Day 36: Without caffiene

 I decided to fast from caffiene for the last two weeks of Lent. I'm not sure this was well thought out. 

I don't drink that much caffiene.  A couple of teas or diet cokes. Somewhere between 100 - 150mg on average.  

During spring break we were on an easy schedule and that allowed me to reduce caffiene gradually over the week.  I was down to 35mg a day and thought,  giving it up should be not too bad from this low level.  It will make a nice fast for Holy week.  

I'm 6 days in and I still feel the withdraw.  

A little science lesson. 

Caffiene does many things to make us feel alert.  But I'm going to focus on just one of them. Thinking and other mental activity causes our brain cells to use energy. As they use energy,  they release a chemical called adenosine.  Brain cells also are equipped with little pockets that the exact shape of the adenosine molecule. As more and more adenosine starts floating around in our brains,  it begins to bump into our brain cells and latches into the pockets where it fits perfectly.  As the pockets,  technically called receptors,  fill up with adenosine,  that sends the signal to the brain to start relaxing,  lower or heart rate and makes us feel sleepy.  Eventually,  we go to sleep and somehow the brain cleans out all the adenosine and in the morning we are fresh and alert. 

Enter caffiene.  Caffiene has a similar shape as adenosine.  But instead of locking into the pockets on our brain cells,  it blocks entry.  So the pockets or receptors don't register as being full but also the adenosine can't get in because the caffiene blocks the way.  Eventually, the body cleans out the caffiene and all the adenosine floating around takes the place and a sudden sleepiness can offer take us as the caffiene wears off.  

But the body starts to figure it out if we use caffiene regularly.  It starts creating extra pockets for adenosine.  So after a few days or weeks,  caffiene doesn't help as well. We either have to increase caffiene amount to compensate for higher number of adenosine receptors or drink a normal amount of caffiene to feel "normal."

When we stop taking caffiene we are extra sensative to adenosine.  We can start out fine but as the day wears on sleepiness come early,  headaches and other side effects come from all those extra receptors binding to all the adenosine in the brain.  

Again,  bodies adapt.  Over time,  receptors go away and we again have normal sensitivity to adenosine.  

Why science on a spiritual blog?

I've been tired all week, with minor headaches as I fast from caffiene.  

I've been thinking about this process happening in my brain and how I didn't think I drank enough caffiene to have such a strong withdrawal. 

I've thought about how the word "addiction" has such judgment attached to it and how powerful it is to recognize how we are creatures and our biology informs our experience of the world. It's easy to think of "addicts" as victims of their own bad choices. But are any of us really free from addiction, how ever benign? I've benefitted from learning about the 12 steps and looking at places in my life where I am powerless against myself. 

I think about Jesus in the desert and how he had power to turn stones to bread. How i have power at any moment to get relief from these withdrawal symptoms by having a tiny bit of caffiene, which is literally everywhere in our world.  Do i choose the easy way, today? Do I usually choose the easy way? 

I've thought about how amazing of a creature we are too have this natural feedback system.  That thinking and stress creates adenosine and adenosine forces our bodies to slow down and get sleepy.  It's a biological limit to how much we can handle in a day.   And even more amazing,  plants create a substance to wires or brains to be more alert and creative that is addictive and pushes us to care for the plants (and does all kind of other things in ecology)

And I've been thinking about the physical experience of faith.  What it looks like to live out faith, to trust God with our bodies.  This is the heart of a fasting practice,  at least it always has been for me.  

It's been inconvenient, but all these thoughts make me think it was a reasonable fast to choose.