Consuming two cups of tea or coffee a day is more than enough.
Our caffeine addiction is such that despite starting our mornings with it, we crave it throughout the day.
It is impossible for many of us to start our day without a hot cup of tea or coffee. Whether you need to drag yourself out of the bed on a dreary morning or survive the longest office meeting, caffeine seems to be a good answer for all.
Our caffeine addiction is such that despite starting our mornings with it, we crave it throughout the day. Several scientists at Food and Drug Administration claim that caffeine can be part of a healthy diet for most people if they are consumed in low and moderate amounts, but they also warned that too much caffeine may pose a threat to your health.
Dietitian Manisha Mehta took to her Instagram account to share a few facts that should be known to the tea and coffee drinker. She revealed that ‘tea and coffee are stimulants that work by helping you in releasing epinephrine in your body’, this release of epinephrine leads to alertness. However, this alertness is ‘short-lived’ and therefore we end up craving for more.
Let’s take a look at the side effects of consuming too much caffeine:
- Many studies have revealed that caffeine helps in burning fat, but those studies overlooked the fact that caffeine “also reduces your metabolism eventually”.
- It is known to increase alertness but higher doses of caffeine lead to anxiety and nervousness.
- One of the most prized qualities of caffeine is to help you in staying awake, but overuse can lead to insomnia symptoms or worsen pre-existing insomnia.
- Fortunately, caffeine doesn’t seem to increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases in most people, but many studies have shown that because of its stimulatory effect on the nervous system, it increases blood pressure.
Wondering how much caffeine should be consumed? Let’s take a look at it:
- Consuming two cups of tea or coffee a day is more than enough. Manisha Mehta advises against consuming more than that.
- Do not drink tea or coffee directly after having a meal. Try to “keep a gap of at least an hour” between your meal and a cup of caffeine, as per Mehta.
- Try and avoid taking caffeine in the second half of the day.
- A person struggling with any sort of inflammatory disorder must avoid it completely.
