Caffeine Consumption: Pros and Cons

Everyone knows that caffeine can give us a boost, make us feel more awake, and a little more energetic. What many people do not know it that caffeine is actually considered the most widely used psychoactive drug in the world. It is estimated that 80% of the world's population consumes caffeine on a daily basis.

After ingesting caffeine, it is completely absorbed into the body within 30 to 45 minutes, and the effects begin to lessen in about three hours. It is eliminated, therefore; it does not accumulate in the body. Caffeine affects a person's mood, stamina, cerebral vascular system, gastric activity, as well as colonic activity. There are some health benefits from caffeine, as well as negative effects on the body from its use.

The most common ways people ingest caffeine is through soft drinks, coffee, tea, energy drinks, and chocolate. It is found naturally in over 60 plants around the world, in their leaves, seeds, and fruits. Caffeine can also be produced synthetically to be added to foods and drinks that we consume on a daily basis. It is also commonly found in some over-the-counter medications. It is in so many of the products that we use regularly, we could be ingesting it without being aware of it, unless we read the labels of everything we buy.

How many times have you heard someone say that they just cannot seem to wake up and function in the morning without that first cup of coffee? Have you ever noticed how many people will grab a soft drink or an energy drink when they are feeling a little sluggish during the day? Have you ever wondered just how addictive caffeine is, or if it is addictive at all?

Many people believe that we crave caffeine because of the taste, rather than because it is addictive. Others believe that caffeine is in fact addictive, and that is why we crave it. There is evidence that when a person who regularly consumes caffeine does not have any, they go through withdrawal symptoms, proving that there is a physical dependency to caffeine. This would support the idea that caffeine is addictive.

Some withdrawal symptoms that people have when the go without caffeine are headaches, tiredness, a decrease in energy, a decrease in the ability to concentrate, decreased alertness, drowsiness, depressed mood, lack of a contented feeling, complaints of not feeling like they can think clearly. These symptoms typically begin to appear after a person ahs gone 12 to 24 hours without consuming caffeine. The withdrawal symptoms seem to peak between 20 to 51 hours of not consuming caffeine. The withdrawal symptoms last anywhere from 2 to 9 days further supporting that caffeine is addictive.

There are also indications that caffeine is not physically addictive, but rather consuming caffeine is only a habit. There is also research that shows that people who consume large amounts of caffeine also have a history of alcohol or drug abuse, but the same is not true for those who only consume caffeine in moderation. One thing that is agreed upon is that there are withdrawal symptoms that people who regularly consume caffeine and then stop abruptly. The researchers, who feel that caffeine is not addictive, feel that because people have the ability to resist caffeine, and it does not seem to cause problems when consumed, it is not addictive.

The answer to whether caffeine usage is a physical addiction, or only a habit, is still up in the air. Research is being done to try to find a definitive answer. It is recommended that if any person wants to decrease their caffeine intake, they should do it slowly to help decrease the amount and severity of any withdrawal symptoms.

Caffeine has been considered to be a diuretic for many years. Some people believe that drinking beverages with caffeine cause them to lose fluid in their body, so they cannot consider those drinks as part of their daily intake of fluids. Others believe that caffeine does not increase the amount of fluid we lose in our bodies.

Studies have shown that when people go without any caffeine, and are then given coffee, they did have an increase of urine output. Another study showed that the increase of urine only occurred when the caffeine intake was 360 mg or greater. Any amounts less than that showed no increased output of urine. Theses studies did not show what the effect was when caffeine was consumed on a regular basis. Going without caffeine for a period of time, then taking one single dose of 360 mg or more may affect urine output, but consuming it on a regular basis could change the outcome of the tests.

Converse to what many thought about the effects of caffeine relating to causing heart disease, there are studies that show that caffeine consumption on a regular basis among the elderly can actually help protect the heart. It has been shown that neither coffee nor tea are associated with an increase in blood pressure or heart rate, however; soft drinks were shown to affect both blood pressure and heart rate. It was also shown that decaffeinated coffee and tea did not have the same benefits to the heart as the caffeinated versions did. Before you go out and begin drinking coffee and tea in abundance, remember that every body reacts differently to caffeine, and it is still best to take your doctor's advice about your own personal caffeine consumption.

Caffeine in large amounts has been proven to increase bone loss. It was shown that elderly women who were postmenopausal lost more bone in their spines when they consumed more that 300 mg of caffeine in a day than those women who consumed less than 300 mg in a day. The effect can be counter-acted by drinking more milk on a daily basis.

The roll of caffeine and weight loss is not clear. Some studies have shown that it does increase weight loss, where other studies have shown that it actually causes weight gain.

There is no evidence that caffeine can harm an unborn child when the mother consumes it regularly, but limiting the amount of caffeine that a pregnant woman consumes is recommended. There are no tests that can conclusively tell us how much caffeine is too much for a pregnant woman before it could harm the baby. The best policy is to consume caffeine in moderation when you are pregnant, to the extent of one or two cups of coffee per day.

Another recommendation is to only allow children to consume small amounts of caffeine. The fear is more that caffeine-filled drinks will replace beverages that are more healthy and necessary, such as milk, water, and fruit juice, than it is that caffeine will have negative effects on a child. It can, however; affect a child's mood, activity level, and ability to concentrate. This is just another reason to limit the amount of caffeine a child consumes on a regular basis.

The answer to whether or not caffeine is really addictive or not is a question that cannot be answered at this time. The effects caffeine has on the human body and the pros and cons of consuming it are not entirely clear either. One thing that all researchers seem to agree on is that if caffeine is consumed in moderation, it is not likely to harm the body.