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How’s That Caffeine Jolt Working For You?
Caffeine first came to the awareness of Freidrick Runge, a German chemist in 1819. From his research he identified that caffeine found in some plant leaves acted as a natural pesticide. He also discovered caffeine, when drank acted as a stimulant causing feelings of alertness in humans.
Since 1819 we have become aware of many new facts about the effects caffeine on the Central Nervous System. There’s the good news and there is bad news. After reading this article you can decide if caffeine is right f or you.
I’m sure that you are aware that caffeine is in many natural food sources, from plant leaves, to coffee beans and cocoa beans. You must also know that manufactured caffeine is an additive in medicines, foods, and beverages. But do you realize the toll caffeine is having on your mind and body?
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The Caffeine Impact
Caffeine is a stimulant that blocks the neurotransmitters in the brain responsible for calmness. This causes the body to release adrenaline. The sudden jolt of adrenaline moves the body into the hyperawareness state of “fight or flight”.
Caffeine also stimulates the body to release dopamine which is a natural hormone responsible for making us feel good. It is this powerful release of adrenaline and dopamine that draws people to consume caffeine. The combination of adrenaline and dopamine lure people trying to maintain the state. When people feel good they are more productive and more jazzed about meeting their responsibilities for the day.
For an example let’s examine the impact caffeine has on endurance athletes. Studies show that if caffeine is taken prior to an endurance event athletes score better. In fact the scores are so drastic that the National Colligate Athletic Association limits the amount an athlete can consume before an event. The Olympics have a ruling even more rigid; disqualifying athletes from an event if they show more than 600-800 mg of caffeine before time trials!
Caffeine is counterproductive in fitness programs designed for muscle development. Because it’s a natural diuretic, fluid loss inhibits the body’s ability to transfer amino acids needed for building muscles. For people using caffeine to boost their fitness program, timing the intake of caffeine is essential. As caffeine is metabolized, drowsiness pervades and prevents the average person from exercising.
Caffeine activates cortisol, a fat producing hormone most commonly known for increasing belly fat. People carrying an extra few pounds find exercise elusive. Although exercise releases dopamine into the blood stream people with higher cortisol secretions drink more caffeine to release the dopamine verses getting the exercise.
Let’s Review the Good News
- Ø Caffeine enhances focus, concentration and alertness.
- Ø It improves speed and coordination.
- Ø It increases mental and physical abilities by 7%.
Let’s View the Bad News
Scientists know that caffeine keeps your brain suspended in fight or flight for long periods of time resulting in metabolic stress. This constant state of emergency renders the body unable to achieve relaxation. The constant release of dopamine leads to caffeine being an easily addictive drug. Like all drugs, caffeine leaves you with a sense that your world is fine and you are in control. Because caffeine is a multibillion dollar industry people mistakenly think that caffeine is not harmful.
Caffeine is linked to short term memory loss. Due to adrenaline impeded neuro pathways slow down the thought process. Although many people blame their lapse in memory as senior moments or stress, evidence shows a direct links to the amount of caffeine levels in the body.
Other noticeable side effects of caffeine are a sense of restlessness, nervousness and varying levels of irritability. Adrenaline increases heart rate, high blood pressure, muscle tremors and upset stomach and insomnia. Heavy caffeine users develop high tolerance levels to caffeine touting no loss of sleep. Light and moderate consumers, experience significantly more disrupted sleep cycles.
Check Your Understanding
Caffeine is an addictive drug. Its effect on the mind and body make it a perfect environment for quick and easy addiction. Because humans like adrenaline rushes and innately seek out ways to raise their dopamine levels, caffeine is highly sought after. In today’s billion dollar personal energy market, people can consume 1600 mg of caffeine in a single shot! Yet to get the caffeine buzz going you only need 25-50 mg. Later in this article you will have the opportunity to calculate how much caffeine you are consuming.
As with all drug addictions withdrawals happen. For some people it can start as early as 12 hours after the last caffeine intake. For people trying to break the caffeine habit withdrawals can last to 5 days with the worst of the symptoms peaking after 48 hours.
Withdrawal symptoms include difficulty concentrating, irritability, extreme headache and stomach pain, muscle and joint pain in the upper body, meshed with a combination of drowsiness and insomnia.
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The Caffeine BUZZ
Caffeine metabolizes at different rates depending on age and liver enzyme levels. The chart below shows the half-life of caffeine; this how long it takes the body to metabolize half the caffeine in your system.
| Normal healthy adult | 4.9-6 hours |
| Newborns | 60 hours |
| People with severe liver | 96 hours |
| Women taking oral contraceptives | 5-10 hours |
| Pregnant women | 9-11 hours |
The Caffeine Squeeze
If have a drink with 378 mg of caffeine at 2 pm, you still have over 75 mg in your system at 7pm. At midnight you still have 12 mg from that single cup of coffee.
.Consuming more than 4-6 cups of normal coffee per day puts you at risk of becoming addicted. Imagine now, how much faster our youth are being addicted to caffeine with such high amounts in energy drinks.
As mentioned earlier in this article heavy caffeine consumers contend that drinking coffee before bedtime does not disrupt their sleep. The brain, however, cannot return to its normal sleep cycle to restore and rejuvenate the body. This causes drowsy, unfocused, and wearisome sensations upon awakening . A jolt of caffeine is needed regain focus, alertness and satisfaction…. Are you addicted? Do you suffer from caffeinsim?
- Caffeinsimis dependency on caffeine. You may be dependent if you experience
- Ø Nervousness
- Ø Irritability
- Ø Anxiety
- Ø Muscle twitching
- Ø Headaches
as caffeine is metabolized.
Caffeinsim also contributes to long-term health problems such as:
- Ø respiratory issues
- Ø heart palpitations,
- Ø ulcers,
- Ø esophagitis
- Ø acid reflux disease
- Ø insomnia.
Caffeine Related Mental Disorders
Surprised? Well there 4 psychiatric mental health disorders directly related to caffeine consumption. These disorders are written in the DSM-IV-TR with specific guidelines for diagnosis.
1. Caffeine intoxication is identified by symptoms included within a range of behaviors:
- Ø Restlessness
- Ø Nervousness
- Ø Excitement
- Ø Insomnia
- Ø flushing of the face
- Ø increased urination
- Ø gastrointestinal disturbance,
- Ø muscle twitching
- Ø rambling flow of thought and speech
- Ø Irritability
- Ø irregular or rapid heartbeat
- Ø psychomotor turmoil
2. Caffeine-induced anxiety disorder- this is usually a 50% co-relationship with anxiety. In order to receive a diagnoses on the DSM-IV-TR the symptoms must be greater than anxiety disorders alone.
3. Caffeine-induced sleep disorder- is defined as co-relational disorder with general sleep disorder. This diagnosis only happens when symptoms significantly exceed the interpretation on the DSM-IV-TR.
A diagnosis of caffeine overdose includes symptomatic behaviors associated with:
- Ø Mania
- Ø Depression
- Disorientation
- lapse in judgment
- hallucinations,
- Ø delusions
- Ø psychosis
- muscle tissues break down
- stressed cardiovascular system.
In order to reach a lethal dose of caffeine, more than 80 cups of standard brewed coffee would have to be consumed in less than 30 minutes. So far, thank goodness there are no deaths associated with the amazing consumption levels of energy drinks.
Caffeine is the most widely accepted psychoactive drug in the world. Americans get 75 % of their caffeine jolt through coffee, but there are an over whelming number of products on the market containing huge amounts of caffeine. Because the FDA does not require listing caffeine totals on products people remain unaware of caffeine consumption.
American’s typically consume more than 219 mg per day while other cultures consume about 75mg per day. Here are a few links to sites that will give you more in-depth lists of products and caffeine amounts. Please note the levels may vary from researcher to researcher.
- http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods000131000000000000000.html
- http://www.energyfiend.com/the-caffeine-database
- http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/caffeine-shockers-products-surprisingly-high-in-caffeine
- http://www.energyfiend.com/caffeine-in-candy
- http://www.guarana.com/cafchart.html
How Caffeinated Are You?
| candy | |
| Prepared frostings, ready to eat puddings, most chocolate candy bars | 2-4 mg |
| Dry puddings & frozen chocolate desserts | 4-5mg |
| chocolate fudge syrups and powders | 4 mg |
| Chocolate coated candy, raisins, frozen yogurts M&Ms peanut | 6mg |
| Chocolate mousse, dark chocolate covered foods, dark chocolate syrups | 6-17mg |
| Baking chocolates, semi chocolate chips | 17-49 mg |
| Dry chocolate powders | 71-202mg |
| Chocolate covered coffee beans | 291-311mg |
| Cocoa for hot chocolates | 6-9mg |
| Cereal & Dairy | |
| Most cereal with chocolate | 2-3 mg |
| Quaker Oats chocolate Blast | 21mg |
| Chocolate milk | 5mg |
| Hershey’s Chocolate Milk | 11mg |
| Cream and powdered substitutes | 1-2mg |
| Instant breakfasts powdered or liquid | 14-29mg |
| Coffee and chocolate flavored ice-cream | 30-65mg |
| Soda and carbonated beverages | 73-149mg |
| A&W cream soda | 29mg |
| Barq’s Root beer | 23 |
| Big Red Soda | 39 |
| Cherry Coke | 34 |
| Classic Coke | 35 |
| Coke Zero | 46 |
| Diet Coke | 35 |
| Mountain Dew | 55mg |
| Diet Mr. Pibb | 40mg |
| Diet Pepsi | 36mg |
| Diet Pepsi Max | 69mg |
| Dr. Pepper 10 | 51 |
| Cheery Slurpee | 50 |
| Vault Soda | 118 |
| Sunkist Sparkling Lemonade | 41 |
| Energy Drinks | 50-350mg |
| Wired X 3000 | 180mg |
| Viso Energy Vigor | 300mg |
| Vamp Energy Drink | 240mg |
| Spike Shot Gun | 350mg |
| SoBe Energy | 80mg |
| Red Bull | 80mg |
| NOS Energy | 280mg |
| Energy Shots | 0-1600mg |
| MonaVie | 0mg |
| FeelGood7Slap shot | 0mg |
| Jolt endurance | 200mg |
| Fix extreme Ultra Shot | 400mg |
| Extreme energy 6 hour shot | 220mg |
| 5150 Juice | 1600mg |
| ALRI Hypershot | 500mg |
| Tea | |
| Ready to drink powdered or loose | 17-109mg |
| Instant powdered tea | 1100mg |
| Black brewed tea | 50-4000mg |
| Decaffeinated black brewed tea | 200mg |
| Oolong teas | 75 mg |
| White tea | 15mg |
| Green tea | 25mg |
| Coffee Beverages | |
| Restaurant brewed | Up to 2000mg |
| Coffee flavored mocha powered | 370mg |
| Instant coffee | 898mg |
| k-cup | 120 |
| McDonalds coffee | 145-200mg |
| Shock Coffee | 231 mg |
| Starbucks Via Ready Brew | 135mg |
| Starbuck’s Grande Americano | 235mg |
| Starbuck’s Grande Mocha | 175mg |
| Starbucks Tall Coffee | 260-320mg |
| Einstein’s Brothers Coffee | 206mg |
| Decaffeinated brewed | 3-60mg |
| OTH Medications | 60-200mg |
| Midol | 60mg |
| No Doz | 200mg |
| Anacin | 64mg |
| Excedrin | 130mg |
| Vivarin | 200mg |
| Vanquish | 33mg |
| Goody’s Orange Powder | 65mg |
This list is just the beginning of the amount of foods that contain caffeine. The amount of caffeine varies from website to website so I encourage you to do your own research.
Why not take a moment now, just for curiosity sake tally up your typical caffeine consumption? Now is a good time to examine your habits and make changes that will jolt your life forward safely.
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Bibliography
Caffeine Related Disorders. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18, 2012, from Encyclopedia Of Mental Disorders: http://www.minddisorders.com/Br-Del/Caffeine-related-disorders.html
Clinic, M. (2011, March 9). How much is too much? Retrieved January 18, 2012, from Nutrition and Healthy Eating: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeine/NU00600
DO, R. G. (2011, August 1). MedScape. Retrieved 18 2012, January, from Caffeine Related Psychiatric Disorders: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/290113-overview#a0199
Vogin, W. R. (2005, January 30). Brewing Trouble. Retrieved January 18, 2012 , from medicine.net: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=50820
cafeine effects. (2003). Retrieved January 18, 2012, from Virtual Mass Spectrometry Laboratory: http://svmsl.chem.cmu.edu/vmsl/Caffeine/Caffeine_effects.htm
caffeine and the effects on the body. (2006-2008). Retrieved January 18, 2012, from over caffinated.org: http://www.overcaffeinated.org/effects-of-caffeine-on-the-body.php
Negative Effects of Caffeine on the Body. (2000-2012). Retrieved January 18, 2012, from buzzle.com: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/negative-effects-of-caffeine-on-the-body.html
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