Is there such a thing as too much coffee?

[banquo's_bumble_puppy]

I probably drink a pot a day- 12 cups. I'm sure that there are many out there who drink way more....

[Tucson_Tim]

Yes. Like almost everything else you can eat and drink, too much is not healthy. But I don't know what that would be for coffee . . .

But you're talking about 12 8-ounce cups - that may not be too much spread over a whole day.

[Fazor]

Well, I don't think that level of caffeene is good for you, but I don't think it's horrible.

As for the question, yes there definately is a such thing as too much coffee. I have one or two cups a day, during the week at work anyway. Much more than that and I definately feel it. That doesn't mean I never drink more than two cups; but it's not a pleasant feeling so I'm usually pretty good at limiting myself. It can be hard; I love coffee.

[Tucson_Tim]

I love coffee.

It would be easier for me to give up all alcoholic beverages than to give up coffee.

[01101001]

Wikipedia: Caffeine :: Caffeine intoxication (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine#Caffeine_intoxication)

An acute overdose of caffeine, usually in excess of 400 milligrams (more than 3–4 cups of brewed coffee), can result in a state of central nervous system overstimulation called caffeine intoxication. [...] The symptoms of caffeine intoxication are not unlike overdoses of other stimulants.
In cases of extreme overdose, death can result. The median lethal dose (LD50) of caffeine is 192 milligrams per kilogram in rats. The LD50 of caffeine in humans is dependent on weight and individual sensitivity and estimated to be about 150 to 200 milligrams per kilogram of body mass, roughly 80 to 100 cups of coffee for an average adult taken within a limited timeframe that is dependent on half-life. [...] Death typically occurs due to ventricular fibrillation brought about by effects of caffeine on the cardiovascular system.

[Fazor]

Well if that wiki article is right, then why don't we just mix the two? If my boss gets mad that I'm using Baileys in my coffee, I'll just say, "Hey, you've had three cups. You're intoxicated too! Bugger'off!" :)

[Swift]

Coffee cartoon (http://www.spleenville.com/journal/archives/coffee.jpg)
Second cup (http://www.offthemarkcartoons.com/cartoons/1998-12-24.gif)
Just one more (http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/rmc0021l.jpg)
Ok, really, this is it. (http://english.vietnamnet.vn/dataimages/original/images341673_Coffee-cartoon.jpg)

[Captain Kidd]

Do you drink it over a short amount of time or does it take all day?

If the latter, which you seem to imply, then it's probably not as much of a concern than if you drink it in one sitting.

[Jim]

Two cups a day, every day.

I used to drink ~6 cups a day while at work, and 2/day at home. If I skipped a day, I'd get withdrawl headaches... bad ones.

Last year, I started experiencing chest pains. I went to the doctor and she said it was acid reflux, probably from too much caffeine.

So, I compromised between the chest pain and the headaches.

[Captain Kidd]

I do about the same, 3-6 cups or so. Hmm, 3-6 mugs I should specify. That's on the weekdays, I'll maybe drink one or two on the weekends. On vacation I'll go days without any, no withdrawal headaches or any other signs.

I guess that makes me able to quit at anytime I wish without suffering. :)

Ironically I spilled coffee on myself while typing this up. It must have thought I was threatening to quit and did a preemptive attack.

[Neverfly]

One cup a month.

However, I am quite the Dr pepper fiend.

[davidlpf]

Actually stop drinking coffee a month ago after I got sick one night, I did have heart burn for a few weeks before and I was just drinking a couple cups a coffee a day. At times before I have drank more coffee a day with no problems. But I do have at least one caffine source left, coke.

[KaiYeves]

No comment, don't drink coffee.

[Whirlpool]

I'm a coffee lover .

I'm an addict , THEN.

But I can now regulate myself to 1 cup a day or 2x a week.

I'm into Water Theraphy now.

;)

[Noclevername]

If I need to be up and around relatively quickly, I need some caffeine and sugar (these days it's usually sweetened iced tea, but in college I was a coffee fiend). If I can sleep in for a couple of hours, I undergo a much more gradual transition from full sleep to full wakefulness.

[Tucson_Tim]

No comment, don't drink coffee.

But you did comment.

[cjl]

I don't drink coffee. However, I do have caffeine. On days that I have 8:00 classes, probably 400-500mg/day from various sources, and more like 100mg/day on other days.

[MentalAvenger]

When I was in radar school, we surfed all day, partied all night, and went to school from 11:30pm till 5am. I kept going with lots of coffee and No-Doz. After about a month, I was in the hospital. I couldn’t even hold a pencil. They fed me lots of valium for a week, a week which I don’t remember.

[Jens]

One cup a month.

However, I am quite the Dr pepper fiend.

So you're getting caffeine plus sugar.

I won't touch soft drinks anymore. I drink maybe two cups of coffee a day, and maybe two cups of green tea at work.

Coffee may be a stimulant, but at least it won't give you diabetes. As long as you don't put sugar in it, of course. If you put lots of sugar in coffee then you're basically drinking coke minus the bubbles!

[Captain Kidd]

If you put lots of sugar in coffee then you're basically drinking coke minus the bubbles!You can get your bubbles too:
Pepsi had Pepsi Kona (http://www.bevnet.com/reviews/pepsi-kona/facts.asp) for awhile. I was in the target market area during the short release and remember buying one.
Wow, ok, they've got a few coffee related drinks out (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepsi_Edge#Coffee-related).

Then there's Coca Cola Blak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola_Bl%C4%81k).

Hmmm, Coca-Cola may take on Starbucks - MSNBC.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11101825/), it's a bit dated, Jan 06.

[davidlpf]

Then there's Coca Cola Blak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola_Bl%C4%81k).



I never tried it. Once a hotel us agents some but some got mine before I could get to it.

[Jim]

... On vacation I'll go days without any, no withdrawal headaches or any other signs. ... I guess that makes me able to quit at anytime I wish without suffering. ...

I hate you.

[Spock Jenkins]

Lot's of water and maybe a glass of cranberry juice a day.

One cup every couple weeks or so for coffee (depends how the youngest slept the night before). Sometimes I'll go a couple months without much thought.

Tea - never.

Pop (soda or coke depending on where you're from) - I'll have it if somebody brings it in to work - otherwise I can go a month or more without and not really miss it.

Adult beverages - once every couple months or longer I'll knock down a few.

Boring.

[Michael Noonan]

I used to drink a lot of coffee but now I am down to between 4 and 8 cups a day. Well soup mug actually:- tablespoon of coffee 2 tablespoons of sugar. :D

[Captain Kidd]

I hate you.that's two people now :(

[Tucson_Tim]

that's two people now :(

Let's take a poll! :)

[Zachary]

I remember reading a story of a teenage girl who was working in her parent's cafe, and she collapsed and was hospitalised for drinking too much caffeine.

So yes there is a coffee ceiling. Judging from experience though that ceiling is very, very high ;)

[PetersCreek]

I drink a lot of coffee but it's strictly for medical reasons.

I was born without a caffeine gland.

[Captain Kidd]

Let's take a poll! :)Let's not. :)

@Zachary: I remember that story, here is is (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wear/6944026.stm) as a matter of fact.

My wife use to work at a coffee shop. I'd stop in on my way to work. At first she was giving the the house special, a cup of coffee with two espresso shots. After a week, I had to back down to just coffee. I can do cup after cup after cup of regular coffee, but that was just too much caffeine at one go. One is not meant to feel your heartbeat in your fingertips.

[Nick Theodorakis]

Check out the MSDS for caffeine (http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/C0165.htm) sometime.


Potential Health Effects
----------------------------------

Inhalation:
Inhalation of dust may irritate the mucous membranes and respiratory tract. High concentrations may produce effects paralleling ingestion.
Ingestion:
Toxic. The adult mean lethal dose is approximately 10 gm. Large doses may produce palpitation, excitement, insomnia, dizziness, headache and vomiting.


Nick

[Tucson_Tim]

Check out the MSDS for caffeine (http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/C0165.htm) sometime.


Nick

So Nick, is Theodorakis a very common Greek name? If not, are you related to the great composer Mikis Theodorakis?

Tim

[Noclevername]

Everyone's tolerance for caffeine* is different. Not to mention all the other things in coffee.


*I keep doing i-before-e on this word. So far I've caught myself before hitting reply. So far.

[Nick Theodorakis]

So Nick, is Theodorakis a very common Greek name? If not, are you related to the great composer Mikis Theodorakis?

Tim

It's not extremely common , but not rare enough that I'm surprised to run across other unrelated Theodorakises. In several US cities that I've lived in, I (or my close relatives) were the only ones. As to Mikis, I'm not sure; I found that his father and my grandfather came from the same village, but we can't be closer than 3rd cousins, if we are related.

Nick

More common among those from Crete.

[Trebuchet]

I'd have a hard time getting along without some coffee but I try to keep it in moderation. I drink half-caf, regular and decaf mixed 50-50. I make a pot of about 9 cups (a "cup" of coffee is six fl oz, by the way, I don't know anyone who actually drinks from one that small), drink one mug with breakfast and another on the way to work. I take a 16 oz. thermos with me to have during the morning, 1/2 mug at a time. It's just after noon as I type this and I've just poured out the last of it. Usually it doesn't last quite this long.

If I drink coffee after about 2:00 P.M. I have trouble sleeping.

[sarongsong]

For consumers who buy whole beans, a recent episode of America's Test Kitchen (PBS-TV) revealed that rogue bad beans (called "quakers") not eliminated by producers' quality control greatly affect the final product's taste. Better tasting coffees have less quakers in them, so it may be worthwhile to sort through your purchases once you get them home. When compared alongside good beans, they readily stand out (deformed/discolored).
Their comparisons found the fewest baddies in Millstone and Starbucks (tie).

[toejam]

Hands shake visibly after 1 cup coffee-- home brewed, Tim Horton's, whatever. Two cups & I'm hyperactive, bordering on mania.
So drink only tea. Tetley's these days. Really strong, that even the English I know complain. TEA<TEA<TEA> The cup that cheers but does not inebriate. Two cups at breakfast so strong it would dissolve a teaspoon if that were needed, but it isn't - no sugar to stir and the milk is poured in first, the tea stirs it. All analysis to the contrary, the alleged "caffeine" in tea does not affect me like that in coffee. Must be the other stuff in them that modifies the action.

Then sometimes, rarely, more tea in the day -with milk, with lemon & sugar, or green chinese, generally with chinese food. No other "drugs" like Coke or Pepsi or other ---s. No other liquids but spring water from a source near here.

Well that's a lie. There's beer, wine, Spanish brandy and the best of all, Tequila (when the supply of Oaxaca's Aguila Blanca mescal fails, which happens often). :)

[Doodler]

TheRe is No suCh thiNg aS too mUCh Caffiennnne!!!

http://userpic.livejournal.com/30830620/612904

[Mister Earl]

Heavy coffee drinker for a very long time. I drink a pot plus a day. Strong coffee. The stronger the better. I started drinking when I was 12, my mother had brewed up a pot and the nice smell of it attracted my attention. I asked for a cup, and she told me it wasn't a good idea, it would stunt my growth. Thinking better of it, (I was almost six feet by then, eating like a horse), she gave me a full cup of straight black coffee. I think she'd thought the bitter taste of straight coffee would deter me, or something. Didn't work. Eventually we just started splitting pots of coffee. I loved coffee then, I'd get all wired and go outside to play (cue motherly sigh of relief), and when night rolled around I'd be all worn out and slept very well.

Turns out the theory of coffee growth-stunting didn't pan out... I eventually hit six three with two-thirty. Last Christmas my mother even bought me a novelty coffee mug. Holds about a liter. Big, giant, ceramic coffee mug with a logo on it reading "Do I look like a FREAKIN' people person?" (I do tech support for a living, ha ha!). Intended as a gag gift, now earning its keep as my regular coffee cup. I adore the thing.

Looking to find me some more exotic coffees online. If a site promotes "The darkest / strongest coffee ever" I usually give it a shot. I can't find the site now, but I bought a bag of beans from a place that roasts coffee so long, they have to open the cooker and stir the beans, or else they'll catch flame. It was like drinking coffee flavored carbon. A hint of charcoal. Sounds nasty, but it was marvelous.

[Mister Earl]

In a side story, there's one of those local drive-up coffee booths in my city that have named a drink after me. "The Lurch Special". One large mocha, with 12 shots of espresso. $10.95. Pricey, caustic to the lining of your throat, but worth it.

[toejam]

In a side story, there's one of those local drive-up coffee booths in my city that have named a drink after me. "The Lurch Special". One large mocha, with 12 shots of espresso. $10.95. Pricey, caustic to the lining of your throat, but worth it.

You've still got a driving licence? And insurance? :)

[Mister Earl]

I suppose caffeine doesn't affect me as badly as it does some people. I went for coffee one day, and a coworker of mine said "Get me one of what you're getting." Poor guy! Ok, 2 Lurch specials. He drank maybe a tenth of the cup before he had to stop. His hands were shaking so badly, he could no longer type on his keyboard without a slew of errors. I ended up drinking the last of his coffee for him ;)

[mwbworld]

My body's reaction to coffee says yes, but my heart says no.

While there's not a waking moment that I don't want a cup of coffee.

Practically I have to limit myself to one or two cups in the early morning.

So sad.

[toejam]

My body's reaction to coffee says yes, but my heart says no.

While there's not a waking moment that I don't want a cup of coffee.

Practically I have to limit myself to one or two cups in the early morning.

So sad.

Try diluting the coffee with a couple of stiff Black Russians. Worked for me when I was younger. :)
At the same parties a friend used to drink neat gin & milk in a 50/50 mix, on the rocks, because he had a duodenal ulcer & the treatments for that condition were useless then. He had a bleed just before the graduation booze-up, so we gave him a gin25/75milk by slow rectal infusion. He seemed happy enough & he was NOT "one of those".