The affect that caffeine has on your body will surprise you

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                                    The affect that caffeine has on your body will surprise you:

Most of the foods that we love contain caffeine in them! Foods such as chocolate, jellybeans, and even gum! The most popular drinks in the world such as tea, coffee, and coke also have caffeine in them.¹   

Caffeine alters the functioning of the body parts such as the brain, stomach, heart, and hormones. It works by blocking the sleep chemical in our brains called adenosine. It takes adenosine’s place therefore making us feel more alert rather than sleepy. Caffeine has both positive and negative effects. At low doses, caffeine makes us feel alert, happy, and increases our mental performance. It also provides a boost of energy through out the day.²

How much is too much though?

 An average adult will consume about two cups of coffee a day.³ The dose of caffeine everyone should consume is dependant on every individual. For example, how much you weigh, your sex, and genetic makeup all affect how much caffeine you can have. It is pretty hard to have too much or even to overdose on caffeine. You would need to drink roughly around 80 to 100 cups of coffee a day, for it do be dangerous to your health.⁴  

When taken at high doses caffeine can cause some mild effects to our bodies such as:

Ø  Anxiety

Ø  Shakiness

Ø  Frequent urination

Ø  Makes you less hungry

Ø  Increases blood pressure and makes you feel dizzy

Ø  Makes you irritable

Ø  Causes headaches

If you drink more then three cups of coffee a day and suddenly decide to stop drinking it, you can experience withdrawal symptoms which are similar to the symptoms listed above but may be more severe.⁴

Is caffeine controversial?

 Some controversies that we hear often about caffeine can make us wonder if it is actually worth drinking. One of the big issues caffeine causes is trouble sleeping. Because caffeine keeps you alert and messes with your hormones, it can make you lay awake at night regretting drinking the cup of coffee you had earlier in the day.

For those with anxiety and depression, caffeine may worsen your symptoms so it should be consumed lightly.⁴

 Did you know?

Ø  Caffeine is the earths most widely used drug, then alcohol is second, and nicotine is third.² Crazy right?

Ø  The darker the coffee, the less caffeine it has in it! ²

References: 

•     ¹ Windhols, M. (Ed). (1983). The merck index: an encyclopedia of chemicals and drugs (10 ed.). Rahway, NJ: Merck.

•     ²  Caffeine(n.d). Retrieved October 19 2017. From https://psychonautwiki.org/wiki/Caffeine

•     ³ Caffeine substitution ideas/Nutrition/ Healthy Eating. (n.d). Retrrieved October 19,2017, from http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/5-caffeine-substitution-ideas.html

•    ⁴ Caffeine Toxicity. (2017, June 06). Retrieved October 19, 2017, from