Gamers as caffeine addicts?

Tek7 (Legacy)

Tek7 (Legacy)

CGA & ToJ President
There's a common stereotype of gamers as caffeine junkies. You hear about gamers tearing through 6-packs of Bawls at LAN parties, chugging 2-liter bottles of Mountain Dew, and knocking back energy drinks to keep their "edge"?

How accurate is this stereotype?

I think that most gamers qualify as "above average" intelligence, at least in terms of standardized testing. (I also believe that standardized testing is an inaccurate representation of one's intelligence, but that's a topic for a different thread.) With new studies coming out every day detailing the harmful effects of abundant caffeine intake, is it reasonable to assume that gamers (at least those who do not struggle with substance addiction) knock back as much caffeine as people think we do? Or is this just a false stereotype perpetuated by companies like ThinkGeek that have a reason to shape our sub-culture in such a way as to sell more caffeine-related products, regardless of the physical damage it causes to its customers? (One is reminded of the tobacco corporation's prior knowledge of and refusal to disclose the harmful effects of tobacco.)

So, general rambling aside, I'll share my own story.

I rarely drink caffeine. Once in a long while, perhaps once every two months, I'll crave a Pepsi. I'll usually drink an 8 oz. can and be satiated. If I'm craving carbonation, I just drink a root beer and skip the caffeine.

I usually stick to water and fruit juice. I can't drink more than 16 oz. of a caffeinated beverage in a given day, but I can down a 64 oz. carton of 100% Pineapple-Orange juice in two days. When I make long drives, I drink a fair amount of apple juice the day before, the day of, and the day after. I make sure to avoid caffeine and the "crash" that follows sunset.

Of course, I'm also big on health foods, I try to treat my body well, and I avoid even over-the-counter medication whenever I can (preferring natural remedies). I suppose I'm a bit strange, anyway.

That's why I want to hear from other gamers, to see if the community at large really is a bunch of caffeine addicts.
 
not really....... and people who do drink 2 liters of MD and other stuff are generally just regular teenagers that game on the side too, thats always been my experiance. i'll drink espresso lattes and some energy drinks but other than that, i just stick to waterz
 
When I was younger, yes, I would say I was one of those crazy 24 cans of Mtn Dew in a single overnight LAN kids. Is that typical of gamers? No, because all my non-gamer friends did the same thing. At a lan party, most of the guys that I game with will drink some soda, but are more likely to sit back with a beer or two and just relax more. I do have a tendancy to pick up a new energy drink whenever I see a can I don't recognize, but that is just because I enjoy the flavors and not for the buzz.
 
Well Im a caffine addict but not because of gaming. My folks used to give me cold coffee in a bottle when I was growing up. Now I usually drink coffee untill lunch time then again after dinner, and lots of Soda or Tea. Now Tea may seem good; but it has caffine just like soda does. My point here, I was a caffine junkey long before I was a gamer.

Flaris.
 
On average, I consume about 150mg of caffeine daily. I avoid carbonated, syrupy soda whenever possible. I do occasionally like a ginger ale (Reed's being my favorite, but I'll drink any kind) but mostly I stick to tap water (bottled is a ripoff) and espresso.

Espresso is highly caffeinated, sure, but a shot of espresso only contains about 80-100mg of caffeine, whereas a normal cup of drip coffee contains 115-175mg. Also, I've read several studies in Time that say that coffee is very good for you, containing antioxidants and possibly preventing cirrhosis of the liver (not that I drink any alcohol anyway, but if you've ever seen Super Size Me, you know that eating a lot of fast food can do that to you too). There was also a study in the same magazine that suggested, though not concretely, that regular caffeine intake improved brain functions even after the effects of the caffeine had passed.

Also, any LAN I attend where Bawl's is being sold, I usually have one at the start of the evening so that I can keep running until 2:00 or 3:00 AM like everybody else. I don't drink caffiene after 2:00 PM, usually. I really like the flavor of Bawl's, and the caffiene buzz feels a little different than espresso for some reason. After I drink espresso I feel like I could stare a hole through a brick wall because of the boost to my concentration. That's why I drink it before tests at school and any time I feel like I can't concentrate. With Bawl's, I feel more awake, and a slight emotional lift that makes me feel happier. On the other hand, Bawl's seems to make me crash (at about 2:00 or 3:00 AM, when I pack up and go home), but espresso doesn't seem to have a "down" period where my concentration is negatively affected. I just have a concentration boost, and it slowly wears off.
 
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I usually drink about 3 liters of iced tea (3 cups sugar, 6 teabags) a day when I bother making it, and otherwise just a ton of water.
 
If we have any Dr. Pepper on hand, I can go through roughly a bottle per day. Otherwise I drink iced tea, lemonade, or, most commonly, water.
 
I don't like coffee - can't stand the stuff....most of the time I like to drink fruit drinks but then there are times when I get hooked on pepsi - not in a crazy way - just usually have a glass of it with dinner.

I've never been any kind of 'caffeine junky' -- and I've been playing pc games for at leats two years, maybe more....and been playing console games all my life!!!!
 
Iced Tea and Mountain Dew for me, I drink a lot fo both. I can however go days and even weeks without either of them, so I wouldn't say I'm addicted.
 
I grew up in a family that drinks a lot of Coke(tm) and I've always drank a lot of caffeine. Now that I'm getting older, it is not my caffeine intake that scares me, its my sugar intake. I used to drink about a 2 liter of Coke(tm) a day, but I've cut that way back. I do usually have 2 12oz cans (sometimes 3) on days I work with my lunch and after I workout. Thats 2 or 3 total, not after each thing. :) But I also don't drink coffee, so i start my morning with a 16oz sugar free rip it(tm) engergy drink.

How it relates to gaming for me, I don't know. I've never been to a lan party, but I've always been a caffeine junky. I havn't pulled any all nighters since the DAOC days.

Now as a parent, I find it is a lot easier to limit my kids soda and caffeine intake than it is to limit their sugar intake. Hopefully my kids will grow up and be more health concienceious than I am and not have people look at you weird when your standing in line at a grocery store with 20 2 liter bottles of Coke(tm) in your basket because they are on sale 10 for $10. :D

Cory
 
i mostly drink water (bottled aquafina) but i can say i do enjoy a good cup of coffee. i do drink a coke on occasion (usually diet) but no more then 1 a day really. when i was younger i used to go through 2 cans a day but i never got addicted. as for gamers in general being caffeine addicts, i probably would drink the same amount of caffeine as i do today (and as i used to) if i wasn't a gamer. i've never been to a LAN party and i dont think i've ever pulled and overnighter but if i did i could keep myself awake without caffeine
 
I don't usually drink much soda, and I don't even go near things like Red Bull.

Like you, Tek, I'll want one now and then, but other than that I stick w/ juice or milk. Sometimes chocolate milk. Just had a glass, in fact. :D


Heh, I was over at a friends house the other day, and I was drinking a glass of milk, and his mom came in and was like "Who drinks a glass of milk? And with garlic crackers???" (There was a platter of crackers and cheese. What? It was good! :D )
 
I can't drink more than 16 oz. of a caffeinated beverage in a given day, but I can down a 64 oz. carton of 100% Pineapple-Orange juice in two days.
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I used to drink 4 litres of Chocolate Milk or Tropicana orange juice in 1 day, sometimes, two 4 litres of them. I'd actually buy the 4 litres and bring it with me to play games. Technically, Tropicana is almost 4 litres.

I've gotten on a diet and just drink about 4 litres of water a day, 8 x 500 mL. Sometimes I'd have 4 x 500 mL bottles of water ready when I play CS/CS:S or Heroes 5, which takes a huge amount of patients because its turn-based.

But technically, Chocolate Milk and Orange juice doesn't have much caffeine than Pop and Soda Drinks.

I can drink pop and soda drinks, but I drink about 6-10 a year.
 
Taliesin said:
I do have a tendancy to pick up a new energy drink whenever I see a can I don't recognize, but that is just because I enjoy the flavors and not for the buzz.
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I have a liter of Vault in my hands right now... why? because it tastes lovely!
although it's called energy drink, i strongly disagree that it gives much "buzz," since it makes me no more energetic than i usually am...
one thing to know about me though is that i am NOT, and i repeat, NOT addicted to caf. this liter is the second liter ive ever had of anything caffeinated(sp?), and it's been about 5 months since i had my first. usually i drink milk in the morning, maybe one dr pepper later, and water at night.
so if there is a stereotype about us, i don't match it.

FYI: if i happen to have gatorade, i will ALWAYS choose that over the dr peppers.

i just remembered that my sister, a non-gamer, is addicted to dr pepper and drinks like 3-5 daily, nothing else (to my knowledge at least), so there's a nice backfire to the stereotype
 
Thrawn said:
I don't even go near things like Red Bull.
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EW Robitussin cough syrup in a can, i would die if i had to drink even one of those... i would rather drink... i don't know, something really nasty, instead of Red Bull x_x

my cousin is addicted to Red Bull, my dad is (now, in place of alcahol) addicted to SoBe Adrenaline Rush, and I'm addicted to not drinking much of anything... ever.
 
I've tried several of those canned energy drinks. Red Bull's don't taste great but reading the ingredients, they look to be more healthful than most of the varieties. My favorite, though, is the Arizona ones. They're heavily caffienated, yes, but they're not carbonated and they're mostly juice.
 
kraniac said:
My favorite, though, is the Arizona ones. They're heavily caffienated, yes, but they're not carbonated and they're mostly juice.
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i've never tried their energy drinks but they make a distinctly flavored tea that is ok... better than normal tea (i usually drink tea with so much sugar it tastes like sugar more than the tea itself)
 
Amicus Dei of [FoG] said:
EW Robitussin cough syrup in a can, i would die if i had to drink even one of those... i would rather drink... i don't know, something really nasty, instead of Red Bull x_x

my cousin is addicted to Red Bull, my dad is (now, in place of alcahol) addicted to SoBe Adrenaline Rush, and I'm addicted to not drinking much of anything... ever.
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Ooh, SoBe. :)
The Lizz Blizz Pina Colada one they have is the best. I like how it's got Echinecea in it too.
 
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