Is Caffeine Okay For Me or Not?

Here’s the issue.

An amazing 80% of adults take some kind of caffeine each day mainly in the form of coffee and tea. But caffeine is an addictive drug that can contribute to a raft of side effects including anxiety, insomnia, loose stools, blood pressure spikes, heart palpitations, and rebound fatigue.

Given all this, should we avoid caffeine altogether?

Like so many things, the answer is “It depends”. If you consume 400-600 mg of caffeine per day, it’s not associated with adverse effects for most people. The amazing thing is that this is equivalent to about four to six CUPS of coffee!

That’s a lot of coffee!

Of course, different people are more or less sensitive to it, so some may get symptoms of hypercaffeination with only a cup of coffee and others may have a huge tolerance for it.

Developing A Tolerance

One interesting aspect of caffeine consumption is that the body can develop a tolerance for it. In other words, if you are drinking a cup of coffee in the mornings, two cups of coffee will make you jittery. But if you continue to drink more coffee, your body will adapt to the higher level.

The opposite is also true. If you drink a lot of coffee because you feel like you need it, you can lower your need by simply dialing back your consumption. Your body will get used to this level as a new baseline amount for you.

Finally, according to an article in the Journal of the American Heart Association regular caffeine consumption doesn’t create atrial fibrillation, despite the fact that high doses can spike your blood pressure and heart rate.