OK, so I ordered a dirty chai latte today. If you don't know what that is, like the server I had this morning....it's chai latte with an espresso shot.

I usually don't drink caffeine, but I had a feeling today would be a day that I might need a little boost. Even so I spent quite a bit of time dancing and spinning in my chair to get out the caffeine jitters. In my charged up super fast thought process I started to wonder how much is too much, what are the physiological effects of caffeine and who in the world drinks the most?

Let's start with the effects of caffeine.

Caffeine is technically a mood altering drug that affects the nervous system, and it can be addicting. As such there are obvious physical and psychological effects after consuming caffeine in liquid or solid form. Consuming caffeine increases the acid in your stomach that can lead to heartburn and decrease water absorption that can lead to dehydration and headaches.

It is a stimulant so it can give people more energy which, depending on when you consume caffeine, can make it extremely difficult to fall asleep (my mom decided 6 p.m. was the cut off time for coffee otherwise she wouldn't sleep at all). However, like consuming alcohol, caffeine affects people differently depending on how their bodies metabolize and also like alcohol people can build up a caffeine tolerance which makes you consume more to feel the desired energetic effects. Caffeine withdrawal can cause fatigue, mood swings, flu-like symptoms, headaches and other symptoms.

How much is too much?

For me, probably one medium chai latte without an espresso shot is too much (like I said I usually don't drink caffeinated beverages, let a lone sugary drinks). But for the rest of the coffee drinking world, a moderate amount of caffeine is about 400 milligrams, or 4 cups of brewed coffee any more than that and you're steering into the heavy and potentially dangerous usage. You can check here to see how much of your favorite caffeine drink you should consume.

So who in the world consumes the most caffeine?

Would you believe that America isn't on the top 10 list? Well, it's not!

The country with the highest caffeine consumption is Sweden with the average person drinking about 388 mg a day (next is Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland)! In 1995 the United States consumed only 136 mg of caffeine from coffee, tea and cocoa combined. The Netherlands drinks the most cups of coffee, and Japan pays the most.

Do you drink too much caffeine, not enough, or are you juuuuusssttt right?

 

 

More From 92 Moose