Caffeine is a substance found naturally in various foods such as coffee beans, tea leaves and cocoa. It is also incorporated into various foods such as soft drinks, energy drinks, sweets, as well as several drugs, including those intended to relieve symptoms of colds and flu.
Caffeine has properties of stimulating the central nervous system and cardiovascular system. It spreads rapidly in all body tissues including the brain.
Determination
Alertness, cognitive performance and fatigue
* It usually takes a dose of at least 60 mg of caffeine to get a significant effect that may last for several hours, but the major consumers of caffeine may need larger doses (200 mg or more) due to the phenomenon ‘addiction.
Prevention of Parkinson’s disease
* The consumption of about 100 mg to 200 mg of caffeine per day or more could help reduce the risk of being afflicted with this disease.
Prudence
* Supplements. Notice to athletes and people looking to lose weight with supplements that contain a lot of caffeine: a caffeine intoxication can cause severe muscle damage and irreversible.
* Neither caffeine nor coffee can lower the alcohol level in blood. Only the liver can rid the body of the alcohol was absorbed, which takes some time.
* Elderly or at risk for osteoporosis. Due to a possible effect on bone, it is recommended to limit coffee intake to three cups a day.
Cons-indications
* Caffeine is generally not recommended for people suffering from heart disease, insomnia, anxiety, ulcers or gastric ulcers, or hypertension.
Adverse Effects
* Caffeine can cause insomnia, nervousness, restlessness and stomach irritation.
* Taken in large quantities, caffeine can cause nausea, vomiting, hypertension, heart palpitations, arrhythmias, faster breathing, muscle cramps and headaches.
* The prolonged consumption of caffeine is addictive. The withdrawal can cause headaches, irritability, nervousness, anxiety, drowsiness, dizziness and confusion.
The drugs and the effects of caffeine
- Increase the effects of analgesics such as acetaminophen and acetylsalicylic acid, but also significantly increase the absorption (about 40%), which can be dangerous in the case of acetaminophen (liver toxicity );
- Reduce the effects of sedatives and tranquilizers such as benzodiazepines;
- Increase the side effects of theophylline, bronchodilators and stimulating the central nervous system like ephedrine.
- Cimetidine. The drug prescribed to patients with peptic ulcers significantly slows the elimination of caffeine by the body, which can increase the side effects of the latter.
- Clozapine. Caffeine can exacerbate the effects and toxicity of this neuroleptic.
- Antacids. The caffeine may counteract the effect of antacids because it stimulates acid production by the stomach.
- Alendronate. Caffeine may decrease the absorption of the drug for preventing and treating osteoporosis. Avoid taking caffeine two hours before and after taking the drug.
- Anticoagulants / antiplatelets. Caffeine may increase the risk of bleeding among those treated with anticoagulants.
- Other. Because they increase the rate of caffeine in the blood, alcohol, oral contraceptives, estrogen and certain drugs (disulfiram, riluzole, terbinafine, verapamil, fluvoxamine) may increase side effects.
Tags: Adverse Effects, Caffeine, cardiovascular system, central nervous system, coffee beans
