How can snorting powdered caffeine damage your heart. What are the risks of caffeine overdose. Why is the FDA concerned about powdered caffeine products. How much caffeine can be lethal. What are the symptoms of caffeine toxicity.

The Rising Concern Over Powdered Caffeine Products

The increasing availability and popularity of powdered caffeine products have sparked new concerns about potentially life-threatening risks associated with this stimulant. In May 2014, an 18-year-old star high school wrestler in Ohio died from a caffeine powder overdose, prompting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue a warning about the dangers of pure powdered caffeine products.

The FDA cautioned consumers to avoid using these products for any reason, citing their potential to be dangerous or even deadly. This incident has raised questions about the regulation and safety of easily accessible caffeine powder.

Why is powdered caffeine so concerning?

Powdered caffeine is particularly worrisome because:

• It is highly concentrated, making it easy to consume toxic amounts
• It’s readily available and can be purchased in bulk online
• There’s a lack of clear dosage guidelines for safe consumption
• It may be especially attractive to young people seeking performance enhancement

The Cardiovascular Risks of Caffeine Overdose

Excessive caffeine intake can have severe effects on the heart and cardiovascular system. Dr. William T. Abraham, director of the division of cardiovascular medicine at Ohio State University, explains that patients with caffeine overdose often complain of racing or pounding hearts.

In extreme cases, this can lead to life-threatening heart arrhythmias that can essentially “stop” the heart. Caffeine achieves this effect by causing the body to release a burst of adrenaline and blocking a key enzyme in heart cells that modulates adrenaline’s impact on the heart.

What are the symptoms of caffeine toxicity?

Common symptoms of caffeine overdose include:

1. Tachycardia (increased heart rate)
2. Palpitations
3. Increased blood pressure
4. Anxiety and restlessness
5. Tremors
6. Nausea and vomiting
7. In severe cases, seizures and cardiac arrest

Lethal Doses and the Ease of Overdose

The amount of pure, powdered caffeine that can be toxic varies depending on factors such as an individual’s health, age, and size. Dr. Christopher P. Holstege, chief of the division of medical toxicology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, notes that death has occurred in adults after ingesting as little as 6.5 grams of caffeine.

To put this in perspective, a typical container of pure caffeine powder may contain 100 grams or more, making it alarmingly easy for someone to accidentally consume a lethal dose. This accessibility and potency underscore the FDA’s concerns about these products.

The Evolution of Caffeinated Products

While powdered caffeine represents a new frontier in caffeine consumption, the market for caffeinated products has been expanding for years. From traditional sources like coffee and tea to newer products like energy drinks, the options for caffeine intake have multiplied.

How does caffeine content vary across different products?

Caffeine levels can vary widely among different products:

• Coffee and tea: 40-150 mg per 5-ounce serving
• Sodas: 23-100 mg per 12-ounce serving
• Energy drinks: 80-90 mg per 8-ounce serving
• Energy shots: Up to 242 mg in a 2-ounce serving

The introduction of highly caffeinated energy drinks has already led to health concerns and legal actions. In 2010, caffeinated alcoholic beverages were removed from the market due to health risks. More recently, wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against energy drink manufacturers following the deaths of consumers who had ingested their products.

The Expanding Caffeine Market: Beyond Beverages

The caffeine market continues to evolve, with new products emerging that offer alternative ways to consume the stimulant. These include:

• Caffeinated gum, like Jolt gum
• Energy mints, such as Foosh energy mints
• Dissolvable caffeine strips
• Caffeinated candies and confections

Many of these products do not disclose their exact caffeine content, making it difficult for consumers to gauge their intake and potential risks. This lack of transparency adds another layer of concern to the growing caffeine market.

Regulatory Challenges and Consumer Safety

The rapid expansion of the caffeine market has outpaced regulatory efforts to ensure consumer safety. Currently, nutrition facts panels are not required to reveal the amount of caffeine in products, leaving consumers in the dark about their actual caffeine intake.

The FDA’s warning about powdered caffeine highlights the need for greater oversight and regulation of caffeine products, especially those in concentrated forms. However, the agency faces challenges in balancing consumer demand for these products with public health concerns.

What steps can consumers take to protect themselves?

To reduce the risks associated with caffeine consumption:

1. Avoid pure powdered caffeine products entirely
2. Be aware of the caffeine content in beverages and foods you consume
3. Limit daily caffeine intake to recommended levels (400 mg or less for most adults)
4. Pay attention to how your body reacts to caffeine and adjust consumption accordingly
5. Consult with a healthcare provider about safe caffeine use, especially if you have underlying health conditions

The Future of Caffeine Regulation and Research

As concerns about caffeine safety continue to grow, it’s likely that we’ll see increased scrutiny of caffeine products and potentially new regulations to protect consumers. Research into the long-term effects of high caffeine consumption and the impact of new caffeine delivery methods will be crucial in informing these regulatory decisions.

The caffeine landscape is rapidly changing, and it’s essential for consumers, healthcare providers, and regulators to stay informed about the potential risks and benefits of caffeine use. As new products emerge and consumption patterns evolve, ongoing vigilance and education will be key to ensuring public safety while allowing for responsible use of this widely consumed stimulant.

Understanding Caffeine Tolerance and Addiction

While discussing the dangers of caffeine overdose, it’s also important to consider the issues of caffeine tolerance and addiction. Regular caffeine consumers often develop a tolerance to its effects, requiring larger doses to achieve the same stimulant effect. This tolerance can lead to increased consumption and potentially higher risks of adverse effects.

Can caffeine be addictive?

Yes, caffeine can be addictive. Regular users may experience withdrawal symptoms when they stop or reduce their caffeine intake, including:

• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Irritability
• Difficulty concentrating
• Depressed mood

These withdrawal symptoms can make it challenging for individuals to reduce their caffeine consumption, even when they want to. Understanding the addictive potential of caffeine is crucial for consumers making informed decisions about their caffeine use.

The Role of Education in Caffeine Safety

As the caffeine market continues to expand and evolve, education plays a vital role in promoting safe consumption practices. Schools, healthcare providers, and public health organizations have an opportunity to educate the public about the risks associated with excessive caffeine intake, particularly from concentrated sources like powdered caffeine.

How can we improve caffeine safety awareness?

Strategies for improving caffeine safety awareness include:

1. Incorporating caffeine education into health and nutrition curricula in schools
2. Developing public health campaigns focused on safe caffeine consumption
3. Encouraging healthcare providers to discuss caffeine use with patients
4. Promoting clear labeling of caffeine content on all products
5. Supporting research into the long-term effects of various caffeine consumption patterns

By fostering a more informed and cautious approach to caffeine use, we can help mitigate the risks associated with overconsumption while still allowing individuals to enjoy the benefits of moderate caffeine intake.

Snorting Caffeine Powder? You Could Damage Your Heart

The easy availability and popularity of a powdered caffeine product is raising new concerns that the stimulant may be life-threatening.

Logan Stiner, an 18-year-old star high school wrestler in LaGrange, Ohio, died from a caffeine powder overdose in May 2014, according to the local medical examiner, as reported by the Elyria Chronicle Telegram. His overdose death from such a commonly used product as caffeine prompted a warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Consumers should avoid using pure powdered caffeine products for any reason because they can be dangerous, even deadly.

After Stiner’s death, the FDA said in an email that they are “awaiting a final report from the coroner to confirm the amount of caffeine found in the bloodstream,” and that they may take further action to protect consumers.

Unfortunately, the FDA warning about toxic caffeine overdoses may get lost among online marketing pitches for powdered caffeine. This form of caffeine is legal and easy to buy in bulk. As one manufacturer touts it, caffeine is the “oldest and best known stimulant in the world.” You can buy it for $15 per pound from a number of online companies.

It’s true that makers of powdered caffeine products often note the danger of abuse and caution customers not to inhale the powder. But the allure of a legal, cheap stimulant may be particularly attractive to young people, with the promise of boosting athletic performance and improving mood. But the price can be high for your heart.

Heart-Stopping Effects of Powdered Caffeine

“Patients with caffeine overdose — I have seen more than a few — often complain of their hearts racing or pounding in their chests,” says William T. Abraham, MD, Everyday Health columnist and the director of the division of cardiovascular medicine at the Ohio State University in Columbus. “When extreme, this can turn into an abnormal and sometimes life-threatening heart arrhythmia that essentially ‘stops’ the heart,” adds Dr. Abraham.

Caffeine does this by causing the body to release a burst of adrenaline. “Caffeine also blocks a key enzyme in heart cells that modulates the effect of adrenaline on the heart,” explains Abraham. With symptoms like tachycardia — a faster heart rate — each heartbeat also comes with increased force.

The amount of pure, powdered caffeine that would be toxic for an adult varies depending on the person’s health, age, and size, notes Christopher P. Holstege, MD, chief of the division of medical toxicology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville. “Death has occurred after ingestion of 6.5 grams in an adult,” Dr. Holstege says. “Considering I just bought a pill-bottle sized container of pure caffeine containing 100 grams, it would not be difficult for someone to become toxic and potentially die from ingesting pure caffeine.”

Death by Caffeine

Well before the FDA became concerned about caffeine powders, there were problems with highly caffeinated drinks. In 2010, caffeinated drinks containing alcohol had to be taken off the market because of the health risks.

Coffee and tea are the old standbys when it comes to caffeinated beverages, containing 40 milligrams (mg) to 150 mg per 5-ounce (oz) serving. Sodas have varying levels. Coke Classic has 23 mg in a 12 oz drink, while the same amount of Jolt Cola has 100 mg, according to the FDA. Energy drinks or “shots,” such as Red Bull and Monster, have about 80 to 90 mg of caffeine in 8 oz. At the top of the caffeine content list, 5-hour Energy Extra Strength has 242 mg in only 2 oz., according to a Consumer Reports investigation; however, the caffeine content is not disclosed on the product.

Wrongful death suits filed in recent years have highlighted the dangers of even nonalcoholic caffeinated drinks. The family of Cory Terry, a Brooklyn, N.Y., man who died in 2011 at only 33 years of age, sued Red Bull for $85 milllion for wrongful death. Terry died while playing basketball shortly after drinking a Red Bull. Anais Fornier of Hagerstown, Md., was only 14 when she died from a heart attack after drinking two Monster Energy drinks. Her family also filed a wrongful death suit against Monster Beverage Corp.

An Evolving Market for Caffeine Products

The list of drinks and other products containing caffeine continues to grow. They range from items like Jolt gum, which claims to have the “energy boost of an energy drink” in two pieces of gum, to candies like Foosh energy mints. They’re advertised as the “world’s most caffeinated confectionary products,” though the actual caffeine content is not disclosed. Another newer caffeinated product is Sheets dissolvable strips — which the manufacturer says contains 50 mg of the stimulant per sheet. To date, nutrition facts panels don’t have to reveal the amount of caffeine in a product because it is not a nutrient as required by the FDA.

Caffeine powders bring a whole new category of risk, because even tiny amounts of powdered pure caffeine can be lethal. “These products may carry minimal or insufficient labeling, and consumers may not be aware that small amounts can cause an overdose,” said the FDA in an email. “The difference between a safe amount and a lethal dose of caffeine in these powdered products is very small. Furthermore, safe quantities of these products can be nearly impossible to measure with common kitchen measuring tools. Volume measures, such as teaspoons, are not precise enough to calculate how many milligrams of caffeine are in the dose,” the FDA noted.

To measure a safe dose, you must use a micro scale. The amount of pure powdered caffeine that is equivalent to that in one cup of coffee is only 1/32 of a teaspoon. A clinical review of evidence on the effects of caffeine found that up to 400 mg of caffeine a day — about four cups of coffee — won’t have health risks for most. But that really depends on the person. Effects of caffeine depend on your gender, age, and health condition. Women should limit caffeine to 300 mg a day during their reproductive years, say researchers at the Bureau of Chemical Safety, in Ottawa, Canada. And caffeine should not even be in childhood and adolescent diets, according to an American Academy of Pediatrics clinical report.

Use, Misuse, and Abuse

Stiner’s is not the only documented case of pure caffeine powder toxicity.

Overdose from caffeine powder caused tachycardia, seizure, and ventricular fibrillation in a 27-year-old woman, as reported in British Medical Journal Case Reports in 2013. The patient was a woman who had overdosed on drugs before and suffered from depression. She survived with serious heart and lung complications after hospital workers filtered her blood and restarted her heart repeatedly with CPR.

Evidence that caffeine can be extremely toxic comes from other rare case reports, as well. At only 31, a man intentionally took his life by overdosing on caffeine, reported Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology in April 1014. Levels of caffeine in his blood were 179 mg/liter. In two additional cases, medical reports cited fatalities from caffeine overdose with even higher levels, over 500 mg/L of caffeine in the blood. While caffeine may not be suspected at the time of heart-related deaths and is rarely measured, at least in these cases, the concentrations were fatal.

Holstege says that he has seen cases of caffeine toxicity in his own practice as recently as this year. In an extreme case he reported in 2003, a woman ate about 50 gm of caffeine in a massive overdose suicide attempt, taking 250 tablets of 200 mg each. She had multiple organ failure, but survived after emergency treatment from Holstege and his team.

RELATED: This Is Your Heart on Energy Drinks

What to Do if You Suspect a Caffeine Overdose

Caffeine is a drug, not just a food ingredient or a supplement, says the FDA’s recent advisory to consumers. You can get used to consuming certain levels of it, and you may go through withdrawal when you give it up. You can overdose and, as medical examiners’ reports continue to show, too much caffeine can kill you.

“Clinically, caffeine intoxication is associated with nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure, mental status changes such as confusion and agitation, cardiac dysrhythmias, and seizures,” says Holstege.

Watch out for these symptoms of a caffeine overdose:

• Rapid heartbeat
• Erratic heartbeat
• Seizure
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Stupor

If you or someone else is having a bad reaction to caffeine, get medical care at once by calling 9-1-1, or contact a poison control center by calling 1-800-222-1222.

The FDA is collecting information about experiences consumers have had with powdered pure caffeine. You can report adverse events:

• Call the FDA at 240-402-2405
• Email [email protected]

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Snorting Caffeine Powder | Risks Of Snorting Caffeine Pills

Caffeine is a mild stimulant, found in energy drinks, soda, tea, coffee, chocolate, and more than sixty plants worldwide. Pure caffeine powder has been gaining popularity by being snorted, and the health risks are dangerous.

Caffeine is consumed every day across the globe. It is readily available in morning cups of coffee, afternoon energy drinks (like Red Bull or Monster), chocolate bars, and caffeine pills.

Energy drinks may use caffeine from the guarana plant or synthetically created caffeine, and have additional additives, like taurine. Young people seem to be at higher risk for severe side effects of excess caffeine ingestion, resulting in increased heart rates, spikes in blood pressure, heart attacks, and even cardiac arrest.

There are reports of teenagers — as young as 14-years-old — who have died as a result of a caffeine overdose. While several have been attributed to a pre-existing heart condition, it is worth mentioning that there are a number of people who have an existing heart condition but have never been diagnosed.

What Is Caffeine?

Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, and the effects of caffeine ingestion are similar to other stimulants, like amphetamines or cocaine. At doses found naturally (in plants), caffeine is not usually a concern of healthcare providers. However, the availability of pure caffeine powder has led the FDA to issue a warning against consuming excessive amounts of caffeine.

Caffeine is addictive and activates dopamine receptors in the brain. It also increases heart rate, alertness, and energy. It can lead to anxiety, irritability, restlessness, and dizziness.

Caffeine attaches to adenosine receptors in the brain, speeding up activity of nerve cells and constricting blood vessels in the brain. Adenosine is one of the ways the brain tells the body that it is sleepy, but when caffeine attaches to its receptors, the opposite happens.

Snorting Pure Caffeine Powder

Pure caffeine powder is a major concern of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), especially regarding caffeine abuse. Currently available in pill form, it can be crushed and snorted. This white powder looks similar to cocaine and amphetamines.

This “pure form” of caffeine is synthetic and created in a lab. It is marketed to appear safe, however, it is dangerous and can be deadly in small amounts. A teaspoon of pure caffeine powder contains between 3,200-4706 mg of caffeine. A standard cup of coffee has about 95 mg of caffeine, so this pure caffeine powder has as much caffeine as 33-49 cups of coffee.

Two spoonfuls of caffeine powder have been known to kill several people globally and lead to even more being hospitalized due to caffeine overdose.

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The bulk packages of pure caffeine powder have been outlawed by the FDA in the United States. In many cases, the daily maximum for caffeine intake is as little as 1/16 of a teaspoon of the powder, and even a slight miscalculation can be deadly.

Caffeine powders were readily available on Amazon Prime two or three years ago, but now the only available caffeine supplements appear to max out at 220 mg of caffeine per dose. Retailers have been cautioned not to sell products that exceed FDA guidelines.

Another form of caffeine powder was available as Coco Loko and was essentially a chocolate powder snuff. Only available for five months in 2017, Coco Loko quickly came under the radar of the FDA.

The company was required to change all marketing strategies, as the FDA saw their advertising as “glorifying street drugs” and “marketing to young people” for both Coco Loko and their original product, Legal Lean. Both products offered candy-flavored substances administered the same way as the illicit drug it appeared to be modeled after.

Risks And Effects Of Snorting Caffeine

Because pure caffeine powder used to be easily purchased online, it has grown in popularity. Snorting one line of this powder can be about equal to ingesting 20-30 cups of coffee. However, because it varies between products, it can be hard to tell how much caffeine is in each dose.

In addition, people report that it enhances the effects of other drugs, like alcohol or marijuana. People reported that it also seemed to make the effects last longer as well.

Abusing caffeine increases the risk of many unwanted side effects, such as:

• agitation
• low blood pressure
• confusion
• arrhythmia
• cardiac arrest
• death
• overdose

Additionally, snorting caffeine can add another layer of negative effects, including:

• swelling in the nose
• stuffy nose
• bloody nose
• sinus infections
• granulomatous inflammation
• lung infections
• breathing issues
• nasal perforations
• deviated septum
• rhabdomyolysis
• tissue necrosis
• ulcers in the nasal cavity and throat

Overdose From Snorting Caffeine

Snorting caffeine is extremely dangerous, and can quickly lead to an overdose.

If you or someone you know has been snorting caffeine and is experiencing any of the following symptoms, seek medical advice and emergency services immediately:

• nausea
• erratic heartbeat
• diarrhea
• vomiting
• stupor
• rapid heart rate
• seizures
• multiple organ failure

Treatment For Caffeine Abuse

Caffeine abuse and addiction can be treated in the same manner as any other addictive stimulant drug. Attending an addiction treatment program can help you understand the nature of addiction and how substance abuse can impair your life.

If you or someone you care about has been snorting caffeine and is worried about addiction, give us a call. We can help you identify a program that can explore any potential underlying mental health issues as well as a quality addiction treatment program. Reach out to us today.

Published on December 30, 2020

Written by the Addiction Resource Editorial Staff

This page does not provide medical advice. See more

Article resources

Addiction Resource aims to provide only the most current, accurate information in regards to addiction and addiction treatment, which means we only reference the most credible sources available.

These include peer-reviewed journals, government entities and academic institutions, and leaders in addiction healthcare and advocacy. Learn more about how we safeguard our content by viewing our editorial policy.

• Asia Pacific Journal of Medical Toxicology — Severe rhabdomyolysis induced by cocaine contaminated with caffeine: a case report
  https://apjmt.mums.ac.ir/article_16391_1808.html
• Nose and Paranasal Sinuses — Granulomatous disorders of the nose and paranasal sinuses
  https://journals.lww.com/co-otolaryngology/Abstract/2009/02000/Granulomatous_disorders_of_the_nose_and_paranasal.7.aspx
• Nutrients — Caffeine-Related Deaths: Manner of Deaths and Categories at Risk
  https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/10/5/611/htm
• U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — FDA Warns Consumers About Pure and Highly Concentrated Caffeine
  https://www.fda.gov/food/dietary-supplement-products-ingredients/fda-warns-consumers-about-pure-and-highly-concentrated-caffeine#:~:text=The%20FDA%20advises%20consumers%20to,dangerous%20or%20even%20lethal%20amount.

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how a legal drug works – T&P

The debate about the dangers of coffee and the caffeine it contains has been going on for many years: accusations of narcotic effects alternate with discoveries that speak of its benefits to the body. Be that as it may, caffeine changes mood, forms a physical addiction, withdrawal causes withdrawal, and a certain part of the population develops addiction. What does coffee withdrawal look like and why is it recognized as a mental disorder today? What are the real side effects of using caffeine and does it help athletes? T&P publish excerpts from Murray Carpenter’s book “On Caffeine”, which was recently published by Mann, Ivanov and Ferber.

“There is a CD-sized sealed package on my desk. She weighs about 100 grams. The white powder in it is an alkaloid extracted from the leaves and seeds of plants found at medium altitudes in low latitudes. The powder consists of tiny crystals, its chemical name is methylated xanthine. From a biological standpoint, its molecules are so useful that they have been independently discovered on four continents. This substance can be used as an insecticide that protects plants from pests. Now, as I write these lines, it is coursing through my veins. I have been taking it almost every day for the past 25 years. And I’m not alone: ​​that’s what most Americans do. The substance is so effective that if it did not occur in nature, neurochemists would have to invent it.

M. Carpenter, “On caffeine. Useful bad habit»

Caffeine sharpens the mind, especially in people who are stressed, tired or sick; it affects those who regularly drink coffee, and those who have tried it for the first time. It was a neurostimulant long before we coined the term. It has a remarkable ability to sharpen our senses and improve our mood. A review on the psychological effects of caffeine states: “There is sufficient evidence that low doses of caffeine are associated with positive subjective effects. Study participants report feeling energized, creative, efficient, confident, and alert; it is easier for them to concentrate, work, they have a desire to interact with other people.

To get a fatal dose of caffeine, you would have to drink about 50 cups of coffee or 200 glasses of tea at once. But if you decide to use a pure powder, it is quite easy to overdose in a hurry. April 9, 2010 Michael Bedford was at a party. He ate two teaspoons of caffeine powder purchased online and washed it down with an energy drink. Soon his speech became slurred, vomiting began, after which a collapse developed, and then Michael died. He is believed to have consumed more than five grams of caffeine. The cause of death was a cardiotoxic effect (disturbance of the rhythm and conduction of the heart). ”

What Happens When We Drink Coffee

“Long before pods and coffee machines hit the scene, the stubborn Baltimore scientist was beginning to understand why these devices were so popular. Roland Griffiths is a drug researcher. On the walls of his modest office at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Bayview are several images: an old Coca-Cola ad, a still from the Too Much Coffee Man cartoon, and a Bruce Nauman* poster called Caffeine Dreams. The shelf above the table is lined with many books about coffee and caffeine.

We started with nine men who drank a lot of coffee. In double-blind experiments (meaning that neither the subjects nor the researchers knew how much caffeine was in the drink), the participants drank it as much as they wanted, while Griffiths changed its strength and the amount of caffeine. At first it seemed that all these people followed the same model. Several cups at short intervals in the morning followed by increasing intervals throughout the day. If the coffee was strong (more concentrated), then the participants reduced the dose, although they still drank it all day. With an increase in the caffeine content without changing the strength, a similar effect was observed.

Griffiths told me that the behaviors he found for coffee drinkers looked very familiar: they were similar to those he observed in laboratory studies on animals.

The basic concept is self-management. Connect a laboratory rat to a source of pleasure and make a lever in the cage, with the help of which the animal can independently receive a dose of the drug. Pressing the lever is self-assignment. Scientists count the number of times the rats press the lever and the intervals between doses. “Coffee drinking can also be seen as a form of self-administered medication,” Griffiths said, “which you can measure in sips or cups a day.” As that study showed, using intervals and amounts of coffee, participants precisely managed the amount of caffeine to maintain the optimal dose.

When you look at coffee and keep Griffith’s research in mind, you will see in a different light how people who are barely awake stumble to the coffee pot, or head to the break room at 10 am, or enter the cafe at lunchtime. You’ll see hundreds of millions of lab rats constantly pushing buttons on Coca-Cola machines or pulling capsule machines to get an extra dose of caffeine.

Griffiths went on to conduct an elegant series of studies methodically looking at human interactions with the drug caffeine. Over the years, he has studied self-management, reinforcement, discrimination, tolerance, addiction, and withdrawal. You will have to spend some time understanding the terminology, as these are the processes that structure the days of regular caffeine users.

Reinforcement is a trigger that increases the chance of repeating an action. If you drink Pepsi, for example, and it makes you feel good, then you will want to drink it more often. Reinforcement is not euphoria. A large dose of caffeine has a strong stimulant effect, which many perceive as euphoria, that is, a sudden feeling of elation, while reinforcement is something more subtle, and it occurs below the level of consciousness.

Discrimination – the ability to detect a substance. To test this, researchers give a person a capsule that contains either caffeine or a placebo and see if they can actually detect the presence or absence of caffeine and how much. What is tolerance, we all understand. This is the ability of the body to respond less to the action of a certain dose of a drug. When it comes to caffeine, most of us have a partial tolerance. So if you drink coffee regularly, then you get less of an effect from your daily cup compared to when you first tried this drink. The fact is that with frequent use of caffeine, the body tries to reduce caffeine blockade and produces more adenosine to compensate for the adenosine-blocking effect of caffeine. Scientists call this “up regulation. ” (With abstinence, it takes about a week for adenosine receptors to return to baseline, although it can take longer.)

Now we move on to dependency and cancellation. This is where Griffith’s research gets personal. When he started his experiments, he was consuming a lot of caffeine. “I think 600 milligrams a day, maybe more,” he told me. This is more than seven KFORs – seven Red Bulls or one liter of good coffee.

In deciding to study caffeine, Griffiths did not take the easy route. He and six of his colleagues set up a series of experiments. “Unusual studies, the authors themselves participated in them,” he told me. For him, this meant dropping his daily dose from seven to eight DOCs to zero and watching the chaos that was going on in his body and brain. I asked Griffiths if he had completely given up coffee. “No no! he replied. — I know enough about psychopharmacology and I know that this is wrong. I gradually reduced the dose”

Withdrawal

“While not officially recognized as a drug, caffeine nevertheless changes mood, forms a physical addiction, withdrawal causes withdrawal symptoms, and a certain part of the population develops dependence. Coffee drinking is a stable and orderly form of drug self-management that is easily analyzed through carefully designed experiments.

Although the phenomenon of caffeine withdrawal has been described before, our report shows that the frequency of caffeine withdrawal is higher (100 percent of those studied), the daily dose at which it is observed is lower (with an amount of caffeine approximately equal to that in one cup of brewed coffee or three cans of caffeinated soft drink), and the range of symptoms observed is wider than hitherto thought (headache, fatigue and other mood dysphoria, flu-like muscle pain and stiffness, nausea sometimes to the point of vomiting, and caffeine cravings).

Now let’s look at the bigger picture. Let’s assume that the supply of caffeine to America has abruptly stopped, and tomorrow it will be gone. Or that for some reason we’re going to have a National Caffeine Free Day holiday, sort of like No Smoking Day. Since about 80 percent of Americans take the substance daily, the results suggest that 125,000,000 people will walk around with a headache, and 32,000,000—the equivalent of the population of California—will experience significant impairment or functional impairment.

DSM-5 (substantially revised from DSM-4), which came out in 2013, did include a diagnosis of caffeine withdrawal, placing the substance on par with other drugs such as cocaine, nicotine and opiates, – withdrawal syndromes of which are recognized by the DSM as independent diagnoses. A caffeine withdrawal diagnosis means that when caffeine intake is stopped or reduced, a person may develop a range of symptoms such as headache, fatigue, irritability, depressed mood, nausea, and muscle pain.”

Insomnia and anxiety

“Sleep disturbance is a well-known side effect of caffeine use, but its effects vary greatly. Some people can drink coffee until late in the evening, then go to bed and sleep like babies. Others should stop just after noon, otherwise they will grind their teeth at night, suffering from palpitations and a non-stop stream of thoughts. And here is another mystery of caffeine: it usually relieves us of drowsiness remarkably, but … in some cases it increases it.

Amy Wolfson (Professor of Psychology at the College of the Holy Cross, Board Member of the National Sleep Foundation, author of The Woman’s Book of Sleep – approx. T&P) told me that she is particularly interested in the dependence of schoolchildren on caffeine and the relationship between the use of this substance and the generation of sleepy teenagers , which scientists began to carefully study. In 2006, Maryland researchers found a link between teens’ caffeine use, their sleep problems, and feeling tired in the morning. When Wolfson and a colleague began studying high school caffeine use, they encountered a similar situation. Students in the high caffeine intake group—those who drank coffee, energy drinks, and soda—reported more daytime sleepiness and a desire to boost energy with caffeine to get through the day.

Insomnia is, of course, painful, but caffeine has another, and more unpleasant, property: it causes anxiety in sensitive people. This disease is surprisingly common. Take the statistics for any given year and you will find that 40,000,000 American adults suffer from clinically significant anxiety, making it the most common form of mental disorder. John Greden of the University of Michigan has written extensively about the relationship between caffeine and anxiety. He noted that although people’s susceptibility varies, a very large dose of caffeine causes anxiety in almost anyone.

In April, Wrigley introduced Alert Caffeinated Energy Gum. The advertising campaign was well organized and the product received a lot of attention. But caffeinated gum has a serious drawback – it is easy to confuse it with the caffeine-free version. In May 2011, more than 600 elementary school students in South Africa fell ill after drinking Blitz caffeinated energy gum. They collected it from a nearby farm, where it was dumped due to its expiration date.

One way or another, it was chewing gum that finally spurred the FDA into action. Taylor made the announcement on Monday. On Wednesday, delegations from Wrigley and Mars came to see him. And a week later, on May 8, Wrigley announced that it was withdrawing the product from the market.”

Coffee & Sports

“While in Kona, I sought out Matthew Gagno, an exercise therapy instructor in the Department of Health, Productivity, Recreation, and Entertainment at the University of Arkansas, and Evan Johnson, a doctoral student at the University of Connecticut. They participated in caffeine research and came to Hawaii to study the effects of triathlon on the physiology of athletes.

Ganyo, a fair-haired young man with a quiet voice, was quite convinced that caffeine was good for athletes. In 2009, he and his colleagues published a systematic review of 21 studies on caffeine and performance enhancement. Most researchers have studied cyclists, but some have also studied runners, rowers, and skiers. Most of the tests lasted from 15 minutes to two hours.

After reviewing the results, Gagno found a consistent performance increase with caffeine intake. He said the improvement could be significant, as high as three percent. “Of course, there is always some instability — someone has a greater effect, someone has a smaller one. For some, caffeine may not be suitable, and for some, it may even cause a slight decrease in performance.

But on average, this substance improves performance,” Gagno said. And the biggest advantage is that caffeine can be used legally in almost all sports.

To be clear, a 3% improvement means an 18-minute time reduction in a 10-hour race. Eighteen minutes is the interval that separates the top eight male and female pros from the rest of the group. For amateur athletes, the effect can be no less significant. A runner who can normally cover 10 kilometers in 40 minutes can improve his performance by 72 seconds on caffeine. And caffeine allows the cyclist to win one and a half minutes for every hour of competition.

“Caffeine is a unique drug because it affects almost every part of the body,” Gagno said. “Currently, everyone is of the opinion that most of its effects are related to the effect on the brain or central nervous system.” As an antagonist of the neurotransmitter adenosine, which tells the brain that we are tired, caffeine reduces fatigue. However, Ganyo elaborated, it is important to take the correct dose, which is about three to six milligrams per kilogram of body weight. It’s a lot. At six milligrams per kilogram, an 80 kilogram athlete would need 480 milligrams of caffeine. “That’s four cups of strong coffee,” Ganyo said. “If you can drink them, you will achieve the maximum performance boost.”

Since a “cup of coffee” is a highly inaccurate unit of measurement, it’s better to calculate it like this: 480 milligrams is six 225 milliliter Red Bulls, 2.5 NoDose tablets, two Extra Strength 5-hour energy drinks, and more than six CDs. But a more moderate dose for an athlete with a lower weight, say, 65 kilograms, in terms of three milligrams per kilogram, is also by no means small – it is 2. 5 SDK, which equals one NoDose tablet, one 5-hour or 2 energy drink, 5 cans of Red Bull.

This amount of caffeine is hard to get with soda like Coca-Cola. To do this, an athlete weighing 65 kilograms would have to drink almost six cans in one sitting. However, caffeine can be effective in smaller doses. It clearly improved performance at 1.5 milligrams per kilogram (participants drank Coca-Cola) in a study of cyclists in a two-hour event.”

Icons: 1) Edward Boatman, 2) Micah Lawrence, 3) Ayesha Rana, 4) Scott Lewis.

11 reasons to drink coffee every day

Food

Health

October 24, 2013

Someone considers coffee a real drug, and someone cannot live without aromatic morning doping. Scientists of all countries do not get tired of proving either the usefulness of a popular drink, or its harm. All these data are deeply indifferent to real coffee lovers, but what about those who are starting to get used to coffee, but are afraid for their health?

Iya Zorina

Author of Lifehacker, athlete, CCM

Of course, everything needs moderation, but there are at least 11 reasons not to deny yourself the pleasure of drinking an invigorating drink.

Russia is not among the top “coffee-drinking” countries, the leadership here belongs to the Scandinavian countries (Finland, Denmark, Norway), followed by Western Europe. Tea, so beloved by Russians, is not losing its positions, but coffee is gradually catching up with it in popularity.

Over the past 10 years, the growth of coffee sales in our country has been steadily at the level of 6-8%.

Residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg love coffee most of all; about ⅔ of all coffee consumed in Russia is consumed there. According to other statistics, about 62% of Russians drink coffee at least twice a day, and 47% of office workers drink coffee to work properly.

There is nothing catastrophic in these figures, and 11 reasons to love coffee will confirm this.

Coffee is a source of antioxidants

Coffee contains 4 times more antioxidants than green tea.

In addition, roasting coffee beans does not reduce their number at all, but rather increases it.

Antioxidants eliminate damage from roaming molecules, free radicals that destroy DNA and damage body cells.

Free radicals cause premature aging, brain damage, damage to the immune and nervous systems, and other health problems, and coffee helps neutralize stray molecules and avoid all of these troubles.

The smell of coffee relieves stress

Researchers from Seoul National University studied the brains of rats after sleep deprivation and found that the smell of coffee causes positive changes in it. Coffee only relieves the stress of sleep deprivation, so if that’s your problem, it’s worth buying a bag of beans and sniffing them periodically after a sleepless night.

Coffee helps with Parkinson’s disease

In 2012 Science Daily published data on the benefits of coffee for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Ronald Postuma, MD and author of the study, said that people who consume caffeine are less likely to get the disease. Moreover, his research showed that People who already have Parkinson’s disease can better control their movements with caffeine .

Coffee helps your liver, especially if you like to drink

In 2006, a study was published in which 125,000 people over 22 participated. The results showed that in people who drink at least one cup of coffee a day, the risk of liver cirrhosis is reduced by 20%.

Arthur Klatsky, lead author of the study, explained that coffee consumption appears to be protective against alcohol-induced liver cirrhosis.

The more coffee a person consumes, the lower the risk of rapid development of cirrhosis, hospitalization and death.

In addition, a NUS Medical School study found that coffee helps prevent fatty liver disease. So, drinking more than four cups of tea or coffee a day, you insure yourself against fatty liver.

Coffee for happiness

Research by the National Institutes of Health found that those who drink four or more cups of coffee a day are 10% less depressed than those who do not like flavored coffee .

And the high level of caffeine has nothing to do with it. Coca-Cola also has a lot of caffeine, but its use does not affect depression in any way. Honglei Chen, author of the study, claims that coffee provides us with great health due to antioxidants.

Coffee against suicide

A study by the Harvard School of Public Health showed that two cups of coffee a day reduced the risk of suicide in both women and men by 50%. The supposed reason for this property of coffee is its antidepressant properties, which help produce neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine .

Coffee protects women from skin cancer

Harvard Medical School, in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston, conducted a study that included 112,897 women and men over 20 years of age. The results showed that women who drink three or more cups of coffee a day have a lower risk of developing skin cancer than those who prefer other drinks.

Coffee helps in sports

The New York Times reports that many athletes drink a cup of coffee before training to improve their performance. This is especially helpful in sports where endurance is important, such as cycling. Scientists explain that caffeine increases the amount of fatty acids in the blood and. These substances are used by the muscles as fuel, which saves the body’s reserves of carbohydrates and helps to last longer.

Coffee reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes

According to a study by the American Chemical Society, people who drink four or more cups of coffee a day reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes by 50% . In the future, with each additional cup, the risk decreases by another 7%.

Coffee keeps the brain working longer

Studies by the University of South Florida and the University of Miami showed that people over 65 who consumed more caffeine began to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease later than those whose caffeine levels were not as high.

Dr. Haunghai Cao, a neuroscientist at the University of South Florida, reports: “We are not saying that moderate coffee consumption will completely protect people from Alzheimer’s disease. However, we are confident that coffee significantly reduces the risk of this disease, or at least delays its onset.”

Coffee makes you smarter

You usually drink coffee when you need to cheer up, for example, late in the evening when there is a lot to do. It turns out that coffee not only helps to cheer up, but also makes the brain more productive.

Michael Lemonic, TIME reporter claims that during forced deprivation, caffeine improves brain function: shortens reaction time, increases attention, logical thinking and alertness .

P.S. And coffee is a great excuse to treat yourself to delicious desserts.

Chocolate Pudding Cake

This pudding cake just oozes chocolate. Cocoa powder and chocolate chips, which are part of the dessert, go well with the rich taste of brewed coffee.

Chocolate bread

If you have dried bread, you can make a light chocolate dessert. The bread is cut into cubes, soaked in melted chocolate and poured into a glass with whipped cream and toasted almond flakes.

Gourmet Cake

This elegant dessert consists of frozen whipped cream with chocolate chips sandwiched between two meringue disks. The final touch is to drizzle with melted chocolate, which contrasts with the frozen cake.

Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes with Cocoa and Whipped Cream

Coffee is added in this recipe to give the flavor of chocolate. The cupcake contains sour cream, which gives them extra tenderness, while whipped cream and cocoa beans create a spectacular look.

Chili Chocolate Mousse

The combination of chocolate and chili is far from new, but it still continues to surprise and excite. Chocolate mousse can be made with red chili powder and instant espresso coffee. Gelatin is added to the mousse so that it hardens during cooling.

Granita Sicilian Dessert

Granita Italian Dessert is made with frozen coffee residue and a spoonful of sweetened whipped cream. It turns out a refreshing and invigorating dessert.

Coffee cake

In this cake, coffee goes through every ingredient – the dough, the filling and even the sweet frosting. The top of the cake is decorated with chopped nuts, and the dessert itself is served with a cup of coffee.

Coffee Panna Cotta

This smooth Italian dessert is served at dinner parties. Skimmed milk, vanilla yogurt and some cream. Topped with chocolate and caramel sauce.

Fallen Mocha Soufflé

Just five ingredients and a simple dessert is ready. Whipped egg whites for the soufflé, instant espresso for the chocolate flavor, sugar, and the finishing touch, some ice cream.

Vietnamese coffee ice cream with crushed goats

Vietnamese coffee is a combination of strong coffee and condensed milk.