Whether it’s a daily latte from Costa, a few cans of Red Bull to keep you going to that essay deadline or even just a cup of tea after a long day of lectures most of us consume caffeine in some form during the day. A particular favourite of students, caffeine is often a lifeline when a day on campus is looming and you stayed at Arena a bit later than originally planned and when it comes in so many delicious forms it can be extremely hard to resist. However it is undeniable that it comes with some drawbacks, you might have even experienced them yourself, and it has been making waves in the news recently as Canada begins to crack down on its content in energy drinks. So how much caffeine is too much? And what is it doing to you, both good and bad?
Luckily for caffeine to be lethal you’d need to consume a huge amount of coffee, around 75 ‘normal’ cups, in the space of a few hours, but what scientists claim to be a ‘safe’ is actually fairly low. They put the daily dose that shouldn’t cause any negative effects at 400mg, a Grande coffee from Starbucks contains 330mg, a can of Red Bull is 83mg and a cup of tea is around 55mg – these numbers quickly add up, have a look at the picture below for a breakdown of some of the most popular caffeinated beverages and their content:
The side effects of caffeine are varied, it has been reported that it can cause insomnia, nervousness, headache, fast heartbeat and seizures. Energy drinks in particular have been responsible for many cases that were severe enough to require emergency care
Several emergency physicians said they had seen a clear uptick in the number of patients suffering from irregular heartbeats, anxiety and heart attacks who said they had recently downed an energy drink. More than half of the patients considered who wound up in the emergency room told doctors they had downed only energy drinks. In 2011, about 42 percent of the cases involved energy drinks in combination with alcohol or drugs, such as the stimulants Adderall or Ritalin.
However it’s not all bad, caffeine actually comes with some substantial health benefits, here are a just a few:
-It can increase memory, particularly short term.
-It can help ward off Alzheimer’s
-It can relieve muscle pain after a work-out
-It eases depression by increasing dopamine levels in the brain
-It lowers the risk of developing diabetes
As with everything in life, in moderation caffeine can be great but when consumed to excess there can be risks. If you think you rely on it a bit too much there are lots of small changes you can make such as switching to decaf coffee or perhaps opting for orange juice as a mixer for your vodka instead of Red Bull – again like with anything it’s not a good idea to go cold-turkey, instead cutting back bit by bit will mean you’re less likely to fall back into old routines and your body won’t have as much of a shock. Like any addiction it can be a hard habit to kick and withdrawal can be nasty but if you’re worried about your intake need that morning coffee as much as you need air to breathe perhaps it’s time to take some action.
Image Credits: businessinsider.com, nydailynews.com