Negative Effects of Excessive Caffeine

Here are 9 adverse consequences of excessive coffee use.

1. Worrying

Caffeine is known to make people more alert.

It functions by obstructing adenosine's actions, a brain substance that causes fatigue. Adrenaline, the "fight-or-flight" hormone linked to enhanced energy, is released at the same moment (8Trusted Source).

However, with greater dosages, these effects could be more overt, resulting in jitteriness and anxiety.

In fact, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a publication of the American Psychiatric Association, lists four caffeine-related disorders, with caffeine-induced anxiety disorder being one of them.

Most people have been observed to experience anxiety, jitteriness, and similar symptoms at extremely high daily doses of 1,000 mg or more, although caffeine-sensitive persons may have the same symptoms with even a modest consumption.

Additionally, when taken all at once, small amounts have been reported to produce fast breathing and raise stress levels (11Trusted Source, 12Trusted Source).

According to a research done on 25 healthy males, those who consumed about 300 mg of caffeine had higher stress than those who took a placebo.

Intriguingly, stress levels were comparable amongst frequent and less frequent caffeine drinkers, indicating the substance may have the same effect on stress levels whether you use it often or not (12Trusted Source).

These findings are yet preliminary.

Caffeine levels in coffee vary greatly. For comparison, the amount of caffeine in a large ("grande") coffee from Starbucks is roughly 330 mg.

It could be a good idea to examine your caffeine consumption and reduce it if you find that you become tense or jittery frequently.

2. Sleepiness

One of the most coveted properties of caffeine is its capacity to help individuals remain awake.

However, excessive coffee use might make it challenging to achieve adequate restorative sleep.

According to studies, consuming more caffeine seems to lengthen the time it takes to fall asleep. Additionally, it can result in less overall sleep, particularly for the elderly (13Trusted Source, 14Trusted Source).

In contrast, those who are deemed "excellent sleepers" or even those who self-report insomnia don't seem to be much affected by low or moderate levels of coffee when it comes to sleeping (15Trusted Source).

If you underestimate how much caffeine you're consuming, you might not be aware that it's keeping you up at night.

Although the most potent sources of caffeine are coffee and tea, it may also be found in soda, chocolate, energy drinks, and a variety of drugs.

For instance, an energy shot may include up to 350 mg of caffeine, whilst other energy beverages might have up to 500 mg (16Trusted Source).

Importantly, your genetics and other factors will have a role in how much caffeine you can eat without having an adverse effect on your sleep.

Additionally, as caffeine's effects can take several hours to subside, consuming it later in the day may prevent you from falling asleep.

According to research, caffeine stays in your system for an average of five hours, but it may be there for anything between one and a half and nine hours.

One research looked into the impact of caffeine consumption on sleep. Six hours before bedtime, three hours before bedtime, or right before night, 400 mg of caffeine was administered to 12 healthy people.

All three groups took much longer to fall asleep and stayed up during the night (18Trusted Source).

These findings imply that in order to maximise your sleep, you should be mindful of the time and amount of coffee.

3. Digestional Problems

A lot of people discover that drinking coffee in the morning helps them move their bowels.

Gastrin, a hormone the stomach generates that quickens colon function, has been linked to the laxative effects of coffee. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that decaffeinated coffee produces a similar reaction (19Trusted Source, 20Trusted Source, 21Trusted Source).

But coffee seems to help encourage bowel motions by enhancing peristalsis, the contractions that transport food through your digestive tract (21Trusted Source).

Given this outcome, it is not unexpected that excessive caffeine intake in certain individuals might result in loose stools or even diarrhoea.

Despite the long-held belief that coffee causes stomach ulcers, a massive research including more than 8,000 patients found no connection between the two (22Trusted Source).

However, recent research indicates that certain people's gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) may worsen as a result of consuming caffeinated beverages. Coffee seems to be an example of this in particular (23Trusted Source, 24Trusted Source, 25Trusted Source).

In a tiny research, drinking caffeinated water caused the muscle that prevents stomach contents from rising up the neck, a GERD symptom, to relax in five healthy individuals (25Trusted Source).

You might want to reduce how much coffee you drink or switch to tea if you encounter any problems because coffee can have a significant impact on how your digestive system works.

4. Muscle Degeneration

Damaged muscle fibres enter the circulation in rhabdomyolysis, a highly dangerous illness that can result in renal failure and other issues.

Rhabdomyolysis can be brought on by injury, illness, medication usage, muscle tension, or bites from insects or snakes that are toxic.

Additionally, although this is rather uncommon, there have been a number of cases of rhabdomyolysis linked to high caffeine use (26Trusted Source, 27Trusted Source, 28Trusted Source, 29Trusted Source).

In one instance, a lady who drank 32 ounces (1 litre) of coffee with about 565 mg of caffeine had nausea, vomiting, and black urine. Fortunately, after receiving medication and water, she made a full recovery (29Trusted Source).

It's important to note that this is a significant amount of caffeine to eat in a short amount of time, particularly for someone who isn't accustomed to it or is extremely sensitive to its effects.

Unless you're used to taking more, it's advised to keep your daily caffeine intake to no more than 250 mg in order to lower the risk of rhabdomyolysis