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Caffeine. By Charlene Friesen and Tiffany Kirk. What Is Caffeine?. Occurs naturally in some substances, like coffee beans, teas leaves, cocoa beans, guarana and mate. Its pure form is a white, bitter, crystal powder that is isolated from decaffeinating coffee and tea.
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Caffeine By Charlene Friesen and Tiffany Kirk
What Is Caffeine? • Occurs naturally in some substances, like coffee beans, teas leaves, cocoa beans, guarana and mate. • Its pure form is a white, bitter, crystal powder that is isolated from decaffeinating coffee and tea. • Classified as both a psychoactive drug and a food.
Typical Amounts of Caffeine • Brewed Coffee:100-160mg/200ml • Instant Coffee: 64mg/200ml • Espresso/cappuccino/latte: 30-50mg/2tbsp or about 300-500 mg/ mug • Tea: 40-70mg/200ml • Colas: 50mg/can • Jolt: 70mg/can * Barq’s root beer: 25.4 mg/can • Chocolate milk: 50mg/250ml • Chocolate bar: 30mg/bar • Tylenol #3: 45mg/tablet • Excedrin: 65mg/tablet • Pep Pill: 100-200mg/pill
How much caffeine is consumed? • 80 to 90% of North Americans consume caffeine everyday • The average North American consumes 300-1000mg per day • A safe dose is 300mg/day (3 cups coffee) • Over 600mg per day is considered excessive (more than 4 cups of coffee or 15 cups of tea) • A lethal dose is 7,500-10,000mg (50-200 cups of coffee)
How Does Caffeine Work in the Body? • It interferes with the calming effects of the neurotransmitter adenosine. It causes a release of epinephrine, dopamine, serotonin which are the excitatory neurotransmitters. This makes your body think this is an emergency, and your body responds by: • Pupils dialate • Airways dialate to increase oxygen capacity • Heart rate increases • Extremities get cold as surface blood vessels contract to carry blood to muscle and brain
Blood pressure rises • Blood to the stomach, bladder and intestines slows • Liver releases glycogen for extra energy • Muscles contract for action • When the effects of caffeine wear off, adrenaline wears off, and you feel tired or depressed • It stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain, causing addiction using the same channels as amphetamines, cocaine and heroin, but with less effect
Caffeine’s half life is six hours, so that a coffee containing 200mg of caffeine consumed at 3pm will still have 100mg caffeine in your bloodstream at 9pm and be fully excreted at 3 am • Caffeine reaches its peak concentrations in your body within 30 to 60 minutes after consumption
What are the side effects of Caffeine? THE GOOD… • May protect against diabetes • Enhances alertness • Enhances physical performance and endurance • Increases efficacy of certain pain killers • May reduce colon cancer • Increases metabolism • Fewer suicides noted in those addicted to caffeine
THE BAD…. • Mild diuretic causing dehydration • Cardiac and nervous stimulant • Causes addiction • Prevents deep sleep and causes insomnia • Headache • Anxiety • Increase risk of miscarriage, birth defects and low birth weight • It crosses into breast milk and effects babies negatively • Causes calcium depletion from the bones • Increases sensitivity to pain
Addiction and Withdrawal • You are considered addicted to caffeine if you feel that cannot function without it, and must consume it everyday • Withdrawal symptoms include headache, irritability, nervousness, restlessness and exhaustion. In extreme cases, nausea and vomiting • Symptoms begin within 12-24 hours after discontinuing caffeine usage, and peaks after 20-48 hours
How Can I Quit? • Caffeine Fading: reducing the amount of coffee by about ½ cup per day. Make sure you have other beverages available, like herbal tea, but do not drink decaff coffee, as it is also addictive. • Cold Turkey: The withdrawal symptoms can be painful this way, but can be counter-acted by lots of sleep and exercise. Or, drink a coke if you just can’t take it.
Caffeine Survey • How much caffeine do you typically consume a day?
Typical Amounts of Caffeine • Brewed Coffee:100-160mg/200ml • Instant Coffee: 64mg/200ml • Espresso/cappuccino/latte: 30-50mg/2tbsp or about 300-500 mg/ mug • Tea: 40-70mg/200ml • Colas: 50mg/can • Jolt: 70mg/can * Barq’s root beer: 25.4 mg/can • Chocolate milk: 50mg/250ml • Chocolate bar: 30mg/bar • Tylenol #3: 45mg/tablet • Excedrin: 65mg/tablet • Pep Pill: 100-200mg/pill