Tip of the Month June 2008

Caffeine – The good, the bad and the ugly!

Caffeine consumption has become a modern day ritual. Coffee houses feature on nearly every city corner, with streams of people walking in for their first, second or third daily skinny latte or large black Americano. There are very few people who do not drink any tea, coffee, coke or caffeine fuelled energy drinks on a daily basis, and yet most people do not know what affects these drinks can have on their health.

Like with everything in life there is no black and white answer to whether caffeine is beneficial or harmful to drink. Following we give a sample of the positives and negatives of caffeine consumption, but if asked my opinion as a health professional it would be ‘a little of what you like does you good’. So if you like a cup of tea of coffee, enjoy them but try to limit yourself to a maximum of one or two a day.

The positives:

1. The U.S National Library of Medicine lists caffeine as a Central Nervous System stimulant, this means that it can be a very effective pick-me-up. Drinking a cup of tea can make you more alert, increase your reaction time and improve concentration.
2. There are a number of scientific studies that show that caffeine consumption before exercise can increase the rate in which the body burns fat during endurance activity. This means that you can not only use more of your fat stores as you exercise but also your performance can improve. Unfortunately these studies used pure caffeine not coffee, and there is evidence to show that coffee and especially coffee consumed with milk or sugar is not very effective at increasing fat expenditure.

The negatives:

1. There are a whole host of health conditions that can be caused by caffeine consumption including increased blood pressure, heart palpitations, nausea, headaches, upset stomach, dizziness, tremors diuresis, fibrocystic breast disease, and cardiac arrhythmias.
2. Drinking large amounts of caffeine or drinking it late on in the day can cause insomnia. If you are struggling to sleep try to remove all caffeine from your diet, or if that is too difficult at least do not drink it after 3pm .
3. Caffeine is a diuretic and as such can cause dehydration. So make sure that for every cup of tea, coffee or can of coke you drink you consume the same amount of water on top of your daily 1.5 litres.
4. Excessive caffeine can have a negative effect on your mood causing irritability, nervousness, and increased likelihood to anger.
5. Caffeine is a toxin and as such can increase the chance cellulite build up.

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