Caffeine: Would it ever be too much?

Food & Fitness, General Health | May 14th | By J.S.Chang, RD

Do you drink one cup of coffee and tea first thing in the morning, hoping the caffeine in it will jump-start your day? Well, you are not alone!

Lot’s of people rely on caffeine as their source of energy to get them through the day, but how much is too much?

According to FDA, caffeine can be part of a healthy diet for most people, but too much caffeine may pose a danger to your health. Not only coffee naturally contains caffeine, but tea as well. It may also be added as an ingredient to foods and beverages such as tea, carbonated drinks and energy drinks.

Up to 400mg a day of caffeine seems to be safe for most healthy adults. That’s roughly 4 cups of coffee, or 10 cans of Coca-Cola!

Back to the question…

Honestly, it depends. Certain conditions tend to make people more sensitive to caffeine’s effects, as can some medications. In addition, if you’re pregnant, trying to become pregnant, or breastfeeding, or are concerned about another condition or medication, it’s better to talk to your doctors first before consuming caffeine.

Caffeine is also not recommended for children and adolescents. Even among adults, heavy caffeine use can cause unpleasant side effects.

When to stop having caffeine

You may want to stop or cut back if you have the following symptoms:

• insomnia
   
• jitters
   
• anxiousness
   
• fast heart rate
   
• upset stomach
   
• nausea
   
• headache
   
• a feeling of unhappiness
   

How to curb your caffeine habit

For whatever reason if you want to cut down on your caffeine intake, these few tips may be useful to you:

1. Cut back gradually

Drink one fewer cup of coffee each day or avoid drinking caffeinated drinks late in the day

2. Go decaf

Although decaf beverages still contain small amount of caffeine, it is still way lower than normal caffeinated drinks!

3. Find alternatives

If the reason you consume coffee is to boost up your energy to get through the day, why not try natural products such as ginseng extract.

4. Keeping tabs of your caffeine intake

Pay attention to how much caffeine that is present in your food or beverages by reading the nutrition labels carefully. Be aware of foods that contain caffeine but doesn’t list it.

Drink your coffee healthily starting from today!