How to Tell If You’re Drinking Too Much Coffee –

You wake up in the morning and feel like you don’t work until you have that nice cup of coffee. After lunch, another cup of coffee to keep up the momentum for the second work shift. Finally, around mid-afternoon, another cup to ensure a productive end to the day. Deep down, you know that you love coffee and believe that the beverage is essential to your daily functioning. Is it really that?

Physical symptoms such as headaches and even irritation can arise when trying to reduce daily coffee doses

much is said sabout caffeine and what it can generate in the human body and, in fact, care must be taken with its consumption, after all, caffeine (or trimethylxanthine) is a psychotropic drug from the group of central nervous system stimulants. That’s right, psychotropic drug. If you’ve ever tried to stop drinking coffee on your own, and overnight, you may have noticed some physical symptoms, such as headaches and even irritation. This has a connection with the nature of the substance, which can lead to withdrawal.

According to the nutritionist and cardiologist Julian Burckhardt Member of the Brazilian Association of Nutrology (ABRAN) and the Brazilian Society of Cardiology (SBC), the effects of caffeine on the body revolve around increasing alertness and reducing the feeling of fatigue, that is, increasing your ability to perform certain tasks.

“It acts on the autonomic nervous system and its mechanism of action inhibits adenosine receptors”, he explains. “Adenosine is a neurotransmitter that controls heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. It is she who induces the sensations of sleep and tiredness.”

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But how do I know if I’m abusing caffeine? Does it exist? Actually yes. According to the doctor, it is easy to notice some of the most common side effects of people who do not adapt well to caffeine:

palpitations;
agitation;
heartburn;
anxiety;
insomnia;
high blood pressure; disorganized speech.

If, for some reason, you are going through a more anxious and agitated period (like a pandemic) the effects of coffee can be exacerbated as well.

Is stopping drinking coffee the solution?

Not necessarily. In fact, just like any change related to your diet, coffee needs to be considered as part of your diet and any change in your consumption must be accompanied by a doctor.

A healthy adult weighing about 70 kg can consume up to 400 ml of caffeine daily

“I think that the withdrawal and/or introduction of coffee in the diet should be based on the clinical aspects of the patient, and be used in moderation”, explains Dr. Julian. According to him, on average, a healthy adult weighing about 70 kg should ingest up to 400 ml of caffeine daily (the equivalent of 4 cups of strained coffee). For children from 2 years old and teenagers, the ideal is 100 ml (one cup of strained coffee), and pregnant and lactating women should stick to 2 daily cups of strained coffee (ie, 200 ml). And, yes, it is important to remember that filtered coffee is different from espresso, both in quantity and in “strength”. Think of espresso as a concentrated shot of caffeine.

And, of course, these values ​​are an average and may vary from person to person, including at the genetic level. “The reason why some people feel the effects of caffeine more is that they are considered ‘slow caffeine metabolizers’, that is, they process caffeine more slowly, having a longer lasting effect on the body. On the other hand, those who feel this effect less are considered ‘fast caffeine metabolizers’, having a greater capacity to process this substance, which tends to reduce the time of action in the organism”, he says.

This means you can breathe easy! Coffee is an excellent beverage, when properly indicated. Caffeine has many important minerals and vitamins for the body, improves inflammation, fights depression and reduces symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, for example. It’s all about consuming what works best for your body. But if the idea is to reduce the dose (literally), here’s a tip from those who understand: “Since it is a stimulating substance, this withdrawal has to be gradual, a ‘weaning’, to avoid adverse effects such as withdrawal from caffeine”, completes the doctor.