11 Harmful Effects of Caffeine
Caffeine is a stimulant substance found in tea leaves, coffee, and cocoa beans. When consumed, caffeine inhibits adenosine receptors in the brain. These help us relax and chill out, so we are more awake and alert when these receptors are inhibited by caffeine consumption. Caffeine affects many parts of the body due to the stimulatory effect, and many people do not know how much they consume. An average amount of caffeine is 70 -150mg (the same as 1-2 cups of coffee). Many pre-workout supplements and caffeine pills can contain up to 300mg per serving/dosage. It is important to know the harmful effects of caffeine so you can get to the root of unwanted symptoms.
Source: NIH
1. Gut Problems
Gut problems are one of the harmful effects of caffeine. Many people report that caffeine causes more regular and frequent bowel movements. This occurs because caffeine increases the muscle movements called peristalsis in your stomach and colon to increase digestion, though, in extremes, this can result in diarrhea. Consequently, caffeine can also loosen the esophageal muscles that are supposed to prevent food regurgitation from the stomach to the throat, resulting in gastric reflux. High consumption of caffeine over the long term can also decrease the quality of the gut microbiome by changing certain intestinal bacteria groups.
2. Nausea and vomiting
Similar to how caffeine causes gut problems, it can also cause nausea, another one of the harmful effects of caffeine. Caffeine increases the amount of gastric acid in the stomach, which irritates the stomach lining. In combination with this and the fact that caffeine loosens the esophageal muscles, these two result in nausea, heartburn, and vomiting.
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3. Dependence
Dependence is another one of the harmful effects of caffeine. You hear it all the time that many people become so addicted to caffeine that they can’t go a day without any caffeine. Though this form of dependence is not psychological, it is still important to not have to need a substance to get through the day. Headaches, low energy, irritability, brain fog are all harmful effects of caffeine when you are dependent.
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4. Fatigue
Another one of the harmful effects of caffeine is fatigue. Characterized by low energy, confusion, and exhaustion, fatigue is a sign that you may be drinking too much caffeine. While consuming caffeine and feeling energized and awake, it is important that you don’t hit a wall of fatigue when the caffeine wears off. Consuming more caffeine to avoid the aftermath crash is also a poor decision because this can impact your sleep.
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5. Anxiety
Anxiety is another one of the harmful effects of caffeine. Stimulatory substances like caffeine can have a different effect from person to person. Everyone has a different tolerance and sensitivity to caffeine, and some people can be so sensitive that causes them to have anxiety. Over-consuming caffeine as one of these sensitive people can create symptoms of panic, worrying, or nervousness without rationale cause.
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6. Insomnia
Another one of the harmful effects of caffeine is insomnia. As mentioned, too much caffeine can offset your sleep and lead to insomnia. In order to naturally fall asleep, we rely on our circadian rhythm and our natural decline in cortisol (stress) levels to get tired by the end of the day. If you are constantly drinking coffee, then your cortisol levels will remain high, and it will be difficult to fall asleep. As you can imagine, insomnia causes you to be extra tired the next day due to no sleep the night before, causing people to consume caffeine so they can get through the day. One study found that consuming 300 mg even 6 hours before bedtime can disrupt sleep quality.
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7. StressStress is another one of the harmful effects of caffeine. As mentioned, caffeine affects cortisol levels and our sleep quality. If you’re not getting good quality sleep, then you’re less likely to wake up feeling rested. Research supports that caffeine can impact the quality of sleep when consumed later in the day. Set a cut-off time of 2 pm, opt for a non-coffee alternative, use a smaller mug, and limit caffeine as the day progresses for optimal sleep at night.
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8. Increased Heart Rate
Another one of the harmful effects of caffeine is increased heart rate. Since caffeine is a stimulant, it will cause many processes in your body to inherently speed up. Due to this, more stress hormones called catecholamines are released to speed up the autonomic nervous system and your heart rate. With processes being sped up in the body, more blood will need to be pumped out resulting in a faster heart rate. This is one of the harmful effects of caffeine because increased heart can result in heart failure in long-term extreme cases.
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9. Increased Blood Pressure
Increased blood pressure is another one of the harmful effects of caffeine. As mentioned, caffeine causes increased heart and with this increased blood pressure occurs as a result. When the heart pumps faster, more blood is coming out into the vessels. These vessels will then fill up with more blood which puts stress on the walls of the vessel from the increased pressure. This is another harmful effect of caffeine because increased blood pressure can result in hypertension and then may lead to a blood vessel rupture.
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10. Imbalanced hormones
Imbalanced hormones are another one of the harmful effects of caffeine. Hormones all work together in the body on a scale, so when one is lacking another will be secreted more to make up for it. Cortisol is a stress hormone that is stimulated when caffeine is consumed, over time this can create imbalances in other hormones specifically estrogen and progesterone.
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11. Period Pain
Another one of the harmful effects of caffeine is period pain. Since caffeine can increase the stress response in the body, this will promote inflammation and imbalanced hormone levels. Studies have found that caffeine consumption is linked with increased estrogen levels, leading to estrogen dominance, slower estrogen detoxification, and period pain. In addition, in a college student study, they found a significant correlation between caffeine consumption and painful periods. A possible mechanism is that since caffeine can raise your blood pressure, this may induce an inflammatory response that causes pelvic pain during menstruation.
