According to the BBC News, experts have recently determined that people who regularly drink a significant amount of coffee may actually become immune to the effects of caffeine in their favourite morning beverage. An experiment was completed on 379 people to study the effects of caffeine and the researchers concluded that the participants actually developed a tolerance towards the stimulant.
The test was performed by scientists from the UK and Germany and required that the trial participants stop consuming any beverage that contained caffeine for 16 hours. Half of the participants were medium to heavy consumers who had at least one to six cups of coffee in a day, the other half of the test group were low or non drinkers. They gave half of the participants a 100mg dose of caffeine and the other half a placebo. The people who were medium or high consumers of caffeine and who had received the placebo experienced a decrease in alertness and in some cases, reported headaches. Those participants who received the dosage of caffeine however had neither of these complaints.
The interesting results of the study also indicated that the participants in the medium to high group showed alertness levels that were not any higher after the caffeine dosage than the participants who were considered low or non consumers who received the placebo.
The Health Canada website is reminding people to be cautious about the amount of caffeine they consume, especially by women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, may become pregnant as well as children.
While small amounts of caffeine are not a concern for most, too much caffeine can cause symptoms of insomnia, headaches, irritability and dehydration. It’s recommended that healthy adults do not exceed 400 mg per day.
Caffeine, in its natural and added forms, can be found in various products, including:
Cola and some other carbonated soft drinks
Coffee and tea
Energy drinks
Cocoa powder and prepared chocolate
Some cold and headache medicines
Health Canada also states “It is also important to know that not all sources of caffeine are obvious. Some natural ingredients, such as guarana and yerba mate, are also naturally occurring sources of caffeine. All sources of caffeine should be included when calculating your daily intake.”
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