The Impact of Drinking too Much Caffeine

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According to an article from Caffeine Informer(2010), caffeine intoxication is now included in the DSM-5 physicians manual.The official diagnosis can be made when any 5 of the following symptoms are present: restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, flushed face, diuresis (you keep passing urine), gastrointestinal disturbance (upset tummy, diarrhea), muscle twitching, rambling flow of thought and speech, tachycardia or cardiac arrhythmia, periods of inexhaustibility, or psychomotor agitation. In 2010,a 23 British man from Mansfield, England died after taking to 2 spoonfuls of pure caffeine powder washed down by an energy drink at a party. His death was ruled accidental.

From an article published in the website “www.caffeineinformer.com”(2010), caffeine is the world’s most frequently used stimulant and perhaps, the most popular drug. Beverages and foods containing caffeine are consumed by almost all adults and children. The average daily intake of caffeine is approximately 200 mg (the equivalent of almost 2 cups of coffee), with as many as 30% of Americans consuming 500 mg or more per day. The most common sources of caffeine includes coffee beans, tea plants, kola nuts, mate leaves, guarana paste and yoco bark. To understand the unique role that caffeine plays, it is useful to gain perspective on its common sources which is unfermented beverages. Some of the beverages in the amount 5oz contains the following caffeine content. Brewed coffee (90 to125 mg), Instant coffee (35 to164mg), Decaffeinated coffee (1 to 6 mg), Tea (25 to125 mg), and Cocoa (5 to 25 mg).

In an article published by Daniel Owen(2008), the more roasted the coffee beans were, the more water content they lose. At the same time it is losing weight it is ga...

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... the exact amount of caffeine consumed in a day. The size of the cup/serving varied from 25 ml (Greek coffee) to 330 ml at home and from 130 ml to 280 ml in the out-of-home situation.

According to an article from Caffeine Informer entitled “Caffeine Metabolism”, it would take 45 minutes for 99% of the caffeine content to be absorbed through the membranes of the body. Furthermore, it was said that the half-life of caffeine for humans is ranging from 2.5 to 4.5 hours, denoting that the average coffee’s effect lasts about 2 to 3 hours. It was also stated that caffeine is most studied for its ability to work similarly with adenosine, the sleep-wake cycle molecule found in the brain. When adenosine binds to enough receptors, it signals the brain that it is time for rest but what caffeine does is cover up the drowsiness symptoms that adenosine can no longer produce.

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