Those goats which ate the berries became active and did not sleep at night, reported Khalifa, the Ethiopian herder, to the closest wise man, the abbot of the local monastery. The abbot tried it himself, and certified its potency in keeping him focused and alert. From Ethiopia to the Arabian peninsula and then to the whole world, for the journey of coffee, there was no looking back.
Everyone knows that coffee offers you a free seat in a roadside Paris cafe and keeps you company till 3 a.m. even if no one is around, but perhaps you don’t know that caffeine (the real stuff in coffee) saves the life of a premature baby with neonatal apnoea, a condition of forgetting to breathe. Yes, caffeine saves life.
Despite scores of publication highlighting the cardiovascular benefits of coffee, the detractors remind us that only desert goats and premature babies benefit from it. The chemical structure of coffee is partly similar to adenosine, the chemical that transacts energy inside the cell. So coffee counters this important biological agent, which is likely to be detrimental.
“Too much coffee is bad for your health,” my wife said one day. With multiple works slated for the night, I was in deep trouble.
I knew she believed in the health benefits of cow’s milk. So I did google for “health benefit of hot milk at bedtime” and started forwarding her WhatsApp messages about the benefit of drinking hot milk at night. Don’t think that I am fond of milk. But converting a cup of hot milk into a cup of hot, steaming, invigorating coffee is simple. An online order ensured delivery of a box full of instant coffee sachets.
“From today, I will give you a cup of hot milk,” she said. My plan was falling in place exactly as I wanted.
I waited for a week. I had one project to complete, one presentation for the residents and 50 patients on the appointment list the next day. But I was cool. I had the full night with me. After coming back from hospital, I joined my wife in watching television for a while.
“What happened to you? I thought you hated TV.”
“The hot milk at bedtime has changed me,” I smiled.
She didn’t smile back. I thought it is unusual.
That night after everyone slept, I switched on my laptop, uncapped the flask and poured the hot milk into the cup. I opened the drawer for the coffee sachet. The box was empty. Stark. Nothing! I lost sleep. So I finished the presentation and the project.
In the morning, I was awakened by an earthquake. But then I realised that it was my wife shaking me vigorously. “It is already 7 and you are still sleeping. Wake up. But I think the hot milk has improved your sleep. I am happy,” she said.
“By the way, I sanitised your table yesterday. I found some coffee sachets in a box. I have given it to our maid, especially that you have decided to stop taking coffee at bedtime.”
I am now searching Google for articles on “toxicity and side effects of hot milk”.
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