Did you know??

Did you know that TOO much caffeine (in coffee and pop, etc..) can be bad for you? Well I found that out the hard way last week and because of that, and I apologize, I will not be doing a Sip of the Week for this week.

Last Monday when I did my Sip of the Week, that was the second cup of “specialty” coffee I had that day and I just think that was way too much caffeine for my body. I spent the rest of the evening with a horrible migraine and upset stomach, and now when I think of getting any type of coffee it makes my stomach turn. I’ve decided to take a week or two off of drinking coffee, so then maybe that will help my body a little bit. I guess it is healthier for me to NOT drink coffee, but I’ve committed myself to writing a coffee blog and if I don’t drink it then that would ruin my purpose, so I will take a week or two off and see if I can tolerate it again. I hope I can, because I used to love coffee so much.

Anyways, since that happened to me, it sort of prompted a perfect post topic for me this week: The effects of too much caffeine on your body.

I wanted to find the perfect info graphic that would show how much caffeine comes in some of the popular drinks we all enjoy at least once a day, so I did a Google images search and found this.



Photo courtesy of Randy Krum.


According to this poster, caffeine intoxication usually occurs after you have consumed 300 milligrams of caffeine. Last Monday, I had two “specialty” coffees, one from Starbucks and the other from Court Street Coffee. Each of these drinks had approximately 260 milligrams of caffeine in them and I had TWO! That is 520 milligrams, and when coffee intoxication is when you have more than 300 milligrams, I think that could explain why I felt so horrible that evening.

According to a New York Times Health Guide, caffeine is a substance that exists naturally in certain plants and is produced synthetically and used as an additive in food products. Caffeine overdose occurs when someone intentionally or accidentally consumes more caffeine than the normal or recommended amount. This can be through too much caffeine in drinks, as seen above in the info graphic or too much caffeine medication.

Symptoms of caffeine overdose in adults include:

•Breathing trouble
•Confusion
•Convulsions
•Diarrhea
•Dizziness
•Fever
•Hallucinations
•In and out of consciousness
•Increased thirst
•Irregular heartbeat
•Muscle twitching
•Rapid heartbeat
•Sleeping trouble
•Urination- increased
•Vomiting

Symptoms in babies may include:

•Muscles are very tense, then very relaxed
•Nausea
•Rapid, deep breathing
•Rapid heartbeat
•Shock
•Tremors
•Vomiting

If you think you are experiencing caffeine overdose, do NOT induce vomiting right away, call a doctor or the poison control center and if they recommend you induce vomiting, then by all means do so. The National Poison Control Center can be reached anywhere in the United States at 1-800-222-1222. If all else fails, then going to the emergency room at a local hospital is another option.

As I have already stated, I have not had coffee since my incident and I’ve had little caffeine from soda, so I’m trying to help out my body by drinking water and juice. Hopefully I’ll be back to normal soon so I enjoy my morning latte!

--Tricia

Editor's Note: This is Part I of a series of posts about the effects of coffee on the body. I will post Part II next week.