Caffeine in the Diet
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KEY POINTS
- Caffeine affects many parts of the body. It can help you feel more alert and less tired.
- Too much caffeine can cause jumpiness, trouble sleeping, and stomach problems. It can also affect your heartbeat.
- The best way to see if you are getting too much caffeine is to notice how it affects you.
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What is caffeine?
Caffeine is a stimulant, which means it speeds up some of your body processes. It is found naturally in tea leaves, coffee beans, and cocoa beans. Caffeine can also be manmade.
Most caffeine in the diet comes from drinks such as coffee, tea, soda, or energy drinks. Caffeine can also be found in mints, gum, chocolates, energy bars, and other foods. Some vitamins, pain medicines, and diet pills also contain caffeine.
The FDA has warned people to avoid powdered pure caffeine. A teaspoon of this product is the same as 25 cups of coffee. Taking this amount of caffeine all at once can cause death.
How does caffeine affect the body?
Caffeine affects many parts of the body:
- It stimulates the brain and makes you feel wide awake, energetic, and better able to concentrate.
- It makes your heart beat faster.
- It helps you go longer without feeling tired.
- It makes you less sensitive to pain.
- It helps muscles to work better.
- It increases the amount of acid made by the stomach.
Too much caffeine can cause:
- Restlessness, jumpiness, anxiety, and trouble sleeping
- A fast or irregular heartbeat
- Twitching muscles
- Nausea
- Stomach pain or heartburn
In the past it has been thought that caffeine can cause your body to lose too much fluid (dehydration). Coffee and tea work the same way that other fluids do. If you rarely drink caffeinated drinks and suddenly drink a lot of them, you may have to urinate more than if you'd had just water. But the body quickly gets used to caffeine. If you regularly drink caffeine, you won't urinate any more after drinking caffeine than when you drink the same amount of water.
You can develop caffeine tolerance. This means you need more and more caffeine to get the desired effect. If you become dependent on caffeine, you have short-term withdrawal symptoms when you go without it. You may feel tired, have a headache, or be irritable.
Should I limit or avoid caffeine?
Caffeine may cause problems if you have:
- Type 2 diabetes (More than 250 milligrams of caffeine can increase blood glucose levels.)
- Anxiety or panic attacks
- An irregular or pounding heartbeat
- Heart disease, or if you had a heart attack in the past few weeks
- Uncontrolled high blood pressure
- Trouble sleeping
- A peptic ulcer
- Acid reflux
- Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
How much caffeine is too much?
A reasonable amount of caffeine is 200 to 300 mg per day. If you are pregnant, some healthcare providers recommend no caffeine during the first 3 months and no more than 200 mg a day during the rest of your pregnancy.
- The amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee depends on the amount of coffee grounds used to make it and whether it was instant or brewed. An 8-ounce cup of regular coffee may contain 75 to 120 mg of caffeine.
- Espresso coffee contains an average of 30 to 50 mg per 1-ounce cup.
- An 8-ounce cup of tea may contain 20 to 100 mg of caffeine.
- Soft drinks with caffeine have 30 to 70 mg caffeine in a 12-ounce serving.
- Energy drinks range from 50 to 300 mg of caffeine in an 8-ounce serving. There may be 2 or 3 servings per can. They may also be high in calories.
- Candy or products that say “energy” on the label may contain a lot of caffeine.
The best way to see if you are getting too much caffeine is to notice how it affects you. If you are having symptoms, then you are getting too much. If you have unpleasant symptoms, cut back or switch to products that are caffeine free.
