Caffeine, how much is safe, what is too much?
Discussion
I'm taking a couple of "dietary supplements" and they both contain caffeine! I also drink quite a large amount of coffee (8-10 cups per day).
Can too much caffeine be dangerous? What symptoms should I be looking for?
ETA I've also just taken a couple of "Extra power pain reliever caplets" for a headache which I notice also contain caffeine!
Can too much caffeine be dangerous? What symptoms should I be looking for?
ETA I've also just taken a couple of "Extra power pain reliever caplets" for a headache which I notice also contain caffeine!
Have a read of this: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeine/NU00600
However if you have roughly 5-10mg per kg of bodyweight this has been shown to improve performance.
How much are you roughly consuming a day and what's your bodyweight and lifestyle? Eg. Gym user and desk job, or lazy git and desk job.
Plus sometimes the food you eat will make you feel sluggish which in turn will make you want something to boost your energy - caffeine
However if you have roughly 5-10mg per kg of bodyweight this has been shown to improve performance.
How much are you roughly consuming a day and what's your bodyweight and lifestyle? Eg. Gym user and desk job, or lazy git and desk job.
Plus sometimes the food you eat will make you feel sluggish which in turn will make you want something to boost your energy - caffeine
If you get "the shakes" then you're drinking too much! A mate of mine once made me a cup of percolated coffee where he used already percolated coffee and ran it through the machine again using fresh coffee grounds ie twice percolated! Strongest coffee I've ever tasted and it gave me uncontrollable shakes after about 30 minutes.
TX.
TX.
Just to add to what smiffy has said, it has been shown that as low as 2.5mg/kg bw can give an ergogenic effect for gym/sports performance. And safe to take up to 10mg/kg bw. My usual dose is 300mg, and at 82lg bw that's 3.65mg/kg. That works well for me, but I have been know to take up to nearly double that when I'm feeling particularly lethargic.
There aren't any serious side effects. If you take a lot you can get headaches and feel skittish and find it difficult to focus. Caffeine dependancy is a small issue too, in that your body can become reliant on it and you can feel crap if you stop taking it. I find that my mind becomes reliant too, and I just don't feel ready to train unless I've taken some.
Feel free to ask anything you like, I'm pretty clued up on the subject as I wrote my masters degree dissertation on the subject so have read pretty much all the literature surrounding caffeine use in sport/training.
ETA: over a day be aware that the half life of caffeine is about 4 hours, so it stays with you for a long time. An esspresso is supposed to be about 50mg, but some have been found to have up to 250mg! which a double would be not insignificant dose.
There aren't any serious side effects. If you take a lot you can get headaches and feel skittish and find it difficult to focus. Caffeine dependancy is a small issue too, in that your body can become reliant on it and you can feel crap if you stop taking it. I find that my mind becomes reliant too, and I just don't feel ready to train unless I've taken some.
Feel free to ask anything you like, I'm pretty clued up on the subject as I wrote my masters degree dissertation on the subject so have read pretty much all the literature surrounding caffeine use in sport/training.
ETA: over a day be aware that the half life of caffeine is about 4 hours, so it stays with you for a long time. An esspresso is supposed to be about 50mg, but some have been found to have up to 250mg! which a double would be not insignificant dose.
Edited by TheBALDpuma on Friday 1st November 16:03
TheBALDpuma said:
Just to add to what smiffy has said, it has been shown that as low as 2.5mg/kg bw can give an ergogenic effect for gym/sports performance. And safe to take up to 10mg/kg bw. My usual dose is 300mg, and at 82lg bw that's 3.65mg/kg. That works well for me, but I have been know to take up to nearly double that when I'm feeling particularly lethargic.
There aren't any serious side effects. If you take a lot you can get headaches and feel skittish and find it difficult to focus. Caffeine dependancy is a small issue too, in that your body can become reliant on it and you can feel crap if you stop taking it. I find that my mind becomes reliant too, and I just don't feel ready to train unless I've taken some.
Feel free to ask anything you like, I'm pretty clued up on the subject as I wrote my masters degree dissertation on the subject so have read pretty much all the literature surrounding caffeine use in sport/training.
Glad someone is, I thought I was quoting bro science tbh There aren't any serious side effects. If you take a lot you can get headaches and feel skittish and find it difficult to focus. Caffeine dependancy is a small issue too, in that your body can become reliant on it and you can feel crap if you stop taking it. I find that my mind becomes reliant too, and I just don't feel ready to train unless I've taken some.
Feel free to ask anything you like, I'm pretty clued up on the subject as I wrote my masters degree dissertation on the subject so have read pretty much all the literature surrounding caffeine use in sport/training.
I used to have quite a bit of pro plus at one time. You get used to the effects and need to take more and more. If you take to much you do feel a bit different not in a good way either. Dont take it anymore.
I used to take it or any form of caffiene because i was tired. The end result was - couldnt get to sleep and then when i did i used to wake up really early. Which made it worse and worse.
Now i just drink coffee but limit how many i have and feel a lot better for it.
Is it fat burners your taking ?
I used to take it or any form of caffiene because i was tired. The end result was - couldnt get to sleep and then when i did i used to wake up really early. Which made it worse and worse.
Now i just drink coffee but limit how many i have and feel a lot better for it.
Is it fat burners your taking ?
PoleDriver said:
Thanks for the replies guys!
I'm taking fat burners with a total of 648mg of caffeine each day (in 3 doses) plus what I get from coffee!
You'll most likely go on fire soon! I'd be carefull.I'm taking fat burners with a total of 648mg of caffeine each day (in 3 doses) plus what I get from coffee!
IME I'd say over 600mg per day is too much for a prolonged period. I used to have 600mg every morning when training daily, eventually i'd take it and go back to sleep! It can't be good for you....
PoleDriver said:
Thanks for the replies guys!
I'm taking fat burners with a total of 648mg of caffeine each day (in 3 doses) plus what I get from coffee!
Okay, well lets say by 3pm you've been up 8 hours, and had 2 pills, and 6 cups of coffee, roughly evenly spaced.I'm taking fat burners with a total of 648mg of caffeine each day (in 3 doses) plus what I get from coffee!
Coffee 8am, 9am, 10am, 12am, 1am, 2am
Pill at 8am, 1am (432mg total)
Assuming an average of 50mg per cup (could easily be more) you will have (very roughly) 12.5mg from first coffee, 17.5mg, 20mg, 30mg, 45mg, 50mg (peaks after one hour).
54mg from first pill and maybe 200mg from second totalling...
439mg. No idea how heavy you are but take an average 75kg guy, then it would be 5.85mg/kg bw. This is a very low estimate I would say though, so could be higher but you're still in "safe" grounds. The only thing with constantly drip feeding caffeine is that you become very reliant upon it which isn't neccessarily a good plce to be.
Also as I said, caffeine does not help fat loss.
ETA: not sure why I worked it out as a mid day thing, just seemed like a good idea at the time :S
I can't function without caffeine.
After waking the first thing is a coffee, then after shower etc another coffee. Its about this stage I feel awake. On the way to work it's an energy drink from the local shop. When I get to my work (my own business) I have a coffee and begin my work. Then throughout the day I have a coffee every hour or so.
It's not an ideal situation but I'm kind of trapped in this routine. I can't sleep properly at night because one of our sons has epilepsy that usually strikes in the night. Subconsciously I have made it my role to be 'on guard' in the night and as a result I'm shattered all day.
This has been going on now for a few years and I have not noticed any adverse effects of the caffeine loading.
I remember listening to a piece on Radio4 discussing the untapped benefits and future uses of caffeine - iirc it was suggesting it may have many uses that will benefit humans from a medical treatment perspective.
You can even buy caffeine laced shampoo - its supposed to stimulate hair growth for slapheads.
After waking the first thing is a coffee, then after shower etc another coffee. Its about this stage I feel awake. On the way to work it's an energy drink from the local shop. When I get to my work (my own business) I have a coffee and begin my work. Then throughout the day I have a coffee every hour or so.
It's not an ideal situation but I'm kind of trapped in this routine. I can't sleep properly at night because one of our sons has epilepsy that usually strikes in the night. Subconsciously I have made it my role to be 'on guard' in the night and as a result I'm shattered all day.
This has been going on now for a few years and I have not noticed any adverse effects of the caffeine loading.
I remember listening to a piece on Radio4 discussing the untapped benefits and future uses of caffeine - iirc it was suggesting it may have many uses that will benefit humans from a medical treatment perspective.
You can even buy caffeine laced shampoo - its supposed to stimulate hair growth for slapheads.
didelydoo said:
You'll most likely go on fire soon! I'd be carefull.
IME I'd say over 600mg per day is too much for a prolonged period. I used to have 600mg every morning when training daily, eventually i'd take it and go back to sleep! It can't be good for you....
Coffee is usually 100 mg or more per cup (but varies on brew method and size) so his 8-10 cups of coffee is probably a larger source.IME I'd say over 600mg per day is too much for a prolonged period. I used to have 600mg every morning when training daily, eventually i'd take it and go back to sleep! It can't be good for you....
lord trumpton said:
I can't function without caffeine.
After waking the first thing is a coffee, then after shower etc another coffee. Its about this stage I feel awake. On the way to work it's an energy drink from the local shop. When I get to my work (my own business) I have a coffee and begin my work. Then throughout the day I have a coffee every hour or so.
I'm the opposite. I might have one coffee a week, and that's when I'm out. Even then, it needs to be a small or medium. If it is a large, or if I have two, I feel shaky!After waking the first thing is a coffee, then after shower etc another coffee. Its about this stage I feel awake. On the way to work it's an energy drink from the local shop. When I get to my work (my own business) I have a coffee and begin my work. Then throughout the day I have a coffee every hour or so.
I start my day with 2x pints of water and I'll have my (only) cup of tea when I get to work.
Such a wuss!
JumboBeef said:
I'm the opposite. I might have one coffee a week, and that's when I'm out. Even then, it needs to be a small or medium. If it is a large, or if I have two, I feel shaky!
I start my day with 2x pints of water and I'll have my (only) cup of tea when I get to work.
Such a wuss!
I am in the same boat as you I don't drink tea or coffee but when I have a diet coke it wakes me up quickly and if I have some in the evening I can't sleep. I had some red bull in Thailand that comes in a little glass bottle, which is apparently very strong and it made my heart feel wierd. I start my day with 2x pints of water and I'll have my (only) cup of tea when I get to work.
Such a wuss!
I gave up caffeine nearly 4 years ago when my daughter was a tiny, unsleeping baby. I was trying to regulate my sleeping and waking and I was just unable to do it in a meaningful way to get any rest at all. I found that I was just tired all the time and decided that it might just be easier to let my body deal with it all by itself so I quit.
The change was dramatic though and well worth the horrific transitional period.
Now I wake up early, clear-headed and never fall asleep on the train. I don't get a mid afternoon lull and my concentration in general is much improved without the peaks and troughs.
I sleep really well and can fall asleep pretty easily which made it much easier when my son was born two years ago.
The biggest change was mental though - I lost pretty much all my anxiety and my memory changed dramatically. I have a MUCH better long term memory recall since quitting caffeine. I think my time perception has changed too, i'm much more patient.
I highly recommend quitting caffeine since it's given me loads of benefits. Also I've recently started training pretty hard in the gym and made loads of gains without the need for any supplementation other than upping my daily calories and reorganising them a bit
The change was dramatic though and well worth the horrific transitional period.
Now I wake up early, clear-headed and never fall asleep on the train. I don't get a mid afternoon lull and my concentration in general is much improved without the peaks and troughs.
I sleep really well and can fall asleep pretty easily which made it much easier when my son was born two years ago.
The biggest change was mental though - I lost pretty much all my anxiety and my memory changed dramatically. I have a MUCH better long term memory recall since quitting caffeine. I think my time perception has changed too, i'm much more patient.
I highly recommend quitting caffeine since it's given me loads of benefits. Also I've recently started training pretty hard in the gym and made loads of gains without the need for any supplementation other than upping my daily calories and reorganising them a bit
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