23.11.2 Are You Drinking Too Much COFFEE? Here’s How You Can Tell

[김상태]

Coffee is seriously delicious, and it also gives you that energy boost we could all use especially now that the weather has been getting cooler and the days have been getting shorter and darker. Whether we like coffee for its taste or its effects, we may be tempted to have more than one, or two, or three cups of coffee every day.

But coffee is also quite tricky. In moderation, it can offer several health benefits, but overdoing it can have a negative effect on your health and wellbeing. This is especially true if coffee isn’t the only caffeinated beverage or food you’re enjoying throughout the day, as many sodas, tea, candy, chewing gum, and even supplements can also contain caffeine. As a result, we may pass the recommended and healthy amount of caffeine and start experiencing symptoms of caffeine overdose.

Now, adults are recommended to have up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day, which is equal to about 2 cups of regular coffee, generally speaking. That said, the way your body reacts to caffeine may be different, and you may experience symptoms of caffeine overdose after having just one cup of coffee, or even just a cup of black tea. How do you know that you’ve had too much caffeine? It will be useful to look out for the 7 symptoms we list below.

1. Your stomach is upset

Most of us associate an upset stomach and abdominal cramps with the stomach flu, spoiled food, and foodborne illness, but research says that we should also include our morning cup of joe in that list. A study from 2017 pointed out that the bitter taste of coffee stimulates the production of stomach acid, which can thus increase the acidity in your stomach and potentially cause heartburn, acid reflux, and stomach pains.

Drinking coffee with cow's milk or plant-based milk could help neutralize that effect, so give it a try if coffee gives you any of the symptoms we've mentioned above. Of course, the best way to get rid of the problem is to stop drinking coffee altogether, so consider switching to tea, maybe?

2. Your heart is racing

A racing or fluttering heart is certainly a frightening symptom to experience, but before you run to the doctor, think about this, have you had any coffee a few hours prior to experiencing heart palpitations, by any chance? If so, coffee may be the cause, as excess caffeine in the blood may make your heart race or even make you dizzy.

And caffeine isn't the only stimulant capable of manifesting itself this way - nicotine and alcohol, too, can likewise cause heart palpitations. Therefore, it's advisable to cut off any of these substances if you wish to stop experiencing this symptom.

3. You're jittery and more irritable than usual

As we've mentioned earlier, too much of a good thing is certainly not healthy when it comes to coffee. When consumed in adequate amounts, coffee can have a stimulating effect on the central nervous system, as it binds to the dopamine receptors in the brain, making our mood better, increasing our alertness and focus, and even making us more motivated.

However, when the dopamine system is overstimulated by having too much coffee, things get less optimistic and you can start feeling jittery like you're hands are shaking and you have difficulty concentrating. In addition, coffee in excessive amounts can also make you more irritable than usual. It's important to watch out for these symptoms and determine how much caffeine is right for you to be alert but not jittery and irritated. This is true not only about drinking coffee but also other caffeinated beverages or foods.

4. You have diarrhea

Many people drink their morning coffee because they know that coffee can help keep them regular. Though the scientific mechanism behind this is poorly understood, it is widely known that coffee has laxative properties. Thus, if you have more than two or three cups of coffee a day, which is beyond the recommended daily amount, these laxative effects can be more pronounced and you may experience diarrhea as a result.

The solution? Gradually dial back the amount of coffee in your diet to 2 or fewer cups a day, or none at all if the issue persists. Cutting off the caffeine immediately isn't a good idea in most cases, though, as it can lead to constipation and withdrawal symptoms.

5. You have a headache

Speaking of withdrawal symptoms, drinking too much coffee in the morning, for example, and then not having any all evening can lead to something known as a caffeine headache. These headaches are moderate to severe and they are located on both sides of the head. The pain tends to worsen with physical activity.

This happens because caffeine can make the blood vessels shrink, which can actually reduce a headache and amplify the effect of pain-relief medications according to an article from The Journal of Headache and Pain. This is why many cold medications and pain relief drugs also contain caffeine. However, once you stop drinking coffee, the blood vessels in the head will dilate again, causing a headache. This pain will continue from a few days to a week or more if you don't consume more caffeine.

6. You can't fall asleep at the usual time

Coffee doesn't just make you more alert, it also makes you less sleepy, as coffee blocks the adenosine receptors, which are the receptors in your brain responsible for making you sleepy. This effect can last for hours (the half-life of caffeine is 5 hours, after that the effect will start slowly decreasing), which means that drinking coffee in the afternoon can seriously mess with your sleep cycles.

Apart from causing insomnia, which is a telltale sign of excessive coffee consumption, it can also make your sleep more sensitive or increase the number of times you wake up at night. So, it's best to drink your last coffee of the day at noon.

7. You're anxious

If things that you used to perceive more calmly are suddenly causing you a lot of anxiety, your coffee habit may be to blame. And while the process of drinking coffee may feel cozy or relaxing, the drink itself can actually amplify or otherwise contribute to anxiety. This is especially true in high-stress situations or difficult periods in one's life when you're more likely to ruminate at night. 

These anxiety-inducing effects were exemplified in one study where regular coffee drinkers were given either placebo or caffeine before a stressful task. As a result, those who had coffee displayed a higher blood pressure, more stress hormones in their blood, and most notably, nearly twice the self-reported stress level compared to the placebo group. Although the sample size of the study included only men and was quite small, it's still an important display of what coffee could be doing to our stress levels. So, if you suffer from anxiety in general or only occasionally, consider drinking less coffee or ideally none whatsoever.

Joke- Getting Married in Heaven 
(유모어 - 천국에서 결혼하다)

A man spent all his life alone, finding no love. At age 96, he dies and goes to heaven.

(한 남자가 사랑하는 사람이 없이 일생을 혼자 지내다가 96세에 세상을 떠나 하늘로 올라갔다)

At the same time, a woman spent all her life alone, finding no love. At age 102, she dies and goes to heaven.

(같은 시간에 한 여자가 사랑하는 사람이 없이 일생을 혼자 지내다가 102세에 세상을 떠나 하늘로 올라갔다)

As chance has it, they both meet at the heavenly library, discovering they both have a deep love for books, they start talking and amazingly enough, after a lifetime of unhappiness, fall in love.

우연히 그 두 사람은 천국의 도서관에서 만나 그들 둘다 책을 아주 좋아한다는것을 발견하고 얘기를 시작했고

놀랍게도, 불행한 일생을 보냈던 두 사람은 사랑에 빠지게 되었다)

They walk up to God and ask to be married.

(그들은 하느님 앞에 걸어가 결혼을 허가해 주십사고 청했다)

"Give me some time," Says God, "and I’ll get back to you. This is quite extraordinary."

("시간을 좀 다오, 곧 알려주마. 이건 참 특별한 경우거든" 하느님께서 말했다.)

Four years pass, and after the couple waited patiently, God finally tells the man and woman that he can have them married.

(그 두 사람은 참을성 있게 4년을 기다린 끝에, 마침내 하느님께서 남자와 여자에게 결혼을 허가 했다)

A few centuries pass and the man and woman fall out of love. They approach God once more and this time they ask, sadly, for a divorce.

(몇 세기가 지난 후 그 남자와 여자는 사랑이 식어버렸다. 그들은 다시 하느님께 다다가 슬프게도 이혼을 허가해 달라고 청했다)

God responds: “It took me four years to find a priest in this place. How long do you think it’ll take me to find a lawyer?!”

(하느님은 이렇게 대꾸하셨다. "여기서 주례할 사제를 찾기 위해 4년이나 걸렸다. 이혼 변호사를 찾으려면 몇 년이나 걸릴지 생각해 보고 하는 소리냐?")

그만큼 천국에서 사제나 변호사를 발견하기는 힘들다는 얘기인듯...ㅎㅎ