how bad is caffeine for you?

Answer 1

Around 90 percent of Americans consume caffeine in one form or another every single day. More than half of all American adults consume more than 300 milligrams (mg) of caffeine every day, making it America's most popular drug by far. The caffeine comes in from things like coffee, tea, cola, chocolate, etc.

Have you ever wondered what it is that makes caffeine so popular? What does this drug do that causes its use to be so widespread


Caffeine is known medically as trimethylxanthine, and the chemical formula is C8H10N4O2 When isolated in pure form, caffeine is a white crystalline powder that tastes very bitter. The chief source of pure caffeine is the process of decaffeinating coffee and tea.

Medically, caffeine is useful as a cardiac stimulant and also as a mild diuretic (it increases urine production). Recreationally, it is used to provide a "boost of energy" or a feeling of heightened alertness. It's often used to stay awake longer -- college students and drivers use it to stay awake late into the night. Many people feel as though they "cannot function" in the morning without a cup of coffee to provide caffeine and the boost it gives them.

Caffeine is an addictive drug. Among its many actions, it operates using the same mechanisms that amphetamines, cocaine, and heroin use to stimulate the brain. On a spectrum, caffeine's effects are more mild than amphetamines, cocaine and heroin, but it is manipulating the same channels, and that is one of the things that gives caffeine its addictive qualities. If you feel like you cannot function without it and must consume it every day, then you are addicted to caffeine.

Caffeine occurs naturally in many plants, including coffee beans, tea leaves and cocoa nuts. It is therefore found in a wide range of food products. Caffeine is added artificially to many others, including a variety of beverages. Here are the most common sources of caffeine for Americans:

Typical drip-brewed coffee contains 100 mg per 6-ounce cup. If you are buying your coffee at Starbucks or a convenience store or drinking it at home or the office out of a mug or a commuter's cup, you are consuming it in 12-, 14- or 20-ounce containers. You can calculate the number of milligrams based on your normal serving size.

Typical brewed tea contains 70 mg per 6-ounce cup.

Typical colas (Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, etc.) contain 50 mg per 12-ounce can. Things like Jolt contain 70 mg per 12-ounce can.

Typical milk chocolate contains 6 mg per ounce.

Anacin contains 32 mg per tablet. No-doz contains 100 mg per tablet. Vivarin and Dexatrim contain 200 mg per tablet.

By looking at these numbers and by knowing how widespread coffee, tea and cola are in our society, you can see why half of all American adults consume more than 300 mg of caffeine per day. Two mugs of coffee or a mug of coffee and a couple of Cokes during the day are all you need to get you there. If you sit down and calculate your caffeine consumption during a typical day, you may be surprised. Many people consume a gram or more every single day and don't even realize it.

Why do so many people consume so much caffeine? Why does caffeine wake you up? By understanding the drug's actions inside the body you can see why people use it so much.

How Sleep Works, the action of adenosine is discussed. As adenosine is created in the brain, it binds to adenosine receptors. The binding of adenosine causes drowsiness by slowing down nerve cell activity. In the brain, adenosine binding also causes blood vessels to dilate (presumably to let more oxygen in during sleep).

To a nerve cell, caffeine looks like adenosine. Caffeine therefore binds to the adenosine receptor. However, it doesn't slow down the cell's activity like adenosine would. So the cell cannot "see" adenosine anymore because caffeine is taking up all the receptors adenosine binds to. So instead of slowing down because of the adenosine level, the cells speed up. You can see that caffeine also causes the brain's blood vessels to constrict, because it blocks adenosine's ability to open them up. This effect is why some headache medicines like Anacin contain caffeine -- if you have a vascular headache, the caffeine will close down the blood vessels and relieve it.

So now you have increased neuron firing in the brain. The pituitary gland sees all of the activity and thinks some sort of emergency must be occurring, so it releases hormones that tell the adrenal glands to produce adrenaline (epinephrine). Adrenaline is the "fight or flight" hormone, and it has a number of effects on your body:

Your pupils dilate.
Your breathing tubes open up (this is why people suffering from severe asthma attacks are sometimes injected with epinephrine).
* Your heart beats faster.
* Blood vessels on the surface constrict to slow blood flow from cuts and also to increase blood flow to muscles. Blood pressure rises.
Blood flow to the stomach slows.
The liver releases sugar into the bloodstream for extra energy.
Muscles tighten up, ready for action.

This explains why, after consuming a big cup of coffee, your hands get cold, your muscles tense up, you feel excited and you can feel your heart beat increasing.


Caffeine also increases dopamine levels in the same way that amphetamines do (heroine and cocaine also manipulate dopamine levels by slowing down the rate of dopamine re-uptake). Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that, in certain parts of the brain, activates the pleasure center. Obviously, caffeine's effect is much lower than heroin's, but it is the same mechanism. It is suspected that the dopamine connection contributes to caffeine addiction.

So you can see why your body might like caffeine in the short term, especially if you are low on sleep and need to remain active. Caffeine blocks adenosine reception so you feel alert. It injects adrenaline into the system to give you a boost. And it manipulates dopamine production to make you feel good.

The problem with caffeine is the longer-term effects, which tend to spiral. For example, once the adrenaline wears off, you face fatigue and depression. So what are you going to do? You take more caffeine to get the adrenaline going again. As you might imagine, having your body in a state of emergency all day long isn't very healthy, and it also makes you jumpy and irritable.

The most important long-term problem is the effect that caffeine has on sleep. Adenosine reception is important to sleep, and especially to deep sleep. The half-life of caffeine in your body is about 6 hours. That means that if you consume a big cup of coffee with 200 mg of caffeine in it at 3:00 PM, by 9:00 PM about 100 mg of that caffeine is still in your system. You may be able to fall asleep, but your body probably will miss out on the benefits of deep sleep. That deficit adds up fast. The next day you feel worse, so you need caffeine as soon as you get out of bed. The cycle continues day after day.

This is why 90% of Americans consume caffeine every day. Once you get in the cycle, you have to keep taking the drug. Even worse, if you try to stop taking caffeine, you get very tired and depressed and you get a terrible, splitting headache as blood vessels in the brain dilate. These negative effects force you to run back to caffeine even if you want to stop.

If you are interested in breaking the caffeine cycle in your own life, the book Caffeine Blues (especially Chapter 10) can be very helpful.

Answer 2

the Mormon church is against caffeine because it is a psychoactive substance. Basically, caffeine is the most popular drug in the world. And no, it's not bad for you in limited quantities, it helps people be more energetic and even helps with adhd.However, drinking it every day for a long time will cause withdrawal symptoms if you suddenly quit. it's not possible to die from coffee- you'll throw up way before a dangerous amount is absorbed. The bottom line is, coffee can be good is used wisely. my guess is that some people just need the church to control their behavior or they'll go out doing all kinds of drugs.

Answer 3

depends. so far, there are no studies per se that say caffeine is bad for you nor is it addicting.

however, from my personal experience, i know that it adversely affects memory. I stopped all caffiene intake in 1991, and I have no memory at all of what happened until 1994. During that time, what I do remember is that I couldn't remember what happened three days ago.

nowdays, I can control my caffiene intake and I can notice a different in how fast I can think and react cognitively when I am using caffiene vs not using it.

in my personal opinion, it appears that like any "hard" drug, it affected the chemical balance in my brain in terms of the creation of long-term memories and the transfer of memories from short-term into the long-term. i also notice this in other heavy coffee drinkers.

Answer 4

The jury is still out. Caffeine is an addictive stimulant that can give you heart problems, urinary problems, and ruin your sleep patterns. Quitting, cold turkey, can give you headaches. But, there are some studies out there that show positive side effects for caffeine.

Answer 5

I would say it is real bad. Stay away from it, you will end up Depended on it. Pesrsonlly I'm sureyou don't need any other habits than the ones you have already.

Besides why don't you try going without it, and see what happens.
you might like yourself better once you get to Know yourself better!!!!

Answer 6

No not to me. I drink caffeine when i want to stay awake, it is really good for you, its related to drugs. It can make you act high when you consume too much of it..

Answer 7

ummm....huh?

ok,
I love coffee. but coffee is more addictive than heroin
i had coffee for the first time 17 days ago. and i have had 2 cups a day for 16 of the last 17 days

Answer 8

I'm not convinced that it's bad for you. And how did this get put under wrestling?

Answer 9

very bad

Answer 10

very bad

Answer 11

very very bad as per ayurveda