# How much coffee is too much coffee???



## marbeaux (Oct 2, 2010)

I have read in various places that drinking too much coffee is not good for one's health. On a cycling forum it was also suggested that if you drink one coffee it reduces your life expectancy by 50%.

In my case, coffee drinks amount to perhaps 4 to 6 each week but I notice that some of our Members drink considerably more.

So can anybody provide an answer?

When if ever does it become just too much?


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

marbeaux said:


> On a cycling forum it was also suggested that if you drink one coffee it reduces your life expectancy by 50%.


Don't believe everything you read on forums


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Your body will tell you when it has had too much caffeine and varies person-to-person


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## MonkeyHarris (Dec 3, 2010)

marbeaux said:


> On a cycling forum it was also suggested that if you drink one coffee it reduces your life expectancy by 50%.


If that's true I died last Tuesday









http://www.2basnob.com/effects-of-caffeine-coffee.html

Found this


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## MsMochacino (Mar 7, 2011)

marbeaux said:


> On a cycling forum it was also suggested that if you drink one coffee it reduces your life expectancy by 50%.


If this was true we would have had government warnings on coffee. COFFEE KILLS!!!!!!!!! A lot of the world would be depopulated by now.

Where's the evidence?

I drink about 3 cups of espresso and lattes a day. I feel ok.


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## MsMochacino (Mar 7, 2011)

MonkeyHarris said:


> http://www.2basnob.com/effects-of-caffeine-coffee.html
> 
> Found this


Dark chocolate has loads of caffeine. It doesn't affect my sleep like strong coffee does. A fascinating read.


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## vintagecigarman (Aug 10, 2009)

MonkeyHarris said:


> If that's true I died last Tuesday


Me too!

Actually, being dead isn't as bad as people make out. The only thing is you feel so damned stiff.

But in answer to the original question, the answer is: "I don't know". I just rely on my body to let me know that I've had enough.


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## Combercoffee (Feb 12, 2011)

Only the man (woman) who has drank too much coffee knows when he (she) has had too much coffee!


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## DavidS (Apr 8, 2010)

Too much coffee is when you collapse to the floor, foaming at the mouth.







I've never been that far, but when I start to shake, I know it's best not to continue drinking


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

I once suffered a huge overdose.

I tried a 'preworkout' stimulant drink (called Redmist, taken before exercise helps provide focus, aggression and energy etc) they sent me a sample sachet which I assumed was 1 dose. I was wrong, it contained 3 ! The formula at the time contained 300mg caff, so I had consumed 900mg in 5 minutes of sipping the drink.

Approx 25 minutes later I was curled up on the floor in the gym toilets thinking I was going to have a heart attack, I had a severe panic attack combined with racing heart, sweating, pins and needles in my hands and feet, plus my vision started to become jittery. I managed to pull myself together and convinced myself to drive home, however the fun didnt end there - I was pacing up and down my living room for 2 hours to get rid of the excess energy on the verge of crying, eventually it started to fade after I ate loads of bread to soak up anything left in my system.

Safe to say I got no sleep that night, I think I dropped off around 3am, a whole 7 hours after ingestion. Other users of Redmist had claimed it was too powerful taking a single dose!


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## marbeaux (Oct 2, 2010)

So it appears that nobody, so far, has any evidence to provide?

Reading the post before mine does however suggest that one should take care if you are a heavy drinker unless you prefer to roll about on the floor from taking an overdose


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Here is some guidance from Health Canada, a government organisation I believe. It mentions the health effects and recommendations for minimising risk of those effects.



> For women of childbearing age, the recommendation is a maximum daily caffeine intake of no more than 300 mg (a little over two 8oz/237 ml cups of coffee).
> 
> For the rest of the general population of healthy adults, Health Canada advises a daily intake of no more than 400 mg (about three 8oz/237 ml cups of brewed).


Their conclusions are drawn from various studies over the years, so there is arguably some evidence that this is credible advice.


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## marbeaux (Oct 2, 2010)

Thanks for a very good link. Health Canada after further research, have reduced their previously recommended levels of caffeine intake.

I'm happy to accept their information as credible and it really answers my question.

Another coffee perhaps?


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## vintagecigarman (Aug 10, 2009)

"I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat and drink. There's no pleasure worth foregoing just for an extra three years in the geriatric ward."

John Mortimer


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

For the purposes of balance....









Coffee Pros

* 1. Antioxidants. Coffee is rich in antioxidants like chlorogenic acid and melanoidins. Antioxidants help prevent oxidation, a process that causes damage to cells and contributes to aging.

* 2. Parkinson's disease. Regular coffee drinking reduces the risk of Parkinson's disease. A number of studies [1],[2] have demonstrated that people who drink coffee on a regular basis are significantly less likely to develop Parkinson's disease.

* 3. Diabetes. Coffee drinking has the potential to protect against the development of type 2 diabetes. A prospective study[3] as part of the US Nurses Health Study found that moderate consumption of both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes in younger and middle aged women.

* 4. Liver cirrhosis. Coffee drinking may protect against liver cirrhosis, especially alcoholic cirrhosis.

* 5. Gallstones. There is some evidence [4] that coffee drinking may be protective against gallstone formation in both men and women.

* 6. Kidney stones. Coffee consumption lowers the risk of kidney stones formation. Coffee increases the urine volume, preventing the crystallization of calcium oxalate, the most common component of kidney stones.

* 7. Improved mental performance. Caffeine in coffee is a well-known stimulant. Coffee promotes alertness, attention and wakefulness. The cup of coffee can also increase information processing.

* 8. Alzheimer's disease. Regular coffee drinking may help to protect against Alzheimer's disease. Recent study [5] in mice showed that caffeine equivalent to 5 cups of coffee per day reduced the build up of destructive plaques in the brain.

* 9. Asthma. Caffeine in coffee is related to theophylline, an old asthma medication. Caffeine can open airways and improve asthma symptoms.

* 10. Caffeine safety. In 1958, caffeine was placed on the Food and Drug Administration's list as generally recognized as safe.

Coffee Cons

* 1. Heart disease. This is somewhat controversial. Most prospective cohort studies haven't found that coffee consumption is associated with significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

On one hand, diterpenes cafestol and kahweol present in unfiltered coffee and caffeine each appear to increase risk of coronary heart disease. High quality studies [6] have confirmed the cholesterol-raising effect of diterpenes. Also, coffee consumption is associated with an increase of plasma homocysteine, a risk factor for coronary heart disease.

On the other hand, a lower risk of heart disease among moderate coffee drinkers might be due to antioxidants found in coffee.

* 2. Cholesterol. Heavy consumption of boiled coffee elevates blood total and LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels [7]. Unfiltered coffee contains two cholesterol-raising compounds cafestol and kahweol.

* 3. Blood vessels. Coffee negatively affects the blood vessel tone and function.

* 4. Heart rhythm disturbances. Coffee can cause rapid or irregular heartbeats (cardiac arrhythmias).

* 5. Blood pressure. Although coffee drinking is not a significant risk factor for hypertension, it produces unfavorable effects on blood pressure [8] and people prone to hypertension may be more susceptible. Recent Italian study found that coffee drinking can slightly increase the risk for development of sustained hypertension in people with elevated blood pressure.

* 6. Osteoporosis. Coffee intake may induce an extra urinary excretion of calcium. Heavy coffee consumption (600 ml or more) can modestly increase the risk of osteoporosis, especially in women with a low calcium intake [9].

* 7. Heartburn. A cup of coffee can trigger the heartburn.

* 8. Sleep. Most are aware of the stimulatory effects of caffeine. High amounts of caffeine taken before going to sleep can cause difficulty falling asleep, tendency to be awakened more readily by sudden noises, and a decreased quality of sleep. However, some people can drink coffee and fall right asleep.

* 9. Dehydration. The caffeine in coffee is a mild diuretic and can increase urine excretion. This effect may be easily neutralized by drinking an extra glass of water.

* 10. Dependence. Although "generally recognized as safe" by the FDA, caffeine is still a drug, a mild central nervous system stimulant, and it produces dependence. Caffeine withdrawal is a real syndrome. You may get a few days of headache and irritability if you choose to quit drinking coffee, however, it is relatively easy to break this habit, and most people are not addicted to caffeine.

Courtesy of http://hubpages.com/hub/coffee-pros-cons


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