What is it?
Caffeine is a psychoactive (mind-altering) drug that can affect how you think and feel. It is a stimulant that can speed up your breathing, heart rate, thoughts and actions.
People have been using caffeine products for thousands of years. Caffeine is found in the seeds, leaves and fruit of certain shrubs, including coffee and tea plants. Today it is found in a variety of everyday foods and beverages such as chocolate, cocoa, coffee, tea, soft drinks and energy drinks. It can also be manufactured in a laboratory. It is also used in the making of some pain relievers, cold medicines and other medications.
People use caffeine for various reasons. Many of us enjoy the taste of popular caffeinated products such as soft drinks, lattes and chocolate. Students sometimes use caffeine tablets to power through long nights at the study table. Shift workers also use caffeine products to help adjust their minds and bodies to odd work hours. Some people use caffeinated energy drinks to improve their endurance while playing sports or to dance for long periods. Caffeine has many benefits but, like any drug, there is also risk of harms.
While using caffeine may help you stay alert, consuming the drug throughout the day or too close to bedtime may lead to problems. And, frequently buying specialty caffeinated beverages may lead you to have less money for other things you enjoy.
How does it work?
Caffeine is absorbed through the stomach into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, it travels to the brain. Because caffeine is a stimulant, it increases activity in the brain and other parts of the central nervous system.
Caffeine also blocks release of sleep-inducing chemicals and increases adrenaline production. Adrenaline is a “fight or flight” hormone that causes the heart to beat faster, blood to flow faster, muscles to tense up and other signs of alertness.
What are the associated risks and health effects?
Small amounts of caffeine can increase your heart rate, blood pressure and rate of urination. A healthy adult who consumes a small amount of caffeine will usually experience wakefulness and an increase in their ability to concentrate. Caffeine may even improve your physical performance.
Some people are more sensitive to the effects of caffeine than others. Instead of feeling energetic, using even a small amount of caffeine may make you feel nervous or restless. Using large amounts of caffeine may cause you to have headaches, tremors, diarrhea, trouble sleeping, a rapid, irregular heartbeat and can trigger nervousness and anxiety if you are someone who experiences panic attacks. The factors that can influence how caffeine will affect you include how much and how often you have used caffeine, your present mood and surroundings, and your mental and physical health condition.
Regular caffeine use can lead to mild dependence. This means you may come to rely on the boost you get from the caffeinated products you consume. Withdrawal symptoms from stopping use of caffeine may occur and include headache, irritability and fatigue. These symptoms usually begin 12 to 24 hours after you stop consuming caffeine and will gradually fade within a few days.
Caffeine can have both positive and negative effects on your well-being. For instance, research shows the addition of caffeine to commonly used analgesics such as ASA and acetaminophen improves the pain relief benefits of the medications. Using moderate amounts of caffeine may help increase your focus and attention. However, consuming larger amounts of caffeine may lead to agitation, irritability and sleep problems. While consuming energy drinks may help boost your stamina on the dance floor or when playing sports, the combination of fluid loss from sweating and the diuretic effects of consuming more than moderate amounts of caffeine can leave you dehydrated.
Available medical evidence cannot answer whether or not regularly consuming more than moderate amounts of caffeine increases your risk of heart disease. And, though early research suggested a link between consuming caffeine and calcium loss and weakening of the bones (osteoporosis), more recent studies suggest the risk is low for people who consume moderate amounts of caffeine with recommended daily amounts of calcium. A woman who consumes more than 300 mg of caffeine per day when pregnant may give birth to a baby with a lower body weight. Using more than the recommended amounts of caffeine over time can increase the risk of health problems, including: chronic trouble sleeping (insomnia), anxiety and depression, stomach upset, and irregular heartbeat.
Acknowledgments
[2014] This fact sheet was produced by the
Centre for
Addictions Research of BC
on behalf of the BC Partners for Mental Health and Addictions Information. An excerpt
has been reproduced here with permission. To read the full fact sheet and for more
helpful substance use and mental health resources, please visit
www.heretohelp.bc.ca