Are you a fan of caffeine?
Caffeine is one of the most researched and studied drugs in history and is found in numerous beverages on the market today. However, just because caffeine is readily available, does that mean it’s good for you?
Why do we drink caffeine in the first place?
For most of us, it’s because of the quick surge of energy it provides and for others, they literally can’t seem to function without it. Caffeine provides that adrenaline rush that we would otherwise miss out on.
Although caffeine can improve your performance by increasing alertness and speeding up your reaction time, it also has some negative effects, such as increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and anxiety.
Do we really need it?
Chances are, we wouldn’t need the artificial boost if we, as a culture, weren’t sleep deprived and overworked. If you would allow your body to sleep when it needed it and eat a healthy combination of foods throughout the day, you would have enough fuel to last through the day. But for most of us, this isn’t the case for one reason or another, so we resort to the quick fix.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you stop drinking caffeine cold turkey. First, let’s examine how much caffeine per day you are consuming. This task may cause you to reconsider the amount of stress you are placing on your adrenal glands and other bodily functions to compensate for the caffeine ingested, especially since 250 mg of caffeine per day is considered the upper limit before incurring potential health risk factors. .
Here is a list of the most popular caffeinated drinks.
All bottled drinks are 12 oz and coffee and tea are 8 oz.
High (50mg+)
Starbucks Coffee (tall/big) 279/372
Dunkin’ Donuts (medium) 143
Coffee (drip) 115-175
Rock Star Energy 160
Espresso (2oz) 77-100
Coffee (instant) 65-100
180 Energy 90
red bull 80
Amps 75
shake 71
pepsi one 56
mountain dew 55
Moderate (25 – 50mg)
Diet Coke 47
Table 47
iced tea 47
Black Tea 40-60
dr pepper 41
Orange Sunkist 40
Pepsi 38
Classic Coke 34
Snapple Teas 32
Diet Pepsi 31
instant tea 0
Low (less than 25mg)
cream soda 22
green tea 15
hot cocoa 14
brisk lipton 9
Decaffeinated Coffee 2-18
object 0
7-UP 0
Sierra Mist 0
root beer 0
SOURCES: National Soft Drink Association, US Food and Drug Administration, University of Florida College of Medicine
Hopefully, this list gave you a better idea of how much caffeine you’re consuming each day. Your best bet is to limit your caffeine intake to no more than 1 highly caffeinated drink per day, preferably consumed in the morning. After that, I recommend switching to green tea or another low-rated caffeinated beverage if water isn’t enough.
Good luck, and remember that healthy lifestyle changes take time to become part of your routine. If you can start cutting back on your unhealthy habits, you’ll soon start to feel the benefits of living naturally.
I’ll toast to that; )