Green Haven Health Tips: CAN YOU DIE FROM DRINKING TOO MUCH COFFEE?, By Temitope Ajiboro

                                             Introduction.

Welcome to another weekly article of green haven health tips with this week topic on the most consumed beverage of our present generation (coffee). 

To be sincere I was even drinking a cup of hot creamy coffee when writing this article and that does not imply am a coffee addict and I can give you my sincerity that every topic discussed in this article is based on scientific facts and I would not be biased in my opinion on this just because I like to take coffee once in a while. 

What is caffeine and what kind of foods and drugs contain caffeine.

            Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, a psychoactive and a mildly diuretic drug. It is the only legal psychoactive drugs compared to other psychoactive drugs like cocaine and heroin that are strictly regulated. Most beverages and drinks contain caffeine in this below approximate amount per tablet or serving:

    Ø Chocolate :               10 mg

    Ø Caffeine tablet:       100mg per 

Ø Tea(green tea or other  types of tea):          22- 74 mg

Ø Coffee (decaffeinated):            5-15 mg.

Ø Coffee (espresso) :        100 mg.       

Ø Coca-Cola:           34 mg

                  Energy drinks:         54-80 mg

With the listed amount of beverage listed above, I bet we all consume caffeine in little or no amount.

 How does coffee work to keep you awake?

Physiologically, when you are awake adenosine is secreted which regulate the function of the brain to stay alert and awake and that turns out to be, the more you stay awake the more tired you  are.

Caffeine is similar to adenosine in structure and which compete with adenosine and binds to adenosine receptors and makes you stay awake but also produce more receptors which makes you physiologically dependent on coffee which in turns may lead to coffee addiction because you might need another cup of coffee to maintain the boost.  Caffeine increases the production of adrenaline which also increases the heart rate, blood flow, act as bronchodilator and also increase dopamine secretion which makes you feel active and happy 

 Advantages and disadvantages of caffeine.

Studies have shown that caffeine has led to decrease in risk of having some disease like; cardiovascular disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, endometrial cancer and type 2 diabetes.

The negative effects of coffee may occur as result of caffeine toxicity which means taking too much more than the daily requirement of coffee. Symptoms include; insomnia, mania and rarely coffee induced hematemesis (blood vomit).

Can you die from taking coffee?

It almost impossible to die through caffeine toxicity, since the lethal dose of caffeine is about 14,000mg   for a 70kg individual at a time which is approximately 70 cups of coffee at a time. But in rare cases where the liver metabolizing enzyme of caffeine (cytochrome P450 CYP1A2) is defective, such individual may develop cardiac arrhythmia even just after a cup of coffee. Also note that coffee is not perfectly save which is the same thing as other drugs with side effects because study has shown that it disturb sleep the fact cycle but that it kills is not scientifically proved.

That all for this week and please note that this article is open for critics and comments.

            Written by: ajiboro temitope (EMU faculty of pharmacy)

            Revised and edited by: Madaki Zachariah astonish (EMU faculty      of pharmacy).Contributor and acknowledgement: chukwuka chukaorah (EMU faculty of pharmacy).