The last thing Starbucks needs is another plug, but I can’t help it. I love my morning venti non-fat latte from Starbucks! Yes, I could live without it if I had to – but I don’t want to. Given the choice between giving up alcohol for life and giving up my Starbucks latte for life, I’d be a teetotaler without a moment’s hesitation! I do feel guilty about it at times: the almost-but-not-quite-daily expenditure of something north of $3.00 (can’t quite bring myself to add that up for an entire year and I wince sometimes at the sheer number of Starbucks entries on my monthly Amex statement), the inconvenience of stopping in on my way to work or other errands (do I REALLY need to make this stop or wouldn’t this 3-7 minutes be better spent at the office? Gosh, what if I added up those minutes for an entire year?), and most importantly, what about the example I’m setting for my teenage daughter? She too now has a marked and intense love of her morning Starbucks. And she’s no longer an amateur either: she’s progressed from the sweet and frothy “frappuccino" fare to the hardcore drink of her Mom although in an “iced" version. Mostly, though, I worry about the effects of caffeine and possible caffeine addiction on both myself and my daughter, and that’s why I find Michael Granberry’s Dallas Morning News article entitled, “Coffee Breakdown" so intriguing. Mr. Granberry and I are obviously of like mind when it comes to our daily Starbucks and he does an excellent job of recapping the studies and findings of the medical industry on the health effects of caffeine (as disparate as they are), fairly mentioning pros and cons alike. In the end, I’m personally convinced - through my own research and soul-searching - that despite the expense and inconvenience and risk of caffeine addiction, our almost daily Starbucks non-fat latte is not a bad trade-off because of the calcium servings we’re getting through the latte’s non-fat milk (calcium servings which I’d be hard pressed to consume in any other fashion) and the benefits of MODERATE caffeine intake in my daily life.