Caffeine: Good for you? ☕️

If you rely on caffeine to wake you up and keep you going, you aren’t alone! Caffeine is used daily by millions of people to increase wakefulness, improve concentration, and alleviate fatigue.

Caffeine is a stimulant found in various drinks, foods and other products. It is most commonly used to keep the consumer awake and alert. For many here at AISG, it is the case of sleeping too late. Caffeine is technically, unofficially a drug. Some of the most popular beverages such as coffee, tea, and soda contain significant amounts of caffeine. According to Mayo Clinic in Florida, the recommended amount of caffeine is usually 400 milligrams per day for healthy adults. Caffeine overdose may occur if you ingest more than this amount. Adolescents should limit themselves to no more than 100 milligrams per day.

Although caffeine use may be safe for adults, it’s not a good idea for children. Adolescents should limit caffeine consumption and avoid mixing caffeine with other substances. Even among adults, heavy caffeine use can cause unpleasant side effects and caffeine may not be a good idea for people who are highly sensitive to its effects or who take certain medications.

Some people are more sensitive to caffeine than others are. If you’re susceptible to the effects of caffeine, just small amounts -even one cup of coffee or tea- may prompt unwanted effects, such as restlessness and sleep problems. How you react to caffeine may determine in part by how much caffeine you’re used to drinking. People who don’t regularly drink caffeine tend to be more sensitive to its negative effects. Other factors may include genetics, body mass, medication use and health conditions, such as anxiety disorders.

Most adults need seven to eight hours of sleep each night. But Caffeine, even in the afternoon, can interfere with this much-needed sleep. Chronologically losing sleep results in sleep deprivation. Sleep loss is cumulative, and even small nightly decreases can add up and disturb your daytime alertness and performance. Using caffeine to mask sleep deprivation can create an unwelcome cycle. For example, you may drink caffeinated beverages because you have trouble staying awake during the day. But the caffeine keeps you from falling asleep at night, shortening the length of time you sleep.Additionally, mixing caffeine with medication might increase your risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, strokes, and seizures. So taking meds with caffeinated drinks might increase the adverse effects of caffeine, such as nausea and heart palpitations.

Whether it’s for one of the reasons above-or, because you want to trim your spendings on coffee drinks- cutting back on caffeine, can be a challenge. An abrupt decrease in caffeine may cause withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches, fatigue, irritability and difficulty focusing on tasks. Fortunately, these symptoms are usually mild and resolve after a few days.

To change your caffeine habits, try these tips:

• Keep tabs. Start paying attention to how much you are consuming, and try to keep it at a moderate level. Read labels to make sure that the amount you are consuming is healthy.
• Cut back gradually. Start to slowly cut down on the amount that you consume, reduce overtime so that your body can slowly adjust.
• Go Decaf! There are many decaffeinated drinks that look/taste the same as caffeinated drinks.
• Shorten the Brew time when making tea/coffee. Brew it for less time to cut down on the caffeine content, or choose herbal teas that don’t have that much caffeine.

If you’re like most adults, caffeine is a part of your daily routine and most often it doesn’t pose any major health problems. However, it is always important to be mindful of those situations in which you need to curtail your caffeine habits.