Impact of caffeine on health (from recent research)
Positive impacts of caffeine
Caffeine can lower the risk of Parkinson’s disease
The researcher Alberto Anscherio of the Harvard school of public Health in
Boston says that there is fairly convincing evidence that people who drink coffee
or consume caffeine regularly have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s
disease. In a meta-analysis that contained 13 studies, people who drank regular
coffee (not decaf) had a 30 % lower risk of Parkinson’s than non-drinkers.
Caffeine can lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease
The researchers from the University of South Florida who did research on the
Alzheimer disease by using mice discovered that when aged mice who were
bred to develop Alzheimer’s disease were given caffeine equivalent to five cups
of coffee a day decreased the abnormal levels of the protein linked to
Alzheimer’s disease. Caffeine exhibited the systems of the disease both in the
brains and in the blood of the mice. Thus the results showed that caffeine in early
adulthood prevented the onset of memory problems in mice bred to develop
Alzheimer’s symptoms in old age.
Caffeine reduces the risk of getting gallstones
The Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, which followed 46,000 men for 10
years and the Nurses’ Health Study, which followed around 81,000 women for 20
years both found out that people who drink two or three cups of regular coffee a
day have about 20% lower risk of gallstones than non-drinkers. Tea, decaf coffee
and caffeinated soft drinks weren’t protective because they probably don’t
contain enough caffeine.
Caffeine can improve the mental performance of people
Harris Lieberman who is a psychologist and a caffeine investigator at the U.S.
Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick Massachusetts
says that caffeine improves the alertness and reaction time in people and it
doesn’t matter whether habitual consumers of caffeine or not. However the effect
of caffeine is limited to the ability to maintain attention. The human memory or
complex reasoning are things that we can’t improve by consuming caffeine.
Caffeine can improve the mood of people
Roland Griffiths of the John Hopkins School of medicine in Baltimore who is a
caffeine expert says “people report increased happiness, energy, well-being,
sociability and alertness after consuming anywhere from 20 mg to 200 mg of
caffeine. Griffith says also that consumening more than 200 mg of caffeine leads
to increased nervousness, anxiety upset stomach and jitteriness in some people.
Caffeine may affect the physical performance of people
Caffeine can boost the endurance of the body by helping the body burn fat
instead of carbohydrates and it blunts the perception of pain. Endurance runners
for example last an average of 32 minutes without caffeine when they ran to
exhaustion on a treadmill, but they can have an average of 42 minutes after
drinking coffee with around 250 mg of caffeine. It can also improve aerobic
physical endurance in non-athletes. People, who swim, run, cycle or jog last
longer if they consume 200 mg to 600 mg before they start their activity.
Caffeine can relieve headaches
The blood vessels in the human brain dilate, or become wider when people get a
headache. Caffeine relieves headaches by constricting the blood vessels.
According to a headache expert at the University of Vermont college of Medicine
in Burlington caffeine is also a mild painkiller that
has the ability to increase the availability of other
painkillers that it’s combined with.
Caffeine may protect memory in women
According to a study published in an issue of the
medical journal of American Academy of
Neurology of august 7, 2007 caffeine may help
protect the thinking skills of older women. The
results of the study showed that women age 65
and older that drank more than three cups of coffee or the equivalent in tea per
day had less decline in memory over time on the test of memory than women
who drank one cup or less coffee or tea per day.
Negative impacts of caffeine
Caffeine can affect children negatively
The study authors stress the importance of parental awareness regarding their
child's caffeine consumption. "Parents should be aware of the potentially
negative influence of caffeine on a child's sleep quality and daily functioning," Dr.
Warzak asserts. The authors suggest that primary care pediatricians may be able
to help by screening patients for caffeine consumption and educating parents
about the potentially harmful effects of caffeine.
Caffeine can harm the heart and the growth of a fetal
Caffeine can damage the heart of an offspring when it is consumed during
pregnancies even in low doses. From a study published in ScienceDaily that was
conducted with pregnant mice, researchers have found out that the equivalent of
one dose of caffeine (two cups of coffee) consumed during pregnancy is enough
to affect fetal heart development. According to research published on the British
medical Journal website caffeine consumption during pregnancies can also
decrease the growth of the fetal which leads to a low birth weight. Slower fetal
growth is linked with any amount and type of caffeine intake from tea, cola,
chocolate, cocoa, coffee and some prescription drugs.
Caffeine can cause migraines
Although caffeine can relieve headaches when consumed but the Robert Shapiro
of the University of Vermont’s warns that daily exposure to caffeine can also
lower the threshold for provoking migraines in people who are genetically
susceptible to them. Caffeine can also increase the risk of chronic daily
The Food and Drug Administration doesn't require companies to list
caffeine on their labels or menus. If they did, here's some of
what you'd see.
Caffeine
Coffee & Tea (Starbucks grande--16 oz.)
(mg)
Starbucks Coffee
330
Starbucks, brewed from store-bought grounds (16 oz.)
260
Dunkin' Donuts Turbo Hot (medium--14 oz.)
255
Starbucks Caffe Americano
225
Starbucks Caffe Mocha
175
Maxwell House or Folgers, brewed from grounds (16 oz.)
160-200
Starbucks--Caffe Latte, Cappuccino, or
150
Caramel Macchiato
Starbucks Espresso, doppio (2 shots--2 oz.)
150
Dunkin' Donuts Coffee (medium--14 oz.)
145
Starbucks Frappuccino-Espresso or Java Chip
130-145
Starbucks Frappuccino Light, Espresso
130
Starbucks Frappuccino-except Espresso or Java Chip
110-115
Starbucks Frappuccino Light, except Espresso
95-100
Starbucks Tazo Tea Latte, except Red
80-100
Starbucks Frappuccino Blended Creme Tazo--Chai or
70
Green Tea (1)
Tea-black or green (16 oz.)
60-100
Starbucks Frappuccino Blended Creme, Double
25
Chocolaty Chip
Starbucks Hot Chocolate or Decaffeinated Coffee
25
Maxwell House or Folgers, decaf, brewed
5-15
from grounds (16 oz.)
Tea, decaf (16 oz.)
5
Starbucks Tazo Tea Latte, Red
0
Bottled Coffee, Tea, etc.
Starbucks Iced Coffee-Light or regular (11 oz.)
Starbucks DoubleShot-Light or regular (6.5 oz.)
Starbucks Frappuccino, except Strawberries &
Creme (9.5 oz.) (1)
Tea (Arizona, Lipton, Snapple, etc.)--black or
green (16 oz.)
Hershey's Chocolate Milk (8 oz.)
200
130
90
30-60
5
Starbucks Frappuccino, Strawberries & Creme (9.5 oz.)
0
Soda (12 oz. unless noted)
Mountain Dew MDX or VAULT (20 oz.)
120
Diet Pepsi Max
70
Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Sunkist, Mountain Dew,
35-55
or TAB
A&W Cream Soda-Diet or regular (1)
25
7-Up, Fanta, Fresca, Sierra Mist, Sprite--Diet
0
or regular
A&W or Mug Root Beer--Diet or regular
0
Energy Drinks (16 oz. unless noted)
Jolt (23.5 oz.)
280
Rockstar--Punched, Roasted, or Zero Carb
240
Arizona Green Tea Energy or SoBe No Fear (1)
170
Rockstar--Juiced, Original, or Sugar Free
160
AMP, Full Throttle, Glacbau Vitamin Energy,
150
or Monster (1)
SoBe Adrenaline Rush-Sugar Free or regular
150
Nestea Enviga (12 oz.) or BAWLS
100
TAB (10.5 oz.) or SoBe Essential
95
Red Bull--regular or Sugar Free (8.3 oz.)
80
Glaceau Vitamin Water, Energy (20 oz.)
50
Propel Invigorating Waters (20 oz.)
50
Ice Cream & Yogurt (1/2 cup unless noted)
Edy's Grand Espresso Chip
45
Edy's (Dreyer's) Slow Churned Yogurt Blends
45
Cappuccino Chip
Ben and Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch
40
Ben and Jerry's Fair Trade Coffee
35
Haagen-Dazs Mocha Chip, regular or Light
30-40
Dannon All Natural Yogurt, Coffee (6 oz.)
30
Edy's (Dreyer's) Grand or Slow Churned Coffee
30
Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream or Frozen Yogurt, Coffee,
30
regular or Light
Starbucks Frappuccino Bar (1 bar--2.8 oz.)
30
Starbucks Ice Cream
30
Breyer's All Natural Coffee, Double Churn Light
Chocolate Mocha Silk, or Free Cappuccino
15
Chocolate Chunk
Stonyfield Farm Lowfat Yogurt, Mocha Latte (6 oz.)
5
Candy
Pit Bull Energy Bar (1 bar--2 oz.)
165
Crackheads (1 box--1.3 oz.)
120
Blitz Energy Gum (2 pieces)
110
Jolt Gum (1 piece)
60
Snickers Charged (1 bar--2 oz.)
60
Jelly Belly Extreme Sport Beans (14 pieces--1 oz.)
50
Warp Energy Mints (10)
50
VoJo Extreme Energy Mints (4)
40
Headshot Energy (1 bar--1.8 oz.)
20
Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Bar (1 bar--1.5 oz.)
20
Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar (1 bar--1.5 oz.)
10
Miscellaneous
Sumseeds sunflower seeds (1.8 oz.)
Swiss Miss Pick-Me-Up (1 packet)
Morning Spark Energy Instant Oatmeal (1 packet)
Bud Extra beer (10 oz.)
55
Swiss Miss Mocha Cappuccino (1 packet)
Swiss Miss Milk Chocolate (1 packet)
From:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeczXj4Cqhg
140
65
60
25
1-3