How Much Caffeine Should I Consume In A Day?

Caffeine is a psychoactive drug that offers many benefits when consumed in moderation. It speeds up metabolic processes, boost energy production, enhances mental alertness and can even improve your mood. When it is overused, it can cause problems. Excessive caffeine dosages cause rapid heartbeat, irritability and anxiety. It can be difficult to know just how much you have taken and even more difficult to evaluate your own personal caffeine limit.

Safe Use

It is generally agreed that you should not exceed more than 400 milligrams of caffeine a day. The optimal amount is no more than 200 milligrams. These estimates can be different depending on your particular circumstances. Heavy users will develop a higher tolerance and require more to achieve the same results.

Regulating Your Use

Coffees and yeas are the most popular sources of caffeine, but the amount of the drug in these beverages varies tremendously. It can also be difficult to isolate the caffeine in the foods you eat. Chocolate is known to contain caffeine as well, and every little bit begins to add up.

While it is possible to monitor your intake by carefully evaluating every element of your diet, specific caffeine dosages in pill form and energy shot forms are much easier to work with. These products make the effects easier to predict and control.

You should also consider the time that it takes for caffeine to work through your system. It may be an hour or more for it actually becomes active. Caffeine stays in your body for many hours as well. You may still be feeling the results six hours later. For this reason, many take this drug in the early morning, but it should be avoided later into the evening.

Caffeine Withdraw

When you are experiencing many of the negative symptoms of caffeine, it is time to cut back on your use. Like any other drug, your body becomes dependent on it. Removing it suddenly can lead to withdraw. You may experience headaches, irritability, and fatigue for a number of days until you adjust. For this reason, many prefer to slowly cut back their use gradually.

In small doses, caffeine is perfectly safe and offers many positive effects that users enjoy. The vast majority of Americans depend on it every day, but it is important to consume this drug responsibly.