Caffeine

Add one more to the long list of ills associated with coffee drinking. Researchers at UC San Diego report today in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. that women who drink more than two cups of caffeinated coffee per day suffer a loss of bone density that can lead to bone fractures in later life. Scientists have suspected such a link for several years, but the report provides the strongest evidence of its existence.

When Jason Lee, a 41-year-old research analyst in Los Angeles, goes out for a night on the town, he wants to be able to dance until the wee hours. To rev up, Lee will drink three or four cans of Red Bull energy drink. "It has more zing than a Diet Pepsi," Lee says. "I'm looking for something to help me stay up later, for more energy." Energy -- that's what drinks such as Red Bull, Monster Energy, Rockstar, Amp, KMX, SoBe Adrenaline Rush and Shark promise.

One after another, foods that were once cast as dietary bad guys have seen their images rehabilitated. Nuts, eggs, avocados, even chocolate have been welcomed back into the kitchen as new research has dispelled worries and even pointed to potential health benefits. The latest candidate for a makeover is coffee. In the 1970s and 1980s, coffee was blamed for a variety of ills, from high blood pressure to cancer.

I was awakened at 3 a.m. by my wife shaking me and whispering, "It's time." I do not believe there are two more terrifying words in the English language, relating as they often do to the imminent birth of a human child and the necessity of the male progenitor to rush his mate to a proper place of delivery. My wife, of course, knows that and uses it as a kind of psychological cattle prod when I am likely to be slow getting up. It worked. "Time!"

Mounting scientific evidence shows that jokes about caffeine withdrawal are no joke at all -- and it doesn't take much to get hooked. "Some people say it's all in your head," says Roland Griffiths, a caffeine researcher at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. "We're able to show, based on a number of rigorous studies, that it's real and biological."

Most pregnant women have little trouble kicking caffeine once their doctors warn them that the common stimulant found in coffee, tea, cola, chocolate and other foods could endanger their babies' health. But researchers have found a group that does have trouble: women with a family history of alcohol abuse. "It's not just an academic issue," said Dr. Roland R.

Sara Vieira's workout schedule is more than most humans care to endure, a punishing combination of Spinning classes, boot camp and training for an upcoming triathlon. Exercising intensely up to two hours a day, Vieira admits she can endure the workouts a little easier when she has help from a friend -- a can of Red Bull. The 27-year-old flash designer from West Hollywood is hardly alone. Many twenty- and thirtysomethings regularly chug energy drinks or coffee before their workouts.

Mike M. is a user, an addict, a lean, fidgety man in a gray tweedsuit who struggles every day to stay straight. That's particularly hard around here because on every street corner all over this town, his drug of choice is being sold in heart-pounding, high-grade doses. The monkey is everywhere, calling Mike's name. "The thing is, I have a short memory.

Amid increasing scrutiny of the fast-growing energy drink industry, federal health officials are investigating reports that five people have died since 2009 after consuming Monster Beverage Corp.'s energy drinks. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it hadn't established a link between Monster energy drinks and the reports it has received concerning five deaths and another non-fatal heart attack. The government inquiry comes after a Maryland couple sued the Corona company last week in California for negligence and wrongful death in connection with the death of their 14-year-old daughter, Anais Fournier.

Anheuser-Busch Cos. said Thursday that it would stop producing and distributing energy drinks that contained both alcohol and caffeine and often other stimulants. Attorneys general from California and 10 other states announced that the St. Louis-based company, the nation's largest brewer, would reformulate its Tilt and Bud Extra products.