If you’ve ever tried to quit caffeinated coffee, you’ve likely encountered side effects such as headaches, irritability, and fatigue. suggesting… know It’s just decaf.
A team of scientists from the University of Sydney, led by Dr. Llew Mills, started with a group of 61 “heavy coffee drinkers” who regularly consumed at least three cups of caffeinated coffee a day.
We measured withdrawal symptoms in people who did not drink coffee for 24 hours. They were then divided into three groups. one for drinking water, one for decaf, Said It was decaf, was given decaf and was told it was regular caffeinated coffee – in other words, they lied.
When asked to rate their withdrawal symptoms after 45 minutes, the lying group reported the most pronounced reduction, probably due to the placebo effect. The group that drank water decreased significantly.
This phenomenon, called the open-label placebo effect, occurs when what is known to be a placebo still produces a beneficial placebo-like effect. In the case of stale coffee, scientists believe that after years of association of the taste and aroma of coffee with reduced withdrawal symptoms, subjects were still conditioned to experience a bit of that reduction. Even though they didn’t expect it.
While the open-label placebo effect isn’t a long-term solution to caffeine withdrawal, Mills believes drinking decaf can help people who quit coffee survive their worst cravings. findings may also be applicable to the treatment of other types of chemical poisoning.
“This study shows that cognitive factors, such as what you expect and how much drug you think you have in your body, have a significant impact on how you experience withdrawal symptoms.” We conducted this study to model some of the processes involved in addiction to any drug, including more serious or harmful drugs. It holds some promise for developing new treatments for addiction.
This study is described in a recently published paper. Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Source: University of Sydney
