How To Tell If You’re Consuming Too Much Caffeine
What is caffeine?
Caffeine is a natural stimulant most commonly found in tea, coffee, and cacao plants. It works by stimulating the brain and central nervous system, helping you stay alert and prevent the onset of tiredness. Historians track the first brewed tea as far back as 2737 B.C.
Coffee was reportedly discovered many years later by an Ethiopian shepherd who noticed the extra energy it gave his goats. Caffeinated soft drinks hit the market in the late 1800s and energy drinks soon followed. Nowadays, 80% of the world’s population consumes a caffeinated product each day, and this number goes up to 90% for adults in North America.
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How does it work?
Once consumed, caffeine is quickly absorbed from the gut into the bloodstream. From there, it travels to the liver and is broken down into compounds that can affect the function of various organs, with caffeine mainly having the highest effect on the brain.
It functions by blocking the effects of adenosine, which is a neurotransmitter that relaxes the brain and makes you feel tired. Normally, adenosine levels build up over the day, making you increasingly more tired and causing you to want to go to sleep. Caffeine helps you stay awake by connecting to adenosine receptors in the brain without activating them. This blocks the effects of adenosine, leading to reduced tiredness.
It may also increase blood adrenaline levels and increase brain activity of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine. This combination further stimulates the brain and promotes a state of arousal, alertness, and focus. Because it affects your brain, caffeine is often referred to as a psychoactive drug.
Additionally, caffeine tends to exert its effects quickly. For instance, the amount found in single cup of coffee can take as little as 20 minutes to reach the bloodstream and about 1 hour to reach full effectiveness
Benefits of caffeine
Caffeine has quite a bit of benefits, depending how you consume it. Although like anything, it is important to remember that moderation is key and too much of something that could be good for you might have the opposite effect. The following are just a few of the benefits of consuming caffeine:
Improves mood and brain function
Caffeine has the ability to block the brain-signaling molecule adenosine, which causes a relative increase in other signaling molecules, such as dopamine and norepinephrine. This change in brain messaging is thought to benefit your mood and brain function. You may even experience improved alertness, short-term recall, and reaction time from consuming caffeine.
When it comes to your mood, more caffeine isn’t necessarily better. It’s not likely that a second cup of coffee can produce any further benefits unless it was consumed at least 8 hours after the first cup. It has also been studied that drinking between 3–5 cups of coffee per day, or more than 3 cups of tea per day, may also reduce the risk of brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s by 28–60%. It’s important to note that coffee and tea contain other bioactive compounds, besides caffeine, that may also be beneficial. So these benefits may not solely be linked to caffeine alone.
Metabolism & exercise boost
Due to caffeine’s ability to stimulate the central nervous system, caffeine may increase metabolism by up to 11% and fat burning by up to 13%. Practically speaking, consuming 300 mg of caffeine per day may allow you to burn an extra 79 calories daily. This amount may seem small, but it’s similar to the calorie excess responsible for the average yearly weight gain of 2.2 pounds.
When it comes to exercise, caffeine may increase the use of fat as fuel. This is beneficial because it can help the glucose stored in muscles last longer, potentially delaying the time it takes your muscles to reach exhaustion. Caffeine may also improve your muscle contractions and increase tolerance to fatigue. Moreover, you can find similar benefits in playing team sports, partaking in high intensity workouts, and doing resistance exercises.
Caffeine may also reduce perceived exertion during exercise by up to 5.6%, which can make workouts feel easier. However it is important to note that you should not replace your daily exercise with drinking caffeine.
Foods & drinks that contain caffeine
Caffeine is naturally found in the seeds, nuts, or leaves of certain plants, and are then harvested and processed to produce caffeinated foods and beverages. The following are some of the amounts of caffeine expected per 8-ounce serving sizes of some popular beverages:
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Espresso: 240–720 mg
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Coffee: 102–200 mg
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Yerba mate: 65–130 mg
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Energy drinks: 50–160 mg
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Brewed tea: 40–120 mg
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Soft drinks: 20–40 mg
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Decaffeinated coffee: 3–12 mg
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Cocoa beverage: 2–7 mg
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Chocolate milk: 2–7 mg
Some foods, like chocolate for example, also contain caffeine. Just 1 ounce of milk chocolate contains 1–15 mg, whereas 1 ounce of dark chocolate has 5–35 mg. You can also find caffeine in some prescription or over-the-counter drugs like cold, allergy, and pain medications. It’s also a common ingredient in weight loss supplements.
Recommended dosages
A considerably safe dosage of caffeine is around a daily intake of 400 mg, which amounts to 2–4 cups of coffee per day. It’s also recommended to limit the amount of caffeine you consume at one time to about 200 mg per dose. The average cup of coffee typically contains a little less than 100 mg of caffeine.
What happens when you consume too much caffeine
Though up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day is considered safe for most adults, each person’s sensitivity to the substance varies. Your body will warn you with signs when enough turns out to be too much, so it’s important to take note.
Increased anxiety
When you consume too much caffeine, your blood pressure rises, and this can cause feelings of anxiety, nervousness, jitters, and a faster heart rate. Because caffeine speeds your central nervous system, it may trigger an increased released of adrenaline that can make you jumpy or scared.
Trouble sleeping
Because of its impact on the central nervous system, caffeine can keep you from falling asleep, staying asleep, or reaching a deep REM state. Since it takes an average of five to six hours for half of the caffeine you consume to be eliminated from your body and about a day for it to completely clear your system, it’s better to consume a moderate amount of caffeine early in the day to ensure a restful night.
Stomach aches
Because it is so acidic and thus, has laxative properties, coffee - and the caffeine in it - also impacts your gut. This can cause heartburn, cramping, indigestion, nausea, and diarrhea.
Frequent urination
Caffeine can act as a mild diuretic, which means that it can cause dehydration. If you’re having a cup of coffee, try eating a snack beforehand or with the beverage to slow the fluid’s movement through your body.
Headaches
While moderate caffeine consumption can sometimes help relieve a headache, it is a common ingredient in many over-the-counter headache medicines, too much habitual caffeine consumption can result in lasting headaches throughout the day as your body feels withdrawal symptoms.
Caffeine alternatives
Similar to what happened to me, the high amount of caffeine can cause nervousness and agitation, which can leave you feeling quite jittery. Some have even told me that coffee caused digestive distress and headaches.
So here are a few recommendations for alternatives that you can switch your morning cup of coffee out for. Remember some of these options have a little bit of caffeine and do have other properties that may interact with individual lifestyle and diet.
Matcha Tea
Matcha is a type of green tea made by steaming, drying and grinding the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant into a fine powder. Unlike brewable green tea, with matcha tea you consume the whole leaf. For this reason, you’re getting a much more concentrated source of antioxidants, and many of the proposed benefits of matcha are attributed to EGCG. Some even suggest that regular green tea consumption may reduce your risk of high blood pressure. Green tea has also been associated with reduced weight and body fat, as well as a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Matcha has a fresh flavor, which some describe as earthy, however it does contain a bit of caffeine.
To prepare:
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Sift 1–2 teaspoons of matcha powder into a ceramic bowl using a fine mesh strainer.
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Add hot, but not boiling, water — the water temperature should be around 160–170°F (71–77°C).
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Stir slowly until the powder is dissolved, then whisk back and forth. A traditional bamboo tea whisk, called a chasen, works best.
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The tea is ready once a light froth forms. You can also try adding 1 cup (237 ml) of steamed milk or a non-dairy alternative for a creamy matcha tea latte.
Because you consume the whole leaf, matcha is typically higher in caffeine than regular brewed green tea and sometimes higher than coffee. The amount in each serving can vary widely, with a range of 35–250 mg per cup.
Yerba Mate
Yerba mate is a naturally caffeinated herbal tea made from the dried leaves of the South American holly tree, llex paraguriensis. If you’re looking for a coffee substitute but don’t want to part with your morning caffeine, yerba mate is a good choice. One cup (237 ml) contains roughly 78 mg of caffeine, which is similar to the caffeine content in an average cup of coffee. Yerba mate is also loaded with beneficial plant compounds that act as antioxidants.
Yerba mate may even be higher in antioxidants than green tea. Additionally, it contains several minerals and vitamins, including riboflavin, thiamine, phosphorus, iron, calcium and vitamins C and E. It has an acquired taste, which can be described as bitter or smokey. In the traditional method, yerba mate is prepared in a yerba mate gourd and consumed through a metal straw, adding water as you drink it.
To make drinking yerba mate easier, you can also steep the leaves using a tea ball or purchase yerba mate tea bags. In these cases, just steep the leaves in hot water for 3–5 minutes and enjoy. Despite the purported health benefits of yerba mate, you should drink it in moderation.
Chicory Coffee
Like coffee beans, chicory root can be roasted, ground and brewed. It tastes very similar to coffee but is actually caffeine-free. It is also a rich source of inulin. This soluble fiber may aid in digestion and support a healthy gut by promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria. So coffee lovers who frequently experience IBS symptoms might want to give this one a try. Keep in mind though that chicory root may cause digestive symptoms in some people.
In addition, chicory coffee can stimulate your gallbladder to produce more bile, which may be beneficial for fat digestion. Chicory root can be found pre-ground and roasted, so it’s easy to prepare. Simply brew it like regular coffee grounds — in a filter coffee maker, French press or espresso machine. Use 2 tablespoons of grounds for every 6 ounces (180 ml) of water, or adjust this ratio based on your preferences. Although inulin is great for your health, it may have side effects such as bloating and gas.
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Caffeine has been around for a considerably long time. It has a variety of benefits that just a daily cup of coffee or tea can provide. However it’s imperative to remember that too much of anything is also never good. Additionally there are a number of caffeine alternatives worth trying if you are bored of coffee or looking to switch things up.
Extra tips related to caffeine
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Consuming 3 cups of coffee a day for as few as 3 weeks may increase the amount and activity of beneficial gut bacteria.
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The risk of developing type 2 diabetes drops for every 200 mg of caffeine consumed.
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A caffeine intake of 200 mg per dose, and up to 400 mg per day, is generally considered safe. Pregnant women should limit their daily intake to 200 mg or less.
