This morning, I got up at 5.30am after not having slept very well (probably because I slept for 11 hours the night before – lucky me!) and I felt pretty tired and really needed my morning coffee. Morning coffee consumed and I immediately felt more awake. I also walked to work so the morning cool air could wake me up even more. Perfect!
I usually have a second coffee mid morning as I find that 2 coffees per day is the right amount for me. Any more and I go a bit ‘loopy’ and any less and I don’t feel as alert and some may say a bit grumpy too!
Anyway, I was out and about in town so I thought I would treat myself to a Costa latte – a large one! By the time I had finished, the caffeine has well and truly hit me – a bit too much! So much so, it had the opposite of the desired effect… I couldn’t concentrate, I couldn’t sit still, I needed the loo every 5 minutes and I just didn’t feel very good at all.
So, that’s why I wanted to write about how much caffeine is too much, because it’s something that I often get asked about and you’ll probably read about it in the news too as more and more studies are published.
Generally speaking, 300-400mg seems to be a safe amount for adults per day. That equals 4 cups of coffee / 10 cans of cola / 2 energy drinks – perhaps best not consumed all in one go! A large latte will have approximately 280mg (3 shots) of caffeine, so combined with my first cup of coffee I was within the RDA.
So why did I feel like I did? Well, the symptoms I experienced are all normal because caffeine is a stimulant and a diuretic but perhaps it was just too much for my body all in one go. I am pretty small after all! Also, I’m probably not that used to drinking large coffees – I usually opt for the medium size. So it’s a lesson learned. I just hope I can sleep tonight!