How Caffeine Affects Your Body
Posted on November 15, 2012 Comments (16)
From the video by Alex Dainis: Caffeine prevents adenosine from slowing down your nervous system, by binding to the same receptors adenosine would. Caffeine also stimulates the production of adrenaline. And it increases the amount of dopamine present. The average half life of caffeine in the human body is about 6 hours.
Related: Does Diet Soda Result in Weight Gain? – Mental Pick-Me-Ups: The Coming Boom – Ritalin Doesn’t Show Long Term Effectiveness for ADHD
I have been curious about the caffeine content of various drinks and writing this post is a good enough reason to actually look it up.
- expresso (2oz) 100 mg (varies – 60 mg to 180 mg)
- coffee (8oz) 100 mg – this can vary quite a bit, 50 to over 100 mg is common. Brewed coffee has more caffeine 100-200 mg.
- Red Bull (8.2 oz) 80 mg
- tea (8oz) 20 to 80 mg (depending on strength and type, can also be higher, green tea is on the lower end)
- Mountain Dew (12 oz) 54 mg (diet has 54 mg also)
- Diet Coke 46 mg (regular Coke 34mg)
- Pepsi 38 mg, Diet Pepsi 36 mg
Sprite, 7Up and some root beers have no caffeine.
Chocolate can also be a significant source of caffeine – dark chocolate can have over 80 mg per 100 g (approximately 4 ounces).
Categories: Life Science, Science
Tags: biology, drugs, food, how things work, learning, Life Science, Science, science facts
16 Responses to “How Caffeine Affects Your Body”
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November 15th, 2012 @ 12:39 pm
I was surprised to find out (the hard way) how much caffeine was in dark chocolate and ‘decaf’ coffee. I was nursing my newborn and thought I was being really good by staying away from caffeinated coffee. However, to try and trick my brain into keeping myself awake, I was downing 2-3 cups of decaf a day plus 3 or so pieces of dark chocolate (hoping for a sugar rush). My baby was super fussy and slept horribly. One night she slept through the night and after some investigation I found it was linked to my lack of coffee and chocolate that day. I’ve been off both and she is like a different baby. After some research I found out that I had been ingesting the equivalent of 1-2 cups of regular coffee each day. Shesh!
November 16th, 2012 @ 12:59 am
@Valerie — in order for coffee in the US to be classified as decaf, > 97.5% of the caffeine content must be removed. I don’t think 2-3 cups would be a significant source (although I can’t speak to the content in the chocolate).
November 16th, 2012 @ 2:06 am
I was shocked after reading this article Caffeine such a very affects for our body. Actually i did not know about this i really appreciate for your knowledge to inform us.
November 19th, 2012 @ 10:59 am
I really don’t think caffeine has an effect on me. I’m not an addict, although I do have it on a weekly basis. I can fall asleep after drinking a nice can of Dr.Pepper or Mountain dew :]
November 24th, 2012 @ 7:05 am
Caffeine is also an excellent source of antioxidants.
See the following
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110504095630.htm
November 27th, 2012 @ 2:24 am
OMG!! I never thought tea and coffee contains that amount of caffeine. I need tea and coffee every time I begin writing articles for my blog or doing some other work. It is kind of necessity for me. I guess I need to lessen the amount of caffeine in my body. Thanks for sharing this valuable post.
November 28th, 2012 @ 5:44 am
Great post! Root beer contains no natural caffeine that is true but the fact is some root beer does contain minute amount of caffeine in it like Barq’s Root Beer which contains 22mg of caffeine, much less than other soft drinks. On the other hand, Barq’s Diet Root Beer is caffeine-free.
November 29th, 2012 @ 5:37 am
After watching the video and going through your post, I think I should stop having dark chocolates and tea because of the amount of caffeine it contains. Thanks for spreading awareness.
December 1st, 2012 @ 3:28 am
Nice article and well-presented video! Caffeine is mildly addictive and prevents body from absorbing important nutrients such as minerals and vitamins. It is responsible for palpitation and sleeping disorders especially insomnia. I was aware about all this stuff so I planned to quit caffeine early in my life. Great post!
December 1st, 2012 @ 7:28 am
A lot of caffeine intake is not good for our body. It is a kind of an addiction if we consume drinks as well eatables that contain caffeine on regular basis. The person who consumes coffee and soft drinks daily might not be fit internally. It affects the sleeping as well other body patterns of a person which is bad.
December 3rd, 2012 @ 3:24 am
I think proper amount of coffee consumption is fine as it increases alertness and can cause insomnia. Excessive caffeine consumptions on one’s youth can reduce the amount of sleep a person achieves, which can stunt growth. Indirectly, caffeine consumption can lead to stunted growth, but it is not a direct cause.
December 4th, 2012 @ 3:13 am
Caffeine increases blood pressure and heart rate, it also amplifies those effects at the times when participants report higher levels of stress during their day, Once in a while its okay but on a regular basis its not good for health. Good post, thanks for sharing.
December 7th, 2012 @ 2:00 am
I used to drink coffee a lot and could not drink it in moderation. But it habitually messed up my sleep patterns. After reading Stephen Cherniske’s book Caffeine Blues, I come to know about that consuming more than 300 mg of caffeine per day result in decreasing blood flow to the brain by as much as 30%. This book gives unbeaten encouragement that I have ever needed to get myself off caffeine.
But I agree that one cup of coffee per day isn’t going to hurt you. However,drinking more than five cups per day will definitely leave a negative effect on the body.
December 7th, 2012 @ 3:15 am
Coffee increases alertness and can cause insomnia. Excessive caffeine consumption in one’s youth can reduce the amount of sleep a person achieves, which can stunt growth. Indirectly, caffeine consumption can lead to stunted growth, but it is not a direct cause.
December 12th, 2012 @ 5:10 am
I’m already so much addicted to coffee & Sofdrinks, I know I consume a very high amount of caffeine every day. Your post scared me little more. I will try to control it. Useful post, you gave the detail side effects of it, thanks a lot for sharing.
October 7th, 2013 @ 6:36 am
Coffee is also one of the worst liquids you can drink in terms of oral care. The staining of teeth is very common with coffee drinkers, as is Red Wine. A balanced diet is essential in keeping your teeth nice and clean.