SBD and no caffeine?

Im doing the South Beach Diet and in my ebook it says do drink decaf coffe or pop. Anyone know why?

As far as I know -- from my vast experience of dieting -- it's because caffeine makes you retain water and prevents you from losing weight. I don't know how much truth there is in it, but a lot of diets ask you to refrain from drinking caffeine, or at least to limit your intake.

I have no idea why   But I bought some amazing pods for the senseo that are decaf!  I also have sugar free syrups I can use with them.

As far as I know -- from my vast experience of dieting -- it's because caffeine makes you retain water and prevents you from losing weight. I don't know how much truth there is in it, but a lot of diets ask you to refrain from drinking caffeine, or at least to limit your intake.

Oh ok. I had no idea. I never drank decaf coffee before but after having it for the past 10 days I doubt Ill ever go back to regular. I can drink it all day long and never feel jittery. I hate that feeling!

But I thought caffeine was a diuretic.  Wouldn't that help you lose water weight?

I found this explanation on a Weight Watchers site:

Q: What is the story on caffeine? Does it affect weight loss?

A: I've read conflicting information on this topic in a wide variety of publications. Those studies based on sound science, though, seem to show little – if any – true correlation between caffeine consumption and weight loss.

Whereas caffeine can raise your heart rate, most research has shown that it doesn't cause enough of a rise in metabolism to make a difference in your body's ability to burn calories. Other research has shown a slight appetite suppression due to caffeine intake but again, the effects are deemed too insignificant to have an impact on your weight.

One other area of science to consider is the effect of caffeine on hydration status. Although caffeine is a diuretic and can cause you to lose extra water through increased urine output, it's only a temporary loss of water weight, not body fat. Plus, a dehydration effect usually only occurs when you consume more than 4 cups of caffeinated beverages in a day.

That said, how you ingest caffeine is a matter of importance. There's a big caloric difference between one lump of sugar in your coffee versus three -— not to mention fancy coffee store add-ins like caramel syrup and chocolate shavings. Indulge in too many of these extras and you can certainly affect your weight loss -— in the wrong direction.

Heh - ages ago I decided to try one of those diets where you make a vegetable soup, and the first few days you can only eat that and fruit - no caffiene, sugar, chocolate, anything.  The Monday morning I had planned to start it I woke up with a horrible case of PMS - and still went through with it.  I make it for about 6 hours, until my roommate asked me to drive her somewhere (to get food!) and we got stuck in a horrible traffic jam - in a car with no AC, in July, in New Orleans.  I thought I was going to die.  When we finally got to the food place, she went in and came out with a can of coke, shoved it in my face, and said "drink it!! now!!"   She later said she was actually afraid for her life in that car! 

I do try to moderate my caffiene intake a bit, but I could *never* do one of those diets that made me cut it out completely.  It's just not a pretty sight.   

I do try to moderate my caffiene intake a bit, but I could *never* do one of those diets that made me cut it out completely. It's just not a pretty sight.

Sorry, Cassandra, but I have to disagree. I think caffeine is one of the worst things you can put into your body. 

I'm more or less caffeine free. If I have too much it gives me weird heart palpitations and aggravates my migraines.

I do think I'm healthier for not being a caffeine junky. It's nice to wake up and not NEED a shot of joe or whatever just to get functional!

Well I have only been caffeine free for about ten days but I have had no cravings, jittery-ness or hunger pangs since. I feel so much better! I don't miss the caffeine. Also I heard that caffeine can cause cysts in the breasts. This happened to my mother years ago. Too much caffeine!

I found this explanation on a Weight Watchers site:

Q: What is the story on caffeine? Does it affect weight loss?

A: I've read conflicting information on this topic in a wide variety of publications. Those studies based on sound science, though, seem to show little – if any – true correlation between caffeine consumption and weight loss.

Whereas caffeine can raise your heart rate, most research has shown that it doesn't cause enough of a rise in metabolism to make a difference in your body's ability to burn calories. Other research has shown a slight appetite suppression due to caffeine intake but again, the effects are deemed too insignificant to have an impact on your weight.

One other area of science to consider is the effect of caffeine on hydration status. Although caffeine is a diuretic and can cause you to lose extra water through increased urine output, it's only a temporary loss of water weight, not body fat. Plus, a dehydration effect usually only occurs when you consume more than 4 cups of caffeinated beverages in a day.

That said, how you ingest caffeine is a matter of importance. There's a big caloric difference between one lump of sugar in your coffee versus three -— not to mention fancy coffee store add-ins like caramel syrup and chocolate shavings. Indulge in too many of these extras and you can certainly affect your weight loss -— in the wrong direction.

Hmm... makes sense.  Thanks.

Decaf gives me a headache. It's leaded or nothing for me.

I can't do the no caffeine thing.  I get the worst headache.  I have tried.  So when I am not taking classes I just cut way down on the caffeine.  But during classes, there is no way I can do that because I work so many hours along with writing papers almost every week.

I was never really bothered about having caffein until I had Philip and now I'm a junkie.

The headaches are probably caused from caffeine withdrawl. I've been drinking reg coffee for over 20 years and when I switched to decaf I was absolutely fine.  My mother on the other hand had horrible headaches when she switched.