Wake up & smell the coffee…

Is it me or are you also noticing that more and more random holidays/days keep popping up?!  Here’s one that takes the cake: March is considered ‘National Caffeine Month’.  That’s right- your cup of coffee is getting some limelight

 

Are you a java junkie? Chocolate addict? Pro Plus popper? Advocate of green tea? If so, you’re more bad ass than you thought.  Even though caffeine is the drug of choice for a majority of the population, not many people people seem to understand what exactly caffeine is and its side-effects. At least I didn’t until I read up on it.  Did you know that caffeine:

 

• Enhances your mood: by increasing your dopamine levels, caffeine makes you feel happier.  That clears up a lot about chocolate
• Doesn’t work by providing energy.  If so, a cup of black coffee would not be zilch calories.  Instead, caffeine blocks adenosine receptors which stop you from getting drowsy.
• Increases your toilet paper usage: the diuretic properties of caffeine increase the urge to pee.  It also accelerates digestion, forcing food right out the back door that much faster…er awesome?!
• Boosts one’s ability to learn, comprehension, memory, reflexes, clarity of thought.  Who’s with me when I say that the appeal of Diet Coke, Pro Plus, and Coffee multiplies during exam time?
• Works the same parts of the brain as cocaine, amphetamines, and heroin.  It just has milder effects.
• The stimulant effect of caffeine which keeps your brain overactive may prevent sleep, which is why I’m convinced I’m immune to caffeine as I drink a mug of green tea and eat chocolate very single night before bed.
• Benefits athletic performance: try having a shot of coffee before your next run.  By reducing glucose and burning and increasing fat burning, caffeine improves endurance
• Decaf products aren’t caffeine-free.  It just means that less than 2.5% of the product is caffeine
• Complete absorption of caffeine takes 30-45 minutes and its effects diminish within 3 hours.

My take on caffeine: as long as you’re not consuming excessive amounts, I don’t think there’s a need for the average person to avoid it completely.  That being said, drinking 100 cups of coffee in 4 hours can cause convulsions (and even death) whereas a man died in 2007 from overdose after taking 30 No-Doz polls.  No need to get your panties in a twist: those are extreme rare cases!  But 3-4 cups of tea/coffee daily, a few pieces of chocolate here and a Diet Coke there is safe.  If, however, caffeine affects your sleep patterns, then it might help to cut back.  The lethal dose of caffeine is about 150-200mg per kg of body weight.  For a better idea of what that is equivalent to, check out the chart below:

Coffee	Amount	Caffeine
coffee, generic brewed	8 oz	102-200 mg
coffee, Starbucks brewed	16 oz (grande)	330 mg
coffee, Dunkin’ Donuts brewed	16 oz	206 mg
caffé latte or cappuccino, Starbucks	16 oz (grande)	150 mg
caffé latte or cappuccino, Starbucks	12 oz (tall)	75 mg
espresso, Starbucks	1 oz (1 shot )	75 mg
espresso, generic	1 oz (1 shot)	30-90 mg
coffee, generic instant	8 oz	27-173 mg
coffee, generic decaffeinated	8 oz	3-26 mg

Tea	Amount	Caffeine
black tea, brewed	8 oz	40-120 mg
green tea, brewed	8 oz	30-50 mg
black tea, decaffeinated	8 oz	2 mg
Starbucks Tazo Chai Tea latte	16 oz (grande)	100 mg
Nestea	12 oz	26 mg
Snapple	16 oz	42 mg
Lipton Brisk iced tea	12 oz	10 mg

Soft drinks	Amount	Caffeine
Coke	12 oz	35 mg
Pepsi	12 oz	38 mg
Jolt Cola	12 oz	72 mg
Mountain Dew	12 oz	54 mg
7-Up	12 oz	0 mg
Sierra Mist	12 oz	0 mg
Sprite	12 oz	0 mg

Energy drinks	Amount	Caffeine
Red Bull	8.3 oz	80 mg
SoBe Essential Energy, berry or orange	8 oz	48 mg
SoBe No Fear	8 oz	83 mg

Desserts	Amount	Caffeine
dark chocolate	1.45-oz bar	31 mg
milk chocolate	1.45-oz bar	11 mg
coffee ice cream or frozen yogurt	8 oz	50-60 mg
hot cocoa	8 oz	3-13 mg

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