Caffeine: Positive and Negative

When it comes to caffeine, everyone is different, and it’s important to gage your own reaction and usage. Mild excess (over 350mg in a day) in some people can cause restlessness, nausea and headaches, although these side effects vary from person to person. Others might suffer from disturbed sleep. Women especially need to be aware of their caffeine intake, particularly since the Journal of American Medicine links caffeine intake to the calcium loss leading to osteoporosis. And if you’re concerned about your iron status, you should know that some of the substances in coffee and tea could interfere with iron absorption, particularly if you drink a caffeinated beverage with meals. Similarly, the USFDA and the New England Journal of Medicine warn that high caffeine consumption can make it difficult to become pregnant, and/or lead to miscarriage or low birth weight infants. Caffeine also shows up in breast milk, so it’s best to avoid as a nursing mother.

Caffeine does have some positive benefits however. The Journal of American Medicine recently published a report that higher caffeine intake is associated with a “significantly lower” incidence of Parkinson’s disease. It also appears to increase the metabolism. A Danish study found that caffeine not only raises the metabolic rate, it makes body fat more readily available as fuel to exercising muscles. In addition, caffeine appears in many over the counter headache and cold remedies. While studies do disagree on benefits, at least one study in the Archives of Neurology showed that caffeine is “highly effective” in treating migraines. This is because by narrowing the blood vessels, caffeine restricts blood flow. And since blood vessels tend to widen prior to some headaches, especially migraines, narrower arteries can ease the pain.

Caffeine works by stimulating the central nervous system. It acts as an adrenaline rush on the body, and the following takes place upon ingestion: your pupils dilate, your breathing tubes open up, your heart beats faster, your blood pressure rises, your liver releases sugar into the bloodstream for extra energy and your muscles tighten up ready for action. This chain of events produces the "fight or flight" behavior, since your system believes it to be in a state of emergency. It also increases the rate and force of the heartbeat and thereby providing the brain and other tissues with more oxygen.
So you can see why your body might like caffeine in the short term, since it helps you feel alert and injects adrenaline into the system to give you a boost. But the problem with caffeine is the longer-term effects. If you take more caffeine to get the adrenaline going again, you are putting your body in a state of emergency all day long. Not only is this not very healthy, it is also the explanation why too much caffeine will make you jumpy and irritable. Therefore, it is up to each person to decide on the amount they take in each day.

Here are some common caffeine amounts in beverages:
• Coffee, brewed 40 to 180 mg per cup.
• Coffee, decaffeinated 3 to 5 mg per cup.
• Black Tea, about 40 mg per cup.
• Tea, brewed 25 to 110 mg per cup.
• Tea, decaffeinated (CO2 certified organic process*) 10 mg per cup.
• Cola, and other soft drinks with caffeine, 36 to 90 mg per 12 ounces.
• Cocoa, 4 mg per cup.
• Chocolate, milk 3 to 6 mg per ounce.
• Chocolate, bittersweet 25 mg per ounce.

Many caffeinated beverages are available in decaffeinated forms. For a healthy alternative to caffeinated drinks, try organic herbal tea, juice or water.