New Delhi

Before worrying about whether one is drinking too much coffee, it is important to make sure they are informed of why exactly coffee may appeal to them.

Caffeine is the most widely consumed stimulant and psychoactive substance in the world. This is not to reinforce the fact that this high number of consumptions is due to the fact that drinking coffee is generally safe. In fact, it also has neuroprotective benefits, potentially reducing the risks of developing neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. While this piece will not delve deeper into the neuroprotective capabilities of the substance, it will attempt as far as possible to address the question of, “what is too much?”.

Firstly, caffeine is just a substance in coffee beans, but also in tea leaves. Although coffee is known to have more caffeine than all kinds of tea and consequently has a more effective use as a stimulating drink.

Even if one does not consume coffee personally, they may have seen many people around them use coffee for reasons ranging from, staying up late to work or to feel fresher and more productive after waking up in the morning. These are well established uses of coffee; however, they may need to raise concern for themselves or someone they know if it is noticed that the consumption of coffee has become some form of habit that is out of the person’s control. Especially if they notice patterns of poorly regulated moods, or worsened sleep in the night.

Furthermore, for some, excessive coffee may have mildly serious symptoms such as heightened anxiety, poor handling of stress, increased heart rate, jitteriness. If you have other cognitive irregularities that may interact with a stimulant like caffeine, it is best to first consult a doctor.

While coffee is not dangerous by any means, using it to stay awake at night, if taken beyond a widely accepted 400mg limit of caffeine per day, the consequences may be quite concerning as taking coffee frequently and regularly will not only cause a chemical dependency causing headaches due to withdrawal, but also insomnia due to an incapability to sleep due to the brain being continuously stimulated and unable to relax or wind down to get the much required rest it needs.

The average person should also note an increased need to drink coffee as dependence increases gradually, and the conditions stated earlier may only worsen if ignored and the habit indulged beyond existing negative consequences.

If without a drink of coffee, one endures a constant feeling of fatigue, a lingering depressive or demotivated mood, it is probably time to take a break from drinking coffee till withdrawal symptoms fade away for a long enough time.

It may also be time to try something new, like decaf, gradually reducing caffeine intake with either less and less servings of coffee a day, a drink with less caffeine like tea, or replacing caffeine with another habit entirely like running, working out at home, or even drinking water whenever feeling the need for coffee.

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Although the benefits of drinking coffee may seem great, especially as a working adult, as it may feel like a sharp increase in one’s productivity, it is always a better idea to have an alternate method of life that requires nothing beyond self-reliance and independence. It is important to be able to identify habit forming patterns early and either eliminate them or keep them at bay lest it becomes a productivity killer rather than a booster as one may have hoped for it to be, initially.