More and more people today are relying on caffeine to function. Maybe because our society is becoming to fast paced. We are always on the go and we are getting less and less sleep, so we need that extra boost to get us going in the morning or to function during the day.

Are we destroying our health by consuming all these substances that are bodies don't really need, just because we want to keep such a fast paced lifestyle.

I would like to share some facts about caffeine and talk about the different amounts of caffeine in certain products.

Too much caffeine (more than 500 mg. daily) can cause restlessness, irritability and headaches.

Caffeine is a drug that is naturally produced in the leaves and seeds of many plants.

The reason caffeine is classified as a drug is because it stimulates the central nervous system, causing increased alertness.

Caffeine gives most people a temporary energy boost and elevates their mood.

Caffeine can be found in many types of products such as, tea, coffee, soft drinks, chocolate and sometimes over the counter prescriptions.

Teens and adolescence usually get most of their caffeine from soft drinks and energy drinks.

At high doses, caffeine can cause anxiety, dizziness, headaches, the jitters and can also interfere with sleep.There are a few problems that can arise out of drinking to much caffeine:

1) Caffeine is a diuretic, which means it causes a person to
     urinate more, which in turn may cause dehydration.

2) Caffeine may also cause your body to lose calcium, which in
    turn leads to bone loss over time, which can lead to
    osteoporosis.

3) Caffeine can aggrevate certain heart problems and can also
    interfere with certain medications.

As with anything, MODERATION is the key.

Experts say that 200-300 mg. of caffeine per day is a moderate amount.

Teens should try to limit their caffeine intake to no more than 100 mg. of caffeine per day.

Here is a list of a few popular products and the amount of caffeine they contain:

1) Monster energy drink (16 oz.)                                      160 mg.
2) Redbull energy drink (8 oz.)                                           80 mg.
3) Monavie energy drink (8 oz.)                                          60 mg.
4) Mountain Dew (12 oz.)                                                    55 mg.
5) Coca-Cola (12 oz.)                                                          34 mg.
6) Diet coke (12 oz.)                                                            34 mg.
7) Brewed coffee (5 oz.)                                                    115 mg.
8) Excedrin extra strength (2 tablets)                                130 mg.

So, you can easily see that drinking one cup of coffee at breakfast and having one energy drink in the afternoon can easily put your caffeine consumption on the high end.

If you need that energy boost and your looking for a healthy alternative, go ahead and click on the link below to find out more information about products that are all natural and will give you tremendous sustained energy throughout the day without all the high amounts of caffeine from traditional coffee.

To Your Health,

Craig Olson