began in the early 20th century. At the end of the 19th century, the American workplace was a dreadful place for a break.
But as the century turned, social reform was gaining steam. Companies and factories installed in-house lunchrooms, and coffee breaks became part of the reform.
In 1952, the term “coffee break” was coined by a Pan-American Coffee Bureau ad campaign that read, "Give yourself a Coffee-Break -- and Get What Coffee Gives to You."
Many people take a coffee break while at work, believing that this will ease their stress. Research has been conflicting on the effects of caffeine; some studies suggest that it can worsen anxiety and trigger stress, while others show it boosts confidence and alertness.
Recently, however, a study done by psychologists Lindsay St Claire and Peter Rogers of Bristol University in the United Kingdom suggests that taking coffee breaks while working may actually deter employees' ability to do their jobs and undermine teamwork instead of boosting it.
So this raises the question: do the classic American coffee breaks hurt more than help?
The study found that caffeine is particularly unhelpful to men and can disrupt their emotions and hamper their ability to perform certain tasks.
This latest report, released by the UK's Economic and Social Research Council, also suggests that caffeine makes people less co-operative when working in teams.
"Our research findings suggest that the commonplace tea or coffee break might backfire in business situations, particularly where men are concerned," says St Claire. "Far from reducing stress, it might actually make things worse."
The researchers began their work after they heard a story during a stress workshop. A man described how he and a group of co-workers went on a business trip to the United States.
In the United Kingdom, coffee isn’t readily available in the workplace. However, in the United States, coffee was freely available
and the team drank indulgently. Soon, they noticed that their stress levels had risen.
They felt that the extra caffeine had disrupted their team cohesiveness and affected their ability to work together.
The team from Bristol University tested caffeine's effects on 32 coffee drinkers. The subjects were that they would be given one of three drinks; a caffeinated coffee that would enhance their performance, a caffeinated coffee that would make them feel stressed, or decaffeinated coffee.
This, however, wasn’t completely true. Half of the drinks contained 200 mg of caffeine and the other half contained none. The subjects were then asked to perform two stressful tasks.
The results of the tasks? Men did significantly worse than women in coping with the caffeine from the coffee. Those that had been told that their coffee contained the performance-enhancing caffeine had higher heart rates and showed more stress, especially during a public speaking task.
The caffeine, however, did not affect the men when it came to mathematical tasks. When the subjects performed a "desert survival task" in teams, taking coffee breaks did reduce stress, especially in men, but drinking coffee seemed to reduce teamwork.
So when it comes to coffee breaks, it may be advisable to lay off a bit if you’re about to speak to an important client or head into a team meeting where you know there will be much bickering about the latest project plans.
And while coffee and caffeine have been shown to be extremely beneficial in other areas of your physical health, maybe they should be reserved for before and after work or on the weekends.
© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.
About the Author
Randy has more articles on coffee such as Colombian Coffee, Are Coffee Enemas the Real Thing? and Arabica Coffee.
|
|
|
|
|
| Starbucks Homepage |
| Starbucks Coffee Company is the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world. The Company's other brands enhance the Starbucks ... |
| www.starbucks.com |
|
| Coffee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. ... Coffee aficionados may even distinguish auctioned coffees by lot number. ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Peet's Coffee & Tea |
| Coffee, tea and brewing equipment, information and store locator. |
| www.peets.com |
|
| Coffee Review :: The World's Leading Coffee Buying Guide |
| Coffee and coffee-related reviews done by Kenneth Davids and others. |
| www.coffeereview.com |
|
| Coffee @ nationalgeographic.com |
| The history of coffee, descriptions of different varieties, map of coffee-producing countries and a discussion forum. |
| www.nationalgeographic.com |
|
| Trojan Room Coffee Machine |
| The official site. Includes the final image of the machine being switched off, a non-technical biography, and an audio copy of a 1994 radio report. |
| www.cl.cam.ac.uk |
|
| Espresso and Coffee Information from Coffee Universe |
| Linking the entire specialty coffee and espresso industry from coffee beans, coffee roasting to espresso machines. |
| coffeeuniverse.com |
|
| CoffeeGeek - News, Reviews, Opinion and Community for Coffee and ... |
| Offers reviews of coffee appliances, news, and articles. |
| www.coffeegeek.com |
|
| Coffee Break Arcade - Free Games |
| Play the best FREE games on the web. Select online games from 6 categories including Sports, Shooting, Racing, Classic, Casino and Cool. |
| www.coffeebreakarcade.com |
|
| Too Much Coffee Man - Home |
| Online strips, merchandise, and multimedia. [Graphics intensive] |
| www.tmcm.com |
|
| International Coffee Organization - News From The Executive Director |
| London-based intergovernmental body of coffee exporting and importing countries. Offers current industry news and legislative alerts; ... |
| www.ico.org |
|
| Caribou Coffee — Gourmet Coffee Shops and Online Specialty Coffee ... |
| Caribou Coffee shops and online store feature gourmet coffee and gifts. |
| www.cariboucoffee.com |
|
| Fair Trade Coffee |
| Fair Trade for coffee farmers means community development, health, education, ... Updated Action Pack for Fair Trade Coffee and Chocolate Campaigns ... |
| www.globalexchange.org |
|
| Gevalia.com - Gourmet Coffee & Tea Collections |
| Selections of fine coffees, flavorful teas, gifts and inspirations offered via direct automatic delivery or catalog order. |
| www.gevalia.com |
|
| Dunkin' Donuts Coffee | Buy Coffee Beans Online |
| Coffee sold by the pound, regular delivery programs, gifts and accessories. |
| www.dunkindonuts.com |
|
| Over The Coffee |
| Top Ten Coffee Producing Nations Brazil Colombia Indonesia Vietnam Mexico Ethiopia India Guatemala Cote d'Ivoire Uganda. |
| www.cappuccino.com |
|
| INeedCoffee - Monthly Caffeination Information |
| This coffee brewer guide is meant to assist buyer to choose the ideal single cup ... I found coffee paradise. The best coffee city is Auckland, New Zealand. ... |
| www.ineedcoffee.com |
|
| Coffee Forums Coffee Discussion about Espresso, Coffee Beans and ... |
| Offers discussion boards for enthusiasts to talk about topics such as beans, espresso, machines, and cafes. |
| www.coffeeforums.com |
|
| Green Mountain Coffee Roasters: Organic, Fair Trade and Signature ... |
| Gourmet coffees and specialty coffee accessories and gifts. Shop online for Fair Trade and Organic coffee, single-cup coffee, decaf and flavored coffee, ... |
| www.greenmountaincoffee.com |
|
| Equal Exchange: Fairly Traded Coffee, Tea & Chocolate |
| Dedicated to fair trade with small-scale coffee farmers in the developing world. |
| www.equalexchange.com |
|
|