without their cup of coffee” without suffering a blinding headache?
The Danger SignalThis is the explanation. The body has a stop signal, fatigue, to warn when rest is needed. The natural impulse is to obey this signal. It was meant to be obeyed. But in this day of rush and hurry—in this day when so many are trying to carry too great a load of work or pleasure and are not supplying their bodies with the food elements for even a normal load—there is an increasing tendency to disregard the warning signal of fatigue.
Caffein has the power to deaden the fatigue signal. It seems to give new energy. But it cannot do that, because it has no food value. What it actually does is withdraw reserve energy from the body’s vital store. Bit by bit this reserve is robbed.
It is our reserve of vital energy which enables us to do our daily work easily. It enables us to do an extra amount of work, or to go for a night without sleep, if need be, without exhaustion. It is this reserve strength on which we call to fight a disease which strikes us. It is our real life insurance in emergencies. Without it, we are skirting perilously close to an abyss.
So the man or woman who overrides the warning signal of fatigue with mealtime doses of caffein—who by this means withdraws reserve energy instead of supplying new energy through rest and refreshment—is tampering with an essential scheme of nature. Nervousness, sleeplessness, headache, and indigestion may[ 45 ]
