-How many of you here consider yourself caffeine addicts?

How much coffee do y

ou drink a day? One cup? Two cups? More? How about caffeinated sodas? I mysel
f, sadly used to drink about 4 cups a day, never soda, but strong coffee. I f
elt like I needed it when really I could do everything I needed to do in a da
y, without it. Thankfully I havent had a single drop of caffeine in over 6 ye
ars. But let me tell you, the withdrawls you get from quitting coffee is noth
ing to put off. That first day is quite the difficult.
-Caffeine is pervasive in our society these days and every few months we hear
about how a study has shown that it is bad for us or good for us.
-Today I'd like to give you some of the facts about caffeine and its effects o
n your body. I'm going to talk about the beneficial effects of caffeine, the
negative effects and discuss what are considered safe levels of caffeine cons
umption.
-Let's start with the good news. Caffeine, which comes from the leaves, seeds
and fruits of about 63 different plants, is well known as a stimulant. That'
s why people drink it, right?
-Caffeine does help you wake up and feel more alert and it has been shown to i
ncrease attention spans. This is a beneficial effect for people who are drivi
ng long distances and for people who are doing tedious work. Calling this a h
ealth benefit may be stretching it, though staying awake while you are drivin
g a car is definitely a benefit to your well-being!
-Caffeine also contains antioxidants which have been shown to have cancer pre
vention qualities and A number of studies have demonstrated that people who d
rink coffee on a regular basis are significantly less likely to develop Parki
nson's disease.
-The negative effects of caffeine are largely dependent on how much you consum
e.
-When consumed in small quantities like, for example when you have one cup of
coffee or one soda, caffeine can cause your heart rate to increase, you urina
te more which can cause dehydration, and your digestive system produces more
acid. It can also give you a badcase of heartburn.
-In larger amounts, caffeine can cause you to have headaches, feel restless a
nd nervous, be unable to sleep, and even, in very large quantities to have hal
lucinations. When larger amounts of caffeine (over 600 mg per day) are used o
ver long periods of time you can develop sleep problems, get depressed and ha
ve problems with your digestive system. Heavy consumption has also been know
n to elevate blood total and cholesterol levels.
-According to a Medline article on the National Institutes of Health website,
having caffeine in your diet is not of any benefit to your health but modera
te consumption is also not considered harmful.
-They say that having up to 3 eight ounce cups of coffee a day or 250 mg of c
affeine is considered (quote) "average or moderate". 10 cups of coffee a day
is considered excessive. Also, remember that the amount of caffeine per cup ca
n vary greatly depending on the type of beans that are used and the strength
of the brew.
-There are a total of 63 beans sold world wide, but there is only two that ar
e widely known and used. One being Arabica and the other named Robusta. Arabi
ca is a species of coffea originally indigenous to the mountains of Yemen in
the Arabian Peninsula, and is believed to be the first species of coffee to b
e cultivated, being grown in southwest Arabia for well over 1,000 years. Arab
ica is also proven to have less caffeine than any other commercially cultivat
ed species of coffee.
-Robusta is a species of coffee which has its origins in central and western s
ubsaharan Africa. It is grown mostly in Africa and Brazil, where it is often
called Conillon. Approximately one third of the coffee produced in the world
is robusta. It has about twice as much caffeine as arabica. It is also easier
to take care of and cheaper to produce. It is usaully limited to lower grade
coffee blends as a filler, and instant coffee.
-Most sodas with caffeine, unless they are specially enhanced like "Jolt" or s
omething like that, have about 35 mg of caffeine per 8 ounces so you don't hav
e to worry too much unless you are drinking several 2 liter bottles per day.
Also, the effect of caffeine on you personally will depend on a number of fact
ors like your weight, general health, mood and personal sensitivity to caffei
ne.
-You can see that caffeine can have both positive and negative effects on our
health and well-being but the bottom line is that if you drink your coffee or
sodas in moderation, you don't have to worry too much.
Thank you for listening, any questions?