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Is Caffeine Good or Bad?

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Many of us, follow the morning ritual of getting that cup of coffee/ tea religiously. And when someone tells you otherwise, we say that, I can’t work without my morning fix. The FDA states that 80% of adults take caffeine in the form of coffees, teas, sodas or perhaps energy drinks. (1)

Dr. Stephen Juraschek, states that although caffeine can give a temporary boost to your body, the impact of the caffeine depends on the source and quantity. (3)

How caffeine works?

It keeps me alert! It kickstarts my day! Are the most commonly heard answers. But, how does it keep you alert? Let’s have a look. It blocks adenosine (sleep-inducing chemical) in the brain and increases adrenaline, which is the fight or flight hormone in your body. These hormones are helpful to you, if you take caffeine in moderation. Excess can make you feel restless, anxious, jittery. The important fact to understand about caffeine is, it is so effective that one can easily overdo it. And it can linger in your system for a good four to six hours, that means, even after four to six hours, caffeine is still in your body.

Effects of caffeine:

Biggest setback of caffeine consumption is how it disrupts your sleep cycles. It can increase the frequency of your brain’s arousal. (3)

A study done in 2015 revealed that, consuming more than 400 mg of caffeine per day can cause unwanted side effects like anxiety, agitation, restlessness, sleeping problems as it keeps you alert, tremors. (4)
Caffeine consumption for a long period of time can activate some of the neuropharmacological mechanisms which are usually activated by the use of certain addictive drugs. This activation can make you physically dependant on caffeine.
The absence or reduction of caffeine consumption when one is dependent on it can cause withdrawal. This withdrawal can lead to symptoms like headache, tiredness and fatigue, reduced alertness, low mood, drowsiness, lack of concentration, irritability.
Caffeine also has laxative effect, which is linked to the release of a hormone, gastrin, which helps in speeding up the digestive activity in intestines.
Intestines are responsible for the re-absorption of few minerals and vitamins like sodium, potassium, small amounts of calcium and magnesium, vitamin K from the digested food. With laxative effect of caffeine, this speeded absorption process, this re-absorption may not be as effective. This leads to multiple nutrient deficiencies over a period of time. (6), (7)

Caffeine is also known to increase the bowel movements, by increasing the contractions to move food through the digestive tract. It leads to increased loose stools or even diarrhoea in some cases. (8)
Research also indicates that, caffeinated beverages worsen the symptoms of GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease). (9), (10)
Due to its stimulating effects, it is shown to elevate the blood pressure. Fortunately, this effect on blood pressure is temporary. But it is important to be cautious if you are hypertensive. (11).
Caffeine also has stimulatory effects on the bladder. Thus, leading to increased frequency of urination. It increases the heart rate and as a result of this, kidneys encounter a large volume of blood to filter resulting in higher urine output. This worsens the symptoms in patients with overactive bladder disorder. (12)

How much caffeine you can have?

400 mg of caffeine each day is said to be healthy according to researchers (13, 15, 16, 17).

Here’s how much caffeine you get from the common sources:

Coffee: You can get anywhere between 50-500 mgs of caffeine depending on the how large your drink is. Try to include a small cup - 150 ml of decaf, although this contains traces of caffeine, a small cup shouldn’t be a problem.

Tea: It is comparatively low on caffeine when compared to coffee. Caffeine content ranges from 5-50mgs in a cup (250 ml) of tea.

Soda or other caffeinated beverages: a 250 ml drink contain roughly up to 50mg of caffeine.

Energy drinks: These contain the most amounts of caffeine. For example, a 450ml beverage could contain about 300mg of caffeine.

Response to caffeine intake differs from each individual. One should keep a track on how many beverages you are consuming. excess intake could easily throw your diet off balance by offering more calories. It also leads to many nutrient deficiencies by causing low absorption of food. One should maintain a limit on the number of caffeinated beverages they consume. Also, you should give a healthy gap between two consecutive beverages and also an hour gap between your beverage and meal.

References:

1. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/spilling-beans-how-much-caffeine-too-much

2.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286489501_Coffee_and_caffeine_consumption_and_the_risk_of_hypertension_in_postmenopausal_women

3. https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/heres-what-drinking-coffee-actually-does-to-your-body

4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4462044/

5. https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1741-7015-11-42

6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9581985

7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10499460

8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4462044/

9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16722996

10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1177987

11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2321541