What You Need To Know About Drinking Too Much Caffeine
Did you ever stop to think if you were drinking too much caffeine? Well, you might want to learn about what it can do to your health if you do. Aside from drinking coffee, some of your favorite products might contain caffeine as well. And you might not even know it.
Particularly, we’ll take a deep dive into some of the possible effects drinking too much caffeine can have on your health.
Can Drinking Too Much Caffeine Affect My Health
When it comes to drinking too much caffeine, there’s much to know. First, it’s important to know what caffeine is and where it comes from as well. We all know caffeine is a natural stimulant and can affect everyone differently. Unfortunately, when we drink caffeine, we often rely on the side effects to help provide us with a boost of much-needed energy.
More so, since caffeinated beverages hit the market back in the late 1800s, they quickly became relied upon daily. As a result, the popularity of caffeine grew exponentially, and now you can find caffeinated products globally. Interestingly, caffeine comes from fruit, leaves, and beans of coffee, cacao, and guarana plants naturally.
Typically, caffeine goes through a harvesting process and becomes the caffeinated products we enjoy today. While there are some health benefits of caffeine, it can affect you negatively if you drink too much. Interestingly, more than 80% of the population consumes a caffeinated product every day. In North America, the number increases up to 90% and continues to grow.
Due to how it affects the body, caffeine classifies as a drug, albeit legal. While this is a naturally occurring stimulant, that doesn’t mean that it is particularly good. While you might enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning, tea before bed, or even an energy drink or capsule to help you get through a busy workday or study session, consuming too much of this stimulant can have adverse effects upon the body.
Let’s face it. We all appreciate a hot cup of coffee, especially in the morning. But how much is enough, and how can consuming too much affect our health?
Eye Twitches
If you frequently need to ask ‘why is my eye twitching?’, and you’ve just consumed a caffeinated product, you might have just found your answer. More so, this can indicate an overload of your nervous system from drinking too much caffeine resulting in random eye twitches.
Usually, you may notice a slight twitch going on, and those around you may also be able to witness it. However, you may find you have no control whatsoever regarding its frequency and occurrence. We all know how unpleasant eye twitching is, and too much caffeine can be a direct result.
A good test is switching to decaffeinated products, and if the twitching ceases, you know drinking too much caffeine caused it. Even cutting back on the number of caffeinated products you consume each day can help to minimize the chance of eye twitches.
Lack of Bowel Control
As we know, a good cup of coffee can help us with our morning bowel movement. But, conversely, drinking too much coffee can produce a laxative effect as well. Too much caffeine can negatively affect your bowel and create problems throughout the day as well.
Some studies show how, for some people, consuming caffeine can cause gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. People with GERD often find that they have heartburn, even acidic indigestion. They also feel uncomfortable a lot of the time and experience much stomach discomfort. And can even affect how you sleep and breathe.
Drinking Too Much Caffeine & Serious Health Issues
Many caffeine lovers consume these products to help them focus and stay awake. However, as mentioned, drinking caffeine does have some positive side effects as well. For example, caffeine can act as a diuretic and help rid excess fluids from our bodies. It can also boost our metabolic systems and help us burn fat.
However, an overdose of caffeine can lead to the individual suffering from insomnia, which can leave them feeling tired and no longer able to attain REM sleep easily. While having a small amount of coffee each day can lower the risk of heart failure, consuming too much caffeine is most certainly still a problem.
Moreover, this is especially the case for those who consume energy drinks daily. Therefore, it is far better to keep your intake minimal to avoid overworking your heart through a prolonged period of palpitations and your body needing to process the drug as a whole.
Above all, drinking too much caffeine can result in some very unpleasant health problems. For example, you can experience restlessness, insomnia, headaches, dehydration, tremors, dependency, eye twitching, and stomach issues. That’s why it’s important to monitor your caffeine intake daily.
Worsened Menopausal Symptoms
Even women who have gone through and are currently experiencing menopause can encounter negative side effects from consuming too much caffeine. Remember, it’s always important to reach out to your medical care provider for all health-related information.
Vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats are particularly frustrating and uncomfortable traits of menopause. And recent studies have shown that consuming caffeine can worsen these symptoms. As a result, it’s possible to experience exacerbated hot flashes and night sweats, even flaring up amongst post-menopausal women who have been through “the change.”
Interestingly, perimenopausal women who took part in these studies found that caffeine consumption improved their mood, memory, and concentration levels. As a result, women who are transitioning into menopause, going through it, or those who have come out of the other side, may want to reconsider how much caffeine they consume. Doing so will help achieve better management of their menopausal symptoms.
A Caffeine Coma
Too much caffeine from one source, such as hot drinks or multiple sources including pills, espresso shots, protein powder, or energy drinks, can result in a lesser-known side effect of a caffeine intoxication – a caffeine coma.
More so, symptoms are terrifying and include episodes of hallucinations, uncontrollable muscle movements, convulsions, and seizures, due to the drastic alteration of the electrical currents in the brain. If this occurs, you’ll need emergency hospital treatment as soon as possible.
Drinking Too Much Caffeine Can Lead To Caffeine Addiction
The regular consumption of caffeine happens to many of us daily. But, mostly, we pour ourselves a cup of coffee without a second thought. Unfortunately, if we do this several times a day, we can quickly develop a caffeine addiction. So often, we can experience addiction and not be aware of how dangerous it can become.
Whether through espresso shots, energy drinks, or pills, they’ll quickly develop a tolerance to the levels they’re consuming. So without realizing it, you can persistently chase a caffeine high. And this can lead to a direct addiction which can affect your health negatively. In fact, we love caffeine so much we use it to create delicious recipes as well.
Not only does caffeine addiction have concerning side effects such as increased blood pressure, heartbeat abnormalities, and dizziness, but it’s the withdrawal symptoms that can lead to all kinds of health issues. You can experience poor mental alertness, slow reaction times, and poor memory performance.
Fertility Issues
And you know, drinking excessive amounts of caffeine while pregnant or breastfeeding goes against sage medical advice. But did you know that if you’re hoping to get pregnant, then excessive caffeine consumption could also harm your fertility?
According to recent studies, coffee can disrupt ovulation by disturbing cortisol levels within the body. And the consumption of coffee can also diminish vital vitamins and minerals needed for healthy pregnancies and fertility of both sexes.
Worryingly, drinking caffeinated drinks can also increase the risk of pregnancy loss and miscarriage during the early stages of pregnancy. Therefore, caffeine should be as dangerous to pregnancy and fertility as smoking and alcohol.
In Closing
Overall, while caffeine can be useful in small doses, too much of it can affect the way the body functions and even put your life at risk. When energy levels are the issue, it is better to turn to a good sleep schedule and nutritious diet than caffeinated products.
10 Coffee Lover Gifts That You Will Want Now
Raise your hands – how many coffee lovers are in the house? Picture me raising two hands, please. I always get excited when I’m about to enjoy a hot cup of coffee, don’t you?
The contents of this article are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you have regarding a medical condition and before undertaking any diet, dietary supplement, exercise, or other health programs. Sassy Townhouse Living and authors are not responsible for any adverse effects resulting from your use of or reliance on any information or products contained in any article on this blog.