What happens to your body when you drink too much coffee

Following is a transcript of the video.


Some days I drink three cups like the average American I am. Other days, I drink more like five or six. But is that too much? First the good news. It's almost impossible to overdose on coffee.

There is a lethal dose of caffeine but it's somewhere around 10 grams and the average cup of Joe has around 100 milligrams. You'd likely have to drink 100 cups in rapid succession to OD. But that's not to say there's no such thing as too much. The FDA recommends no more than four to five cups a day for the average healthy adult. More than that and you might start to experience some nasty side effects.

Most people take in coffee to increase their focus and concentration but once you take in too much you start to lose that focus People start getting more agitated, irritable.



Benji: Adrenaline from caffeine can also increase your heart rate. That's why doctors also recommend against drinking coffee if your heart sometimes beats irregularly. But the risk is really only for bonafide coffee junkies. According to at least two observational studies you have to drink at least nine cups of coffee a day to put yourself at risk of arrhythmia. And finally, there's the question of sleep. Coffee's enemy.

Caffeine launches a double threat on your slumber. It blocks the neurochemical adenosine which is what tells your brain that you're tired. It releases a cocktail of stimulants into your brain. Adrenaline, dopamine, and glutamate. So after downing your sixth cup of coffee, you don't just feel awake but full of energy. It will power you through that 2:30 meeting or the last class of the day. But if you overdo it, the effect won't wear off when it's time for bed.


Dr. Albert Ahn: It's sort of just stuck in this loop where you're not sleeping because you drink too much coffee and then you wake up in the morning and you're not well rested and you're drinking more coffee just to stay awake in the day.

Benji: Sound familiar? Here's the good news. If you cut yourself off by 2:00 you typically won't have trouble falling asleep. That's because the half-life of caffeine is around five hours. And so most of its stimulating effects will wear off well before the lights go out. And if you also limit your consumption, well then coffee can actually offer a number of health benefits. Research shows that it can help with everything from memory, to exercise, to your relationships with your colleagues. And that's great because for some of us, coffee is something we'll just never give up.

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