Caffeine: I remember back when I was a teenager up until about my senior year of college, I had bad cases of insomnia. After that, it mysteriously disappeared.
When a teenager, I really didn't monitor what I ate and drank and when I ate and drank it. Looking back, I can see plenty of times that I engorged myself with caffeine & sugary stuff, obviously something that could keep me awake long hours at night.
Nonetheless, there're possibilities of other issues at hand that had kept me up late at night, even though I have always had a sinking suspicion that caffeinated drinks after six may have had something to do with it, especially since I really really don't drink too much caffeinated drinks without that in mind these days and have found that recently, the only times I have trouble sleeping is when I eat a ton of chocolate after six, which incidentally, has caffeine in it, as I'm sure we all know.
I also have some interesting "clinical" stories of when I experimented with drinking a ton of caffeine intentionally.
Aw, right, Chocolate. I was trying to figure out what are the sources of caffeine in daily life. Coffee, Tea, and Soft Drinks seems to be the main culprits though, right?
As far as I know, even though there are some other interesting chemicals that affect your hormones which cause stimulation, too. For instance, licorice can do a good number on you for keeping you alert and stuff, and I think it keeps the caffeine-like shakiness low, too. Whenever I need or want to stay up late for something, I generally like to combine a nice caffeinated soda and some licorice. Chocolate would probably make a good addition to that mix, too, just to help with a sense of well being.
For the two weeks I worked at Eon Entertainment I partook of the office coffee, which was my favorite Starbucks flaver: Verona. The mugs were larger than average and my friend Laura plied me with second and third cups to keep me alert as I scanned the background extras of Starship Troopers for dayplayers. As coffee lovers everywhere know, Starbucks is high octane, even the velvety mild Verona. My legs began to tingle and prick from what I am certain was circulation stress. I was sitting a lot...nevertheless, I gave up coffee for two weeks and I felt better although I can't explain it better than my insides felt less restricted (and I don't mean my intestines) I stay coffee free until my cousins in Texas offered me some of their favorite brand, Starbucks. Then dad took me to his neighbor's coffee shop, stocked with beans from the family's plantation in Nicaragua, and now I'm off the wagon.
Usually I don't have coffee every day and in fact, when I had my first cappucino at Joe's in college, my heart pounded so hard I felt sick. But I can affirm that when you get up at 5am for a 6 to 6 film shoot, coffee is your best friend.
Yes. . .coffee does a hell of a number on my belly and intestines. Yech! Can't even drink the crap, even though I love the taste with sugar!