Caffeine - Superhero or Supervillain? Articles | Coffee

By: Darren Williger

Caffeine is good for you. Caffeine is bad for you. Is caffeine really an either/or proposition?

In the first place, deciding whether caffeine is good or bad is just another example of the relativism that scares so many people nowadays. Face it, we live in an increasingly standardized, one-size-fits-all world. Or at least that’s how big business, politicians and the educational system would have it. But as with most other things, your individual reaction to caffeine will vary from other people. Take tolerance to caffeine, for example. Just as there seem to be people who can sit down at a buffet and eat for an hour straight and never gain weight, there are also people who have high or low tolerances to the effects of the caffeine. While a single strong cup of java may be enough to leave one person jittery for the rest of the day, his buddy may be downing 20oz Mountain Dew bottles one after another all day long and still get to sleep by 10:00. While tolerance can vary significantly, caffeine does seem to affect children and older people more effectively.

What about dosage? Does it really matter? Regardless of your tolerance level, the advantageous effects of caffeine does depend on how much you consume. Studies have indicated that low to moderate intake of caffeine can stimulate both physical and mental alertness without bringing on any ill side effects. Ah, but what does low to moderate actually mean? Dispensing with special allowances for pregnancy or ill health, the recommended daily intake of caffeine is 85mg for children and 300mg for adults. So if you use that as a baseline, then an average adult would probably get the most out caffeine’s stimulating properties by taking in around 200mg. On the other side of the equation, if you find yourself consistently topping that 300mg mark, chances are you’ll be visited by not only the headache fairy, but his friends who like to wave their wand and reward you with anxiety, irritability and—maybe the most fun of them all—insomnia! The point: to get the most out of all the goodness that caffeine can bring, use it in moderation.

Okay, you want the nifty little superhero-like qualities that caffeine can bring, but you want to avoid any visitor from fairyland. Which beverage is really going to get you the most bang for your buck? Of course, when most people think of a caffeine jolt, the first thing that comes to mind is the toasty aroma of Arabica beans brewing. Coffee is still king when it comes to caffeine. Or is it? You may be surprised to find out that Americans, at least, drink significantly more caffeinated sodas in a year, on average, than they drink coffee. Even with Starbucks appearing on every other street in America. So, then, soft drinks are the new king of caffeine, right? Well, not so fast. While the jolted colas and bubbly green and yellow stuff sells more, in actuality they don’t contain as much caffeine as the average cup of coffee. Even a 12oz can of Mountain Dew pales in comparison to a 5oz cup of ground coffee brewed through the drip method. Doing the Dew grants you only 54mg of caffeine, while that cup of coffee could net you anywhere from twice that to almost 200 mg. Of course, let’s be honest, who drinks their coffee out of a 5oz cup anymore? But then again, who drinks only a can of Mountain Dew?

Basically, when it comes down the actual delivery system of getting caffeine into your blood supply, there is no wrong answer. Whether it’s coffee, soft drinks or even tea, the main thing you’ll probably want to consider is which tastes best to you.

It’s all relative.