On Oct 08 13:20 96, Regina Finan of 1:2410/534 wrote to Alvin Brinson:
RF>  I was talking to a Psychology student (a friend of mine) and she said
RF>  it was the carbonation in caffeine beverages that causes problems and
RF>  that is why coffee can react like ritalin to a person with ADHD.  She
RF>  wants to study my son.  Have him over for a week and check out some
RF>  things.  She has a son too.  We have wonderful discussions on children
RF>  and she was talking to me about some type of behavior problem that
RF>  relates to ADHD, but is not.  My children behave very badly on pop
RF>  with caffeine, but not with tea or coffee.  Tea or coffee actually
RF>  calms Jeremy down.
That would be easy enough to check out, if the carbonation is having an 
effect then caffeine-free sodas should have the effect as those with 
caffeine.  I've never heard of carbonation having any effect other than those 
noisy ones which young boys generally enjoy.  I have heard rumors about 
gastric reflux being caused by large quantities of carbonated beverages, but 
I don't know if that's true or, if true, permanent.
Conceivably the acidity of carbonated beverages has some interaction with 
caffeine, but both tea and coffee are rather acidic in themselves so I don't 
know if that's likely.
Jerry Schwartz
--- MsgedSQB 3.30.01
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