What Caffeine Does to the Body and How Much Is Too Much
Many of us can relate to German composer and musician Johann Sebastian Bach when he said: “Without my morning coffee, I'm just like a dried-up piece of roast goat."
Most of us feel that way because the country seemingly runs on caffeine: 93 percent of Americans consume caffeinated beverages, 75 percent drink them at least once a day, and 25 percent knock back three or more caffeinated beverages daily.
Most of us need a cup of joe, a soda or energy drink to get going in the morning, followed by more coffee, sodas or energy drinks to get through the day. Then add on pick-me-up chocolate candy snack or espresso (more caffeine) when we hit an afternoon slump.
While it’s common knowledge these all contain caffeine, most of us are wildly unaware of the extent of caffeine we actually consume and what it can do to the body and our health. How much we take in is hard for many people to measure because caffeine isn’t just in drinks. It’s also an ingredient or additive in some unexpected foods and drinks, including protein and other snack bars, sunflower seeds, syrup, granola, marshmallows, jelly beans, a plethora of processed foods and even some bottled waters and chewing gum.
It can quickly add up to more than the FDA’s recommended 400 mg daily limit, the equivalent of about four 8-ounce cups of coffee, 10 sodas or two energy drinks.
Studies have shown that consuming more than 400 mg of caffeine in a day can be detrimental to our health. It can have serious side effects on the body and it can interfere with medications.
Caffeine naturally occurs in the leaves, fruit and seeds of more than 60 plant species, intended by nature as a pest repellent. In humans, caffeine acts as a stimulant, revving up the central nervous system, making our hearts beat faster and raising our blood pressure. It’s why caffeine increases alertness, energy level and focus and combats fatigue.
It’s also why overdoing it beyond the daily recommendation can have serious detrimental health implications. Most notably, too much caffeine puts you at increased risk for cardiovascular disease. It can also cause muscle tremors, diarrhea, nervousness, increased anxiety, irritability, headaches and frequent – or inability to control – urination.
And it can happen fast, within just 15 to 45 minutes after ingestion. Caffeine is quickly metabolized by the liver (only 3 percent or less is excreted in urine), and its half-life typically lasts five to six hours and as long as nine or 10, depending on health, weight, medications and genetics.
The good news is that a growing body of research continues to find that curbing consumption at or under the daily recommendation can have benefits, including protecting the body against joint disease, obesity, dementia, carcinomas, other cancers, and cardiometabolic disease encompassing coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke.