To-To-Too Much Caffeine

With the growing responsibility of being a college student, anxiety is unavoidable. And what better asset than caffeine to help get you through a demanding day. As a stimulant, caffeine has been proven to reduce clotting and blood pressure over time, much like aspirin. Under the FDA, caffeine is classified as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe.) So, yes, it is okay to reap the benefits of caffeine. Yet, without the necessary know-how, it's easy to over consume, leaving you restless, jittery, or just more stressed out than when your day began. Let's first take a look at some common day-starters*:

• Starbuck's Coffee-300mg
• 5 Hour Energy- 200mg
  
• Dunkin' Coffee-140mg
• Red Bull- 60mg
  
• Black Tea-40 mg
  
• Green Tea-20mg

*These numbers reflect one serving of each product which varies accordingly.

These are the numbers but what do they tell us? The beverages at the top of the list are the most potent and should be consumed at the beginning or middle of your day. Whereas black and green tea can be enjoyed throughout. Avoid taking caffeine products within 5 hours of going to sleep to prevent restless sleep. But limit caffeine uptake to 400mg/day max. Remember that you will develop a tolerance which will limit the effects.

To prevent a tolerance and restlessness, I drink coffee or black tea in the morning and green tea in the afternoon/evening. This way I am consistently focused when I need to be but have no problem crashing at day's end. Experiment to find out what works for you.