Just came across an interesting study mentioned in the September issue of Self Magazine. Apparently, the mental boost you feel from caffeine is at least partially in your head!

Researchers gave sleepy subjects a cup of either regular or decaffeinated coffee and then tested their alertness.  Not surprisingly, those who got the decaf reported feeling no more alert afterward than before. But get this:  When they gave subjects caffeinated coffee but told them it was decaf, the subjects got no benefit. It only helped when they knew it was caffeinated.

Unfortunately, it didn't work the other way around. Subjects who were given decaf but told it was caffeinated didn't feel any more alert.

Go figure!

These days, it may not seem like a big deal to have a drink before dinner and a couple of glasses of wine with dinner. Yet, according to the National Institutes of Health, consuming that amount of alcohol puts you in a high risk category. Rethinking Drinking, a website run by the NIH, can help you assess the risks and/or benefits of your drinking habits.You might be surprised to see how just low the threshold for "low-risk" drinking is, especially when you consider the size of a "standard" drink is just 1.5 ounces of hard liquor. The newly (or once again) popular martini drinks usually contain the equivalent of 2 to 4 servings of alcohol. What do you think? Is this too heavy-handed an approach? Are we American's showing our latent puritanism here?  Are the risks of moderate drinking being overstated? Tip: See SELF Magazine's Guide to a Healthy Happy Hour For those who are motivated to make a change in their drinking habits, the site offers tools and strategies that are consistent with the proven approach developed by James Prochaska and outlined in his excellent book Changing for Good. See also: Fitting Alcohol into Your Weight Loss Program