Nicotine v Caffeine - Which is worse?

[420GypsyGirl]

I think Caffeine and Nicotine, health wise, are on the same level.

Cigarettes however, are much worse. Obviously.

And I want to just say, that I am as addicted to coffee as they come. And oftentimes, i'd say "I'd rather quit smoking than quit drinking coffee."

Nicotine withdrawal makes you grumpy and irritable and constantly feeling like you "need" something...

Caffeine withdrawal... makes you HURT. If I got one day without any coffee, or not enough, I am in so much pain it's unexplanatory. Not even just the migraine headaches, but my entire body aches, and I end up MORE jittery than I'd be if I just drank the coffee. I find myself pacing the house in a sort of trance, not really knowing what to do next...

So really, Caffeine is a worse addiction, imho.

Took me almost a month to get off caffeine. I was seriously bed ridden for like 4 days straight. It was horrible. I acked and had migraines from hell. I do my best to avoid it, but it is so difficult when so many products have it. I got off it for high blood pressure reasons. Best thing I ever did. Now I drink caffiene free tea and coffee...at least they say they are.

[Vocalek]

Just thought you'd like to know that tobacco isn't the only thing that has nicotine in it.

There is considerable evidence that nicotine is present in certain human foods, especially plants from the family Solanaceae (such as potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplant). Castro and Monji,2 Sheen,3 and Davis et al.4 have reported on the nicotine content of foods and drinks. We have been able to confirm . . . [Full Text of this Article]

NOTE: The above link did not provide access because I do not have a subscription to NEJM. I did some searching and found a closely related article published elsewhere: "Relevance of nicotine content of common vegetables to the identification of passive tobacco smokers" [http://www.data-yard.net/science/con..._relevance.pdf

Related: Abstract from 1995 SRA Annual Meeting

"Using @RISK simulation for 25,000 trials the average absorbed nicotine dose for those who drink tea is 12.5 mg/d. The median is about 5 mg/d. The 95th percentile for the entire US population aged 18 years and older is 22 mg/d. The dietary contributions of absorbed nicotine dose are significant when compared to present ETS exposures. A recent study of workplace ETS exposure results in mean and median absorbed nicotine doses of 11 and 3 mg/d, respectively. Thus, ETS exposure analysis based on total nicotine absorption needs to consider dietary intake. This includes the use of cotinine (a major metabolite of nicotine) which has been a widely used biomarker."