How much caffeine is too much to drink on a daily basis?
While lots of people complain about drinking “too much caffeine” and overdoing it when they talk about more than a cup of coffee today, but in reality - most people can tolerate much more caffeine that that.
How much caffeine is too much?
The FDA typically recommends you can drink 4-5 cups of coffee / day - without any major negative or dangerous side effects.
That’s 4-5 cups of coffee a day. If you’re drinking Impossible Energy - that’s at least 2 of those packets.
You’ll find most energy drinks typically have 150mg to 200mg of caffeine - so you should be able to safely drink 2-3 of them depending on the individual caffeine content.
You can find other healthy sources of caffeinated energy here and other coffee alternatives here.
Molecular composition of Caffeine
What are the Side Effects of Too Much Caffeine?
While most of the time - too much caffeine just leads to feeling not so great. Some of these symptoms include:
- Anxiety
- Insomnia (try this to sleep faster)
- Stomach Issues
- Tolerance
- Rapid Heart Rate
- Headaches
- Nauseau
- Nervousness
- Twitchyness
There are several other side effects that can take place but the majority of them depend on a person’s individual tolerance and how much caffeine they typically intake.
Can Too Much Caffeine Be Toxic?
The real danger of too much caffeine comes when you’re talking about consuming pure caffeine - either in pill or powder form.
In this form - .15 tablespoons or 1200mg of pure caffeine can cause severe and dangerous side effects like seizures if you’re not careful.
The FDA estimates toxic effects, like seizures, can be observed with rapid consumption of around 1,200 milligrams of caffeine, or 0.15 tablespoons of pure caffeine.
Because caffeine powder can be so highly concentrated - you can consume up to the equivalent of 28 cups of coffee in one teaspoon of pure powdered caffeine.
There are some reports of people even dying after such rapid consumption.
Examples of Caffeine Overdose
There are rare, but extreme examples in the news of people taking too much caffeine and overdosing on it.
Here’s a few examples:
- A personal trainer mistakenly measured a caffeine dose and died.
- A 32 year old woman was hospitalized for caffeine consumption.
- A 62 year old man ended up in the hospital after drinking too many Red Bull.
The Caffeine Takeaway
Caffeine is not bad for you and in fact it can be a superfood. You can typically drink up for 400mg of caffeine/day depending on your personal tolerance and adaptation. Be careful of caffeine poisoning at higher concentrated doses.
Other Caffeine Resources
Other caffeine resources you might find helpful:
Images via 13758299 on Pixabay