Am I drinking too much caffeine?
Who doesn’t love a cup of tea or coffee to start their day? Maybe it’s what you feel gets you energised when you wake up or maybe it’s just part of your morning ritual.
Caffeine intake is something to be aware of as too much can have negative effects on the body, so in this article we’re unpacking it all for you…
It’s not just your cup of coffee
Many people are under the assumption that caffeine is only found in tea and coffee, this is understandable as this is what we associate it with most. However, caffeine can also be found in certain supplements, energy drinks and even chocolate!
Because caffeine does occur naturally in many plant sources, we don’t want you to worry about this, really our focus should be on sources that we have more regularly.
How much caffeine is safe to consume each day?
General guidelines state that for adults, up to 400mg of caffeine per day is safe, this equates to about 4 cups of coffee.
Note that this differs depending on group:
Pregnant women – the safe amount is up to 200mg per day
Children and Teens – caffeine should be avoided or very strictly limited – no more than 100mg per day
Your average cup of coffee contains around 100-200mg caffeine depending on the brand and how its brewed whilst your average cup of black tea contains around 50-70mg caffeine.
Energy drinks can contain up to 250mg of caffeine per drink depending on the brand, so you can see how it would be very easy to have far too much in one day if we’re not careful.
What can happen if you have too much caffeine?
There are a number of side effects that can occur due to too much caffeine including :
- Feeling restless in the body
- Sleep patterns can be affected
- Your heart rate can increase
- nausea/stomach pain or changes in bowel movement
- Increased anxiety levels
It’s important to note that these side effects would normally occur if you are regularly having too much caffeine and would differ based on each person. However, in order to keep the body healthy, it’s recommended to try and stick to the guidelines as much as you can.
Caffeine is a diuretic
Another thing that is important to note is that coffee, tea and energy drinks are diuretics, meaning that they will increase your need to urinate in order to remove extra fluid from the body. This can also lead to dehydration so it’s essential that as well as drinking tea or coffee, you are drinking enough water each day. The daily recommendation is 1-1.5 litres of water per day and this is not the same as your overall fluid intake.
One thing we recommend is to have a glass of water with each cup of tea or coffee (you may notice that this is very common in cafes and restaurants now!). This is good way to ensure you are having enough water as well as your caffeine boost!
To summarise, there is nothing wrong at all with enjoying your cup or cups of coffee each day, just to remember that too much could have negative side effects if we are not careful.
If you know you struggle with water intake, try to ensure you have a glass with each cup to help maintain hydration levels.
If you found this helpful, you may like to take a look at the following:
The difference between water intake and fluid intake
