Caffeine in coffee acts as a stimulant because it heightens activities in your brain and the central nervous system. It is used widely all over the world to increase alertness, lessen fatigue, and improve concentration.
It has other stunning health benefits like aiding in weight loss and boosting memory. Nevertheless, if coffee is not consumed in moderation it may put your life at risk.
Safe Limits
An adult can safely consume 3-4 cups of coffee in a day. This can also be equated to 5-6 espresso shots. The rate at which caffeine affects your body depends on various factors.
- Age
Caffeine metabolism is directly related to your age. It takes about 6 hours for Caffeine to clear out of your system as a younger adult. However, it may take more than 8 hours for caffeine to clear out of an older adult’s system (65 years and above).
- Gender
Male and females differ on how caffeine is metabolized in their bodies. This is because of different hormonal and chemical levels. Men are more sensitive to coffee than women and can safely consume more coffee than their female counterparts.
- Smoking
Smokers drink more coffee than non-smokers. Does coffee taste better while smoking? Well, the reason is that nicotine found in cigarettes increases metabolism. Thus, coffee clears the body faster. To get the full caffeine kick, a smoker will need to consume more coffee.
- Birth Control and Pregnancy
Hormonal methods of family planning and pregnancy raise the levels of estrogen in the body. Estrogen lowers the rate at which caffeine is metabolized in the body. So this increases the risks of suffering adverse effects of caffeine overdose.
How Much Coffee is Fatal?
Technically speaking it is not possible to consume too much coffee in one day that can result in death. The lethal amount of caffeine is between 5-10 grams. This means you will have to drink 105 cups of coffee or 156 espresso shots to reach that lethal amount.
Such high levels of caffeine would make the body highly toxic and increase the risk of dying. It would also cause severe symptoms such as;
– High acidity in the stomach and the blood
– Seizures
– Increased heartbeat
– Low rate of blood flow to the heart
– High anxiety and dizziness
The body is designed so well that it would try to rid itself of high levels of toxins it detects. Taking this much coffee will cause a lot of nausea and vomiting which will aid in clearing the caffeine out of the system.
Conclusion
Consuming coffee in moderation will give you great benefits that you want to enjoy. Just like everything else, too much coffee can cause serious damages to your body and risk death. Severe symptoms include; stomach pain, high acidity in the blood, high or irregular heartbeat, little blood flowing to the heart.
The rate at which individuals process caffeine varies depending on age, gender, smoking, and higher estrogen levels found in hormonal family planning methods and pregnancy. It is wise to examine your status and observe how sensitive you are to caffeine in coffee.
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