What are the health effects of caffeine?

Caffeine has its perks, but it can pose problems as well. The best thing you can do is to find out how much is too much for you, as well as the overall health effects of caffeine. Once you know the health effects of caffeine you can properly determine whether you need to curb your consumption.

Your DNA Determines your caffeine tolerance

Do you rely on caffeine to wake you up and keep you going? Well you aren’t alone. Caffeine is used by millions of people every day to increase wakefulness, alleviate fatigue, and improve concentration and focus. This can be a problem.

Caffeine is a powerful stimulant, and it can be used to improve physical strength and endurance if used properly, but it can also have some very bad side effects on your health if over used and over consumed.

According to Chris Kresser:

Coffee is the primary source of caffeine for Americans. Caffeine is metabolized by an enzyme in the liver that is encoded for by the CYP1A2 gene. Unfortunately, about 50 percent of the population has a variant in the CYP1A2 gene that leads to slow processing of caffeine.

For these “slow metabolizers,” drinking coffee:

• Is associated with a higher risk of heart disease (1)
• Is associated with a higher risk of hypertension (2)
• Is associated with impaired fasting glucose (3)
• May not have the protective effects against some cancers that it appears to for “fast metabolizers” (4, 5)

That said, in some cases coffee appears to be beneficial even for slow metabolizers. For example, caffeine is neuroprotective and reduces the risk of Parkinson’s disease in both slow and fast metabolizers. (6) Other studies have even shown that fast—not slow—metabolizers of caffeine may be at higher risk of bone loss. (7)

Adding to the confusion, many of the large, observational studies I reviewed in my podcasts found that the overall effect of coffee intake in the populations studied was positive. If 50 percent of people are at higher risk of disease from drinking coffee because of their genotype, then why isn’t this showing up in these epidemiological studies?

What are we to make of these conflicting data?

The most obvious conclusion is that it’s impossible to make a general statement about the health impacts of coffee. The answer to the question, “Is coffee good for me?” is: “It depends.”

The most recent research on nutrition, including these studies on coffee and caffeine, confirm that this is true. While we share a lot in common as human beings, we also have important differences: genes, gene expression, metabolic activity, gut microbiome, lifestyle, activity level, and numerous other factors will differ from person to person, and all of these will impact how we respond to a particular food (or beverage, like coffee).

For example:

• There is wide variation in post-meal blood sugar among people eating identical meals, and diets that are personalized on the basis of dietary habits, physical activity, and gut microbiota are more successful than “standardized” diets. (8)
• Response to low-carb and low-fat diets in overweight people varies considerably and may depend on their insulin sensitivity and other factors that are not yet fully understood. (9)
• Caffeine consumed in the afternoon or evening significantly disrupts sleep in some people, but not in others. (10)

These studies represent the future of nutrition research. In fact, I’m quite sure that in a relatively short period of time we’ll consider the current notion that there’s a single, optimal diet for everyone as an outdated and ignorant idea.

Another conclusion that we might infer from the conflicting data on coffee is that even within a particular genotype the effects are variable. In other words, some slow metabolizers might be adversely affected by caffeine where others aren’t, and the opposite might be true for fast metabolizers. This also makes sense because there are a huge number of factors above and beyond the CYP1A2 genotype that would influence how coffee and caffeine affect an individual, from their baseline diet to their stress levels and sleep to their gut microbiota. It’s also true that being a fast or slow metabolizer of caffeine isn’t binary (i.e., two possible speeds: fast or slow), but more of a spectrum (ranging from very slow to very fast).

Now that we’ve established that coffee and caffeine can be both beneficial and harmful, how do you know how it affects you? Here’s what I suggest:

1. Listen to my podcast called Is Drinking Coffee Good for You? in which I discuss some of the non-genetic factors that determine individual response to coffee.
2. If you haven’t already done this, titrate yourself off coffee (reduce your consumption slowly until you’re off it completely) and other sources of caffeine for at least 30 days. Then add it back in and see how you respond.
3. Find out whether you’re a “slow” or “fast” metabolizer. You can get this kind of genetic data through companies like 23andme. If you’ve done 23andme, log in, go to “My account,” select “Browse raw data,” and type “CYP1A2” into the “Jump to a gene” search box. Once on the search results page, find the rs762551 SNP. In the far right column, it will give your variant of that SNP. If you are AA, you’re a fast metabolizer. If you are AC or CC, you’re a slow metabolizer (with CC being slower than AC).

Where can caffeine be found and is there a difference?

Caffeine is found in Coffee, Green Teas, Energy Drinks, soda, and in a pill form. Caffeine that you find in soda, pill form, or in the majority of energy drinks are synthetic versions of caffeine which is not a form of caffeine you want to be consuming.

Then add the sugar levels that are in soda and most energy drinks, and you are on the road to weight gain and an unhealthy body. If you are going to consume caffeine it should only come from coffee, green tea, or if you are using an energy drink you need to verify that it is coming from green tea or other natural herbs that have been found safe for consumption. 

A great natural energy drink is Energize by Beachbody. This product can found in their top selling Performance Nutrition Line.

How much is too much and what are the health effects of caffeine?

Some science says that up to 400 milligrams (mg) of caffeine a day appears to be safe for most healthy adults. The key word here is “Appears”. The newest science has shown that low doses of caffeine may have beneficial effects on the body, where high doses can hinder how the body operates.

Caffeine dosages really should be tailored to each individual. If you are new to caffeine or supplements that contain caffeine, keeping consumption at 100 mg or lower per dose would be a good idea. Typically, 200 mg or less of caffeine has shown to have fat-burning and performance improvement properties. Heavy caffeine use can cause unpleasant side effects, and caffeine may not be a good choice for people who are highly sensitive to its effects or who take certain medications.

Heavy daily caffeine use that is more than 400 mg a day may cause side effects such as: Insomnia, Nervousness, Restlessness, Irritability, Digestion issues and Bloating, Fast Heart Rate, Muscle Tremors, and Weight gain just to name a few.

High doses have been found to not improve performance or aid in fat burning because it causes sedation and relaxation effects by triggering those receptors in the brain. It also creates an inhibition of serotonin levels, acetylcholine, and your adrenaline system. When this happens to these systems you will see slowing in performance, and fat burning abilities.

Of course you only want the health effects of caffeine that are good. So you may need to take a look at your consumption and see how you can curb your caffeine habit to bring your consumption to the levels that will have a positive benefit.

Depending on your consumption, cutting back on caffeine can be challenging. An abrupt decrease in caffeine may cause withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches, fatigue, irritability and nervousness. Fortunately, these symptoms are usually mild and resolve after a few days.

To have health effects of caffeine that will benefit you, try these tips to get your consumption in line:

• Keep tabs. Start paying attention to how much caffeine you’re getting from foods and beverages. It may be more than you think. Read labels carefully. Even then, your estimate may be a little low because not all foods or drinks list caffeine. 
• Cut back. Remember to do it gradually. Decrease the amount by a few ounces each day. Avoid drinking caffeinated beverages late in the day. This will help your body get used to the lower levels of caffeine and lessen potential withdrawal effects. 
• Go decaf. Most decaffeinated beverages look and taste the same as their caffeinated counterparts. 
• Shorten the brew time or go herbal. When making tea, brew it for less time. This cuts down on its caffeine content. Or, choose herbal teas that don’t have caffeine. 
• Check the bottle. Some over-the-counter pain relievers contain caffeine, and can be as much as 130 mg of caffeine in one dose. Look for caffeine-free pain relievers instead. 

The bottom line is that caffeine can be a part of your daily routine if consumed at doses that benefit your health versus hinder it. When done this way, most of the time it doesn’t pose a health problem. 

Be mindful of those situations in which you need to curtail your caffeine habit. If you plan on using nutritional supplements that have caffeine make sure that is a high quality product that uses naturally low doses of caffeine, such as the Energize from the Beachbody Performance Line. Also keep in mind that when consuming these products you may have to keep your other caffeine beverages to lower levels.

When taking these things into consideration it will provide you the positive health effects of caffeine versus negative effects.