Dr. Didem Gunduz

Are Caffeine-Containing Drinks Helpful or Harmful?

As in many parts of the world, beverages containing caffeine such as coffee, cola and tea are always with us in our country! Although the benefits and doping effect of caffeine are known, the harm and side effects that may occur after excessive caffeine consumption are generally not talked about. So how much caffeine should we consume per day? What are the benefits and harms of caffeine? How innocent are caffeinated drinks? The answer to all these questions is in our article. So let's get started right away!

caffeinated beverages
Coffee is one of the foods with the most caffeine.

What Are Caffeine-Containing Drinks?

As we said at the beginning, although we think that caffeine is mostly in green tea and coffee, it is found in many beverages. Caffeine is naturally present in some beverages and is sometimes produced artificially. Here are the drinks that contain caffeine and their ratios:

  • There is 1 mg of caffeine in 25 cup of tea.
  • The can of cola contains about 50 mg of caffeine.
  • Is there caffeine in Turkish coffee? Yes, quite a lot! 1 cup of Turkish coffee contains about 60 mg of caffeine.
  • Nescafe caffeine content is about 75 mg.
  • 300 ml of energy drink contains approximately 200 mg of caffeine.
  • The amount of caffeine in a cup of green tea is 20 mg.

What Are the Benefits and Harms of Caffeine?

When we feel sleepless and tired, we want to drink a cup of coffee immediately. This is because when we are tired, our energy level drops, and the adenosine level in our body rises. Shortly after consuming caffeine, we get rid of drowsiness and fatigue for a while. benefits of caffeine To summarize what:

  • It saves us from the feeling of tiredness and weakness even for a short time.
  • Caffeine has a metabolic accelerating effect, so dietitians want us to consume Turkish coffee on an empty stomach or frequently consume green tea.
  • Caffeine consumption has a memory-enhancing effect, thus reducing the risk of Alzheimer's.

As we mentioned above, caffeine has many beneficial functions. But what happens if we consume too much caffeine? If we increase the amount of caffeine that should be taken daily, the harms of caffeine may occur. We can list the harms of caffeine as follows:

  • Excess caffeine consumption can cause you to urinate frequently. This causes a decrease in the vitamins and minerals that the body needs.
  • The use of caffeine just before or after a meal causes a decrease in the absorption of zinc and iron that will enter your body with the meal.
  • Excessive use can trigger nervous system and cause tremor attacks.
  • Patients with heart problems should pay attention to this, as it will cause deterioration in heart rhythm.

How Much Caffeine Should We Consume Per Day?

As we mentioned below, we mentioned that caffeine has many benefits as well as harms to our body. So how do we strike the balance? Some studies say that the amount of caffeine that should be consumed will be up to 300 mg per day for adults. Caffeine in excess of this amount causes harmful conditions in our body. For example, 4 cups of coffee per day can be enough for an adult, but more than this can harm the body. Or we just said that 1 cup of brewed tea is 25 mg. With a simple calculation, if we consume more than 12 cups of tea, caffeine will have a side effect.

Even with these calculations, the body of each adult individual is different. If we observe how much of it is not good for us when we consume beverages and foods containing caffeine, and how it affects our body, we can determine its correct use. But should kids consume caffeine? Here, too, there is no harm in foods that contain caffeine naturally for children, but families should pay attention to the amount of caffeine that children will use.

photo of author
Born in 1984, Dr. Didem Gündüz completed her education at the Faculty of Medicine. After specializing in internal medicine, she completed her higher education in dermatology. Didem worked in various public hospitals for many years and is currently serving her patients in a private clinic.

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