Overdose of coffee - signs, countermeasures and therapy

Overdose of caffeine

Coffee is healthy. The myths like "coffee weakens your nerves, makes you pale and sick" have long been refuted. However, consuming coffee in large quantities may have consequences that are undesirable.

contents

• Overdose of caffeine
• Overdose of coffee? The most important facts
• High coffee consumption - symptoms
• Too much caffeine
• caffeine addiction
• How is caffeine addiction??
• Caffeine Overdose
• What to do?
• Coffee and sugar
• Coffee and alcohol
• Coffee and medicines
• No coffee with iron deficiency
• Coffee consumption and life expectancy

Overdose of coffee? The most important facts

• Theoretically, extreme coffee consumption can lead to an overdose. But you would have to consume more than one gram of caffeine, which means that you would have to drink at least 12 cups of espresso directly after each other.
• Even seven or eight cups a day can have a positive effect on the body.
• An overdose of caffeine causes palpitations, motor problems, nerve irritation, sleep disturbances and can cause nightmares and cognitive disorders.
• The bitter substances in coffee can cause you to spoil your stomach when consumed in high amounts.
• Caffeine is harmful to children under the age of 12, as is the fetus in the womb.

The popular drink can bring some risks with excessive consumption. (Image: BillionPhotos.com/fotolia.com)

High coffee consumption - symptoms

Amongst medical professionals, about four cups of coffee a day are considered healthy; even larger amounts have shown very positive effects in new studies. However, each person reacts differently to the caffeine contained in the coffee. If your coffee consumption is too high, it can be recognized by the following symptoms:

• Irritated nerves, inner restlessness, nervousness or heightened anxiety, as well as over-sensitivity to external stimuli.
• Tachycardia, caused by a faster heart rate.
• Shortness of breath and shortness of breath, driven by increased blood pressure.
• Eye twitching.
• Migraines and headaches.
• Upset stomach as a result of an overdose of the bitter substances contained in the coffee.

Too much caffeine

Coffee contains caffeine, and just like other caffeinated drinks, whether energy drinks or black tea, the pacifier can cause excessive side effects. These include sleep disorders, headaches, nervousness or problems in the gastrointestinal tract. Trembling and visual disturbances also occur. It is also possible a loss of fine motor skills. Described were also bizarre nightmares, thought carousel and mind race. These symptoms occur especially in people who otherwise take no or very little caffeine.

An unconscious reminder of the possibility that coffee can cause tachycardia? (Image: Masson / fotolia.com)

caffeine addiction

Those who consume caffeine in high doses over a long period of time can develop an addiction. For yourself, you can easily tell by doing without caffeine. If it now comes to withdrawal symptoms, you realize that you are dealing with an addiction. Typical symptoms of caffeine withdrawal are:

• a headache,
• nausea,
• listlessness,
• energy loss,
• chronic fatigue.
• They react irritated, feel "bad" and depressive moods are possible.

These withdrawal symptoms begin 12 to 24 hours after the last caffeine burst and last up to nine days.

How is caffeine addiction??

Caffeine is similar to adenosine and blocks its receptors. Adenosine, as a constituent of ribonucleic acid RNA protects the body against exhaustion, caffeine does not do that, which is why it comes to irritability at elevated dosage. As caffeine intake increases, the body responds to the missing adenosine and forms additional receptors to absorb more adenosine. Therefore, consumers now need to consume more caffeine to produce the same effect.

Caffeine Overdose

About one gram of caffeine is an overdose. In the worst case, this triggers a circulatory collapse. Caffeine is first of all a good energy injection: It stimulates the release of stress hormones, the heart beats faster, the blood pressure rises. We notice this as increased concentration and increased performance. At up to about 400 milligrams, that's fine.
As a guideline, an espresso contains 80 milligrams of caffeine. In order to get close to an overdose, you would have to drink at least twelve espressos in a row.

Things are different in children under the age of 12 and in pregnant women - caffeine enters the placenta and can hinder the growth of the fetus. In children, caffeine is generally discouraged; in pregnant women, no more than 200 milligrams per day are recommended.

What to do?

In case of an overdose of caffeine you should seek medical help. They themselves can only alleviate the symptoms, since caffeine runs as a fat-soluble substance through the body. You can eat cabbage meals because they contain enzymes that accelerate the use of caffeine.

The combination of coffee and sugar leads to increased blood sugar levels. (Photo: exclusive-design / fotolia.com)

Coffee and sugar

Coffee is extremely healthy, but in combination with other substances it can quickly lead to unwanted side effects. One of these substances is sugar. Sugar and caffeine together are just a short-lived energy kick. Since caffeine promotes blood circulation, the sugar gets into the organism the faster. So the combination of coffee and sugar boosts blood sugar levels and that's only good if we use up the energy quickly, for example in competitive sports.

Coffee and alcohol

Coffee and alcohol make it even more explosive than coffee and sugar. Above all, sufferers value wrongly. They become as drunk as if they drink the alcohol without coffee, but the caffeine causes you to not perceive their intoxication. This was the result of a study by Temple University in Philadelphia.
So, if you're just drinking alcohol, you'll sooner realize that you're drunk because you're getting tired. When caffeine now leads to wakefulness, confuse wakefulness with sobriety. In this way, you are increasingly putting yourself in dangerous situations because, for example, you think you can drive a car.

In the study, the researchers gave mice caffeine and pure alcohol - once separately, once together. Under the influence of ethanol, the mice became less anxious and moved more. Under the influence of caffeine they became more anxious and moved less. The combination of the two made them less anxious, even cocky. The clear result: Caffeine does not weaken the effects of alcohol, but alcohol does not diminish the effects of caffeine.

Coffee and medicines

Coffee enhances the effects of acetaminophen and ibuprofen. You should not drink coffee if a remedy contains caffeine. Then there may be the consequences of an overdose of caffeine, especially cardiac flutter. Some antibiotics prevent the body from breaking down caffeine. Gyrase inhibitors in combination with coffee can cause sleep disorders. Many doctors say in general: If you take medications, do not use coffee, unless it is proven safe for the specific remedy.

When taking medication should ideally be without coffee. (Image: leszekglasner / fotolia.com)

No coffee with iron deficiency

If you suffer from iron deficiency, you should not drink coffee. The tannins contained in it cause the iron to simply pass through the body. This also applies to tannins that are in black tea and mate tea.

Coffee consumption and life expectancy

Recent studies see moderate coffee enjoyment as a contribution to a healthy diet. Coffee drinkers have a lower risk of dying than non-coffee drinkers. This shows a large-scale study of the National Institute of Health in Rockville to nearly 500,000 Britons.

Even in larger quantities, therefore, coffee increases life expectancy. With the amount of coffee even the risk of death dropped, in a cup by eight percent, with up to seven cups a day even by 16 percent, regardless of genetic polymorphisms and a slow or rapid caffeine metabolism. If you drink more than seven to eight cups a day, you may eventually approach an overdose of caffeine, which can have negative consequences. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)