water: 99% H2O

[cellio]

We have free drinks at work. This is nice, but some people have been asking for a water cooler. (Currently we have a cooler stocked with pop and a little juice. Oh, and carbonated water, which I personally think tastes foul.)

Apparently a water cooler is hard but bottled water is easy, so we now have bottled water. Flavored bottled water, because I guess people who produce bottled water have to put their individual stamp on the product.

For your edification, then, here are the contents of the label from a 16-ounce bottle of Veryfine "Fruit2O", "natural orange" flavor:

Serving size: 8 fl. oz.
Servings per container: 2
Amount per serving / % RDA:
Calories: 0, 0
Total fat: 0, 0
Sodium: 5mg, 0
Total carb: 0, 0
Sugars: 0
Protein: 0

Ingredients: spring water, citric acid, natural flavor, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (preserve freshness), sucralose, a nonnutritive sweetener. Refrigerate after opening.

Preservatives? Artificial sweetener? Refrigerate after opening??? This is supposed to be water!

I guess I'll keep drinking the tap water. It's not the tastiest stuff in the world, but I get enough chemicals in the rest of my diet and don't need to add to them. (Caffeine is still a critical component, though I'm now trying to alternate units of caffeine with units of non-caffeine, hence the water. As I already weigh way more than I should, I take my caffeine with nutrisweet instead of with sugar. I'd like pure caffeine (in cold liquid form), but that's hard.)

Comments

[cellio]

By definition, since pure caffeine is a powder, you cannot have it in cold liquid form.

True. I was sloppy in my wording. Water is fine as a carrier (and I drink plenty of water anyway, so it's fine to combine them), and if caffeine itself has an overpowering foul taste (I have no clue here) I'd even accept flavoring agents. What I want to avoid is having my 12-ounce dose of caffeine be accompanied by either ~200 calories or significant quantities of Nutrisweet. I have no idea if this is actually possible.

However, if you're interested in buying my jar of purified caffeine (hey, being a pharmacist has to have some perks, right?) I'll be happy to send it to you. I'm not certain what to do with it myself, because I purchased it before the house was kashered, and this jar of industrial chemical lacks a heksher. *shrugs*

Purified caffeine? Wow, I've never heard of such a thing (unless you count No-Doz). What recommendations can you offer about proper use? I mean, are there concentrations in which this is dangerous? I assume you shouldn't just get a spoon and dive in... Tell me more.

So what does a pharmacist do with purified caffeine, anyway? Is this solely for making non-drowsy allergy/cold medicines, or is there some more direct application? What I know about pharmacy can be summed up in about two sentences. (Specifically: "ask about side effects" and "ask about interactions with existing conditions or drugs".)

Assuming that the process of purifying caffeine doesn't involve, say, marinating in pig fat, I don't have a kashrut issue with it. (I eat at friends' houses when they haven't kashered their kitchens, too. I keep my own kitchen kosher, and I personally don't buy non-kosher meat (thus at restaurants I stick to vegetarian or fish), but I'm fairly flexible about stuff that is "kosher by ingredients" but sans hechsher.)

Re:

[sethcohen.livejournal.com]

>>By definition, since pure caffeine is a powder, >>you cannot have it in cold liquid form.

>True. I was sloppy in my wording. Water is fine >as a carrier (and I drink plenty of water >anyway, so it's fine to combine them), and if >caffeine itself has an overpowering foul taste
>(I have no clue here)

Caffeine citrate is very bitter. Not foul, just not necessarily pleasant.

>I'd even accept flavoring agents. What I want to >avoid is having my 12-ounce dose of caffeine be
>accompanied by either ~200 calories or >significant quantities of Nutrisweet. I have no >idea if this is actually possible.

You could use some other acceptable sweetening agent, such as Splenda or saccharin or that other choice that I can't remember at this hour.

>Purified caffeine? Wow, I've never heard of such >a thing (unless you count No-Doz). What >recommendations can you offer about proper use? >I mean, are there concentrations in which this >is dangerous? I assume you shouldn't just get a >spoon and dive in... Tell me more.

No-Doz isn't purified. This *is* the purified stuff they make No-Doz from. The concentration isn't the issue. There's enough caffeine in this jar to kill me (and I weigh 125 kilos) 8 times over. Getting a spoon and diving in is a recipe for bad stuff.

I used a quarter-teaspoonful in a pot of coffee (or, when I was feeling wacky, in whipped cream) and it made a noticeable difference. I didn't feel the need to purchase an electronic scale with milligram accuracy, but that's what I'd recommend if you're looking to use pure caffeine on a daily basis. 1 can of Coke has 60 mgms of caffeine, and a cup of coffee has about 100. Caffeine doesn't dissolve well in cold water, and doesn't dissolve much better in hot water. *shrugs* It's a 120 *gram* jar of caffeine, and it would take you a long time to use up safely.

>So what does a pharmacist do with purified >caffeine, anyway? Is this solely for making non->drowsy allergy/cold medicines, or is there some >more direct application? What I know about >pharmacy can be summed up in about two >sentences. (Specifically: "ask about side >effects" and "ask about interactions with >existing conditions or drugs".)

*This* pharmacist used it in coffee and in whipped cream. *grin* I've used it medicinally in a couple of products in compound drugs for patients, but it's not a common thing these days. I'm guessing most of the time it's there as an enhancing agent, like caffeine is in Excedrin.

>Assuming that the process of purifying caffeine >doesn't involve, say, marinating in pig fat, I >don't have a kashrut issue with it. (I eat at >friends' houses when they haven't kashered their >kitchens, too. I keep my own kitchen kosher, and >I personally don't buy non-kosher meat (thus at >restaurants I stick to vegetarian or fish), but >I'm fairly flexible about stuff that is "kosher >by ingredients" but sans hechsher.)

Having done chemical purifications in organic chemistry, I'll bet that this stuff wasn't purified in pig fat. Doesn't mean it was under rabbinical supervision, but if you don't care, I don't.

[cellio]

You could use some other acceptable sweetening agent, such as Splenda or saccharin or that other choice that I can't remember at this hour.

Locally, all the caffeinated pop is made with Nutrisweet or Aspertame (which I think is the same thing??). I haven't seen saccharin in a while; I think the only thing that had it was Tab, which has been gone for ages.

I should probably clarify that I despise the taste of coffee, so I'm talking about cold beverages here. (Yeah, I do like tea, but it seems to be somewhat limited as a caffeine source.)

Getting a spoon and diving in is a recipe for bad stuff.

I suspected as much. That's why I asked. I get nervous about things that can kill me.

You know, it seems like there would be an easier way. I'm not wedded to the idea of caffeine as diet component per se, after all. It's a drug addiction.

The problem with No-Doz is that it's a tablet that delivers its entire dosage all at once, and of course you don't take it until you really need it. So the one time I tried it (in college, of course), it made me very sick and disoriented. But isn't it possible to make a time-release capsule instead? Something that would deliver, say, 250-300mg of caffeine over the course of a day?

Re:

[sethcohen.livejournal.com]

Yep, it's definately possible. However, it's not economically feasible, either for you or me or a large corporation. Not enough of a market for it.
*shrugs* Sorry.