How Much Caffeine Is Too Much Caffeine?
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD
Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently
How Much Caffeine Is Too Much Caffeine?
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD
Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.
If you enjoy your caffeine, you are not alone: Caffeine is the most widely used drug in the world. Caffeine is considered a drug because the effects of caffeine can change the way you act and feel. And like other drugs, you can also get addicted to caffeine and have withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking it.
Effects of Caffeine
Caffeine does have some benefits. It wakes up your brain and makes you feel more alert. Caffeine also can boost your energy level and keep you from feeling tired for a while. The effects of caffeine take about 30 to 45 minutes to occur. They last for eight to 10 hours.
"The side effects of caffeine at higher doses include restlessness, anxiety, irritability, and insomnia. Withdrawal symptoms from high doses of caffeine can include headache and fatigue," says Laura Jeffers, RD, LD, a dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.
"Too much caffeine can cause your heart to beat faster. It can increase your blood pressure. Caffeine can also cause you to become dehydrated because caffeine is a diuretic, which means it increases the amount of urine you put out," says Sotiria Everett RD, CDN, clinical nutritionist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
Coffee is what comes to mind when most people think "caffeine." Ma