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 |
First time reader! Super interesting post! I’m trying to get my boyfriend off of coke (he drinks waaaay too much) and will show him this info! 🙂 Moderation is key!
Welcome to my blog! Hope you continue reading :)! Moderation definetely is key- if this post fails to show him the light, find a picture of someone’s teeth after drinking mass amounts of Coke. That should do the trick ;)!
Hi Khushboo! I just found your blog and love it. 🙂 Your story is really inspirational and your writing style is fun to read. I will be following along! And yes, I am addicted to coffee (said as I take a huge gulp)!
Thanks so much for your kind words about my blog! Hope youll be sticking around!Had a look at yours and it too is a great read, look fwd to reading future posts :).
glad to know coffee is a pro