Caffeine is currently the most widely used drug (drug) in the world.
It’s in many foods and beverages, making it easy to forget that medication.
It is even now considered an essential ingredient in drinks and foods marketed to children.
While caffeine has some health benefits, it does have significant negative effects on the body and brain.
Unlike many other psychoactive drugs and drugs, caffeine is legal and is one of the most widely used substances in the world.
If we talk in the category of medicine, then caffeine is classified as a stimulant, increasing the activity of the central nervous system.
Common side effects:
Caffeine can increase energy levels and alertness, but side effects can include irritability, stress, anxiety, rapid heartbeat and insomnia.
Note that while FDA regulations state that labels should be placed on products that contain added caffeine, labeling is not required for foods and beverages that naturally contain stimulants.
Since many products do not specify how much caffeine they contain, it can be difficult to know how much caffeine you consume.
What does caffeine do?
Because caffeine acts as a central nervous stimulant, people usually take it to feel more alert and energetic.
Caffeine can improve mood and help people feel more productive.
It is thought to work by blocking adenosine receptors, a neurotransmitter, which increases brain excitability.
What do experts say?
Research has shown that caffeine can have positive effects and negative health.
Can improve mental performance – to an extent.
In a study published in 2012, caffeine was found to improve performance on a range of different tasks, including alertness, response times, Information Processing, and some – but not all-proofreading tasks .
But it’s not an acronym for performance enhancement.
When making comparisons between people whose daily caffeine consumption is low (up to 100 mg of caffeine per day) and those who regularly consume a lot of caffeine (over 300 mg of caffeine per day), the improvements are very minimal and do not improve with more caffeine.
And while people who use a lot of caffeine every day show improved performance with more caffeine, it may be because they simply counteract the effects of caffeine dependence – so by consuming more caffeine, they are getting closer to what their performance would be, if they were not addicted to caffeine in the first place.
May improve caffeine reaction times, but expectations may also play a role.
According to a review published in 2010, caffeine improves wakefulness times and reflexes.
Another study published in 2009 explored the subtleties of how this works and found that at least at times, this is a predictable effect.
Predictive effects play an important role in the effects of drugs on people’s perceptions and behaviors.
And people’s expectations of how caffeine will affect their performance – in particular, if they think it will weaken their performance – seem to underlie some of these improvements.
In other words, if people think that taking caffeine will make their performance worse, they try harder and they compensate for the expected effects of caffeine.
At recommended doses, caffeine can have a beneficial effect on mood.
Caffeine affects neurotransmitters that play a role in mood and mental functioning, including norepinephrine, dopamine, and acetylcholine.
I found published research in 2013 that drinking two cups to three cups of caffeinated coffee per day was associated with a lower risk of suicide.
Uses off-label caffeine
Sometimes caffeine is prescribed or used outside the internal leaflet to improve mental alertness for patients who are tired or drowsy. Caffeine citrate is also used as a short-term treatment for breathing problems in premature babies.
Common side effects
Can caffeine can improve alertness, but may also lead to a number of unpleasant side effects, including:
Anxiety
Nervousness
Excitement
Insomnia
Facial rush
Frequent urination
Digestive disorders
Muscle twitching
Speechless.
Tachycardia or cardiac arrhythmia
Difficulty relaxing
Caffeine can also affect:
Mood:
While people often use caffeine to stimulate the mood, the excessive consumption of caffeine can increase anxiety
Heart rate:
Caffeine accelerates the heart rate, with significant effects occurring after taking 360 mg, equivalent to about three and a half cups of brewed coffee.
And in higher doses, caffeine can cause more significant effects on the heart by changing the speed and rhythm of the heart.
And this is known as tachycardia/heart rate, and can be dangerous.
Blood pressure:
Caffeine consumption may raise blood pressure. This effect of caffeine, known as the “impact pressure”, clear, across age groups and sex, and shows particularly in people with high blood pressure (hypertension).
If you’re not sure if this applies to you, ask your doctor about your blood pressure and get advice on adjusting your caffeine intake accordingly.
When caffeine is consumed in large quantities, side effects can range from irritating to.
Caffeine can also pose risks when taken in combination with other substances including alcohol .
The use of caffeine can lead to excessive alcohol consumption because the stimulant effects of caffeine obscure the inhibitory effects of alcohol.
Signs of use
Since it is not an illegal drug, people rarely try to hide their caffeine consumption. There are signs that a person may overeat caffeine , including:
Symptoms such as nervousness and insomnia, nausea, chills and heart palpitations
Changes in mood including irritability or depression
Excessive intake of caffeinated drinks
Myths and FAQs
Some people believe that caffeine improves memory, although, according to the review published in the year 2015, the research evidence on that is mixed, compared to the number of studies found that enhanced memory associated with the use of energy drinks.
People also often wonder whether excessive caffeine consumption may contribute to heart problems.
While caffeine use has short-term effects on heart rate, it is unclear whether eating larger amounts of caffeine increases the risk of cardiovascular disease in the long run.
According to a review in 2017, many studies have indicated no increased risk of cardiovascular disease in men or women in dealing with caffeine, but caffeine may be a problem for people who suffer from high blood pressure.
And with that, if you have any type of heart disease, you should talk with your doctor before eating any foods and drinks contain caffeine.
There’s a myth that use of caffeine can cause infertility.
A study published in 2017 suggests no link between consuming low amounts of caffeine (about 200 mg per day or less) and fertility problems.
Another common question is:
Do caffeine pills and other high-dose products differ from caffeinated foods and drinks?
While products with high concentrations of caffeine such as pills and powders, are not chemically different from other forms of stimulants, they pose additional risks.
And since these organizations are highly focused, it is difficult to measure the difference between a safe dosage and range of toxic, which increases the risk of overdose-offs and negative side effects such as seizures.
Endurance, reliability and withdrawal
Frequent consumption of caffeine can lead to endurance, dependence and withdrawal.
Endurance
Endurance occurs when a person has to consume more or more doses repeatedly in order to obtain the same effects.
Dependence involves the need to continue taking the substance in order to ward off the unpleasant effects of withdrawal.
How long does caffeine remain in your system?
Caffeine reaches peak levels in the body about an hour after consumption, but you may continue to feel these stimulating effects for up to six hours.
Addiction
While the use of caffeine can lead to dependence on it physically or psychologically, however, it is not an impact strong enough on the reward system in the brain and that leads to real addiction.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA National Institute on Drug Abuse) defines addiction as the chronic and uncontrollable use of a substance despite negative consequences.
However, it is often that people casually refer to their love of coffee and other caffeinated drinks as “addiction”.
Withdrawal
People often continue to use caffeine as a way to reduce any negative symptoms of caffeine withdrawal they may experience.
The short-term benefit you may get from caffeine can be offset by increased anxiety while you are under the influence of caffeine, and when the effects fade, withdrawal symptoms may worsen the mental processes you hope to improve.
Caffeine withdrawal usually begins within 12 to 24 hours after the last dose. It can lead to a number of unpleasant withdrawal effects including:
Headache
Lack of energy
Trembling
Irritability
Anxiety
Fatigue and drowsiness
Concentration problems
Bad mood
Withdrawal symptoms can range from mild to more severe, depending on how much caffeine you’re used to.
These unpleasant effects usually begin to recede within two or three days.
