Should I be afraid of caffeine?

[Bethie]

I just read about some guy who drank a whole lot of different drinks with caffeine in them all in 2 hours and he died from it. Should I be more nervous about taking diet pills that have caffeine in them or is that different somehow?

[Janet]

I heard this same story and it really is scary! That said, I think he ingested a huge amount of caffeine in a very short period of time, which obviously can be dangerous for anyone. That said, for most of us, we don't typically ingest copious amounts of caffeine in a short period, so I wouldn't worry too much about dying form caffeine overdose. Essentially, if you want to be safe, if you're going to take diet pills with caffeine or stimulants containing caffeine (e.g. guarana) or other stimulants that work to enhance the effects of caffeine (eg. synephrine, PEA, kola nut, etc.) don't eat foods or drink beverages that contain caffeine to make sure you don't overdo it. In other words, if you're taking diet pills with caffeine, don't drink coffee, tea, cola (or other pop that has caffeine like Mountain Dew), energy drinks, etc.

[Speeddemon]

No. You shouldn't be scared of caffeine but you should respect your intake of it. It's easy for us to overdose on caffeine if we don't pay attention to what we drink. For instance, most of us don't realize that Mountain Dew is loaded with caffeine because we're under the impression that only dark sodas like cola contain it. Essentially, watch what you're drinking and if you're going to have a coffee, don't chase it with 12 more coffees, an energy drink or diet pills containing caffeine. Limit your rcaffeine intake to two cups of coffee a day (about 200 mg give or take) and even if you have a bit more than than on occasion, you won't have anything to worry about Bethie The guy who died realllly went overboard with his consumption in a super short period of time.

[Bethie]

I haven't had Mountain Dew in years. It has about as much caffeine in it as half a cup of coffee per can. THat's crazy! Can you imagine how much of that kids are drinking? That upsets me a lot. I think we really need to rethink the way we see caffeine in our culture because there's a way to use it responsibly but I don't know that we're doing that right. That guy just died and it's likely because he had absolutely no idea he was putting himself at risk. We educate about so many things but not about the most common drug we're all ingesting! Sorry for the rant, but really it seems important.

[Speeddemon]

It is important Bethie and I think you're right. I don't think the vast majority of us (myself included) take caffeine seriously enough and respect our limits. We don't look at it as a drug, but as an ingredient that can "wake us up" or give us an "energy boost" and there's no harm in that, right? Wrong! we should be more mindful about caffeine and it shouldn't be easy for kids to obtain drinks with high amounts of caffeine such as energy drinks, coffee, etc. The only trouble is, controlling that would be difficult. But I think you're right. We need more caffeine awareness. People need to know that it is a drug and they need to know how it actually effects the body and why this can be a problem if you consume too much of it.

[Bethie]

It's funny how we cna go our whole lives drinking coffee or drinking pop or whatever and not really even letting the caffeine cross our minds except we knwo we shouldn't have it late at night. And then suddenly you find out it's actually a serious drug. It's harmless when you take it in reasonable doses and you don't overdo it or anything, but then you learn that if you use too much of it, you can overdose just like any other drug. That's pretty scary if you ask me. I't snot the caffeine that is scary, it's the fact that we don't even think about thee things. It doesn't even occur to us. Since I've been dieting, I've learned so much about what's in the food I'm eating and I've discovered that there's still a huge amount left to learn. THat's pretty wild.

[Speeddemon]

It is pretty wild Bethie. So many of us put crap into our bodies on a daily basis without knowing what we're actually ingesting and what effect it might have on our body in the short term or - even more scary - the long term. I know people who are prescribed drugs who don't even read about what they're taking or what it can do to them or what side effects it can cause. They just take the drugs blindly, trusting that it's going to help them in whatever way they're hoping it will. That's REALLY scary. But you're right, it's not the caffeine that's scary it's the fact that we don't think about it for what it really is and what it does. It's amazing what you learn when you actually take a closer look at what you're putting in your body and how much of it you're putting it in it at that!