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Why It's So Hard To Predict How Caffeine Will Affect Your Body

Posted by Soulskill on from the mainlining-crushed-penguin-mints-is-not-the-best-plan dept.

carmendrahl writes "Emergency-room visits linked to caffeine-laden energy drinks are on the rise. This gives scientists who'd like to see caffeine regulated the jitters. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seems to be dragging its feet on regulating caffeine content in food and drink, because people have different sensitivities to it (abstract). Currently, caffeine-rich products like Monster Energy get around the rules because they're marketed as dietary supplements. 'Caffeine gets cleared from the body at different rates because of genetic variations, gender, and even whether a person is a smoker. For this reason, it’s difficult to set a safe limit of daily consumption on the compound. Physiological differences, as well as differences in the way people consume caffeine, have tied FDA in knots as it has debated how to regulate the substance. ... The toxic level in humans, about 10 g, is roughly the equivalent of imbibing 75 cups of brewed coffee (in 8-oz mugs) or 120 cans of Red Bull over a few hours. But that lethal limit can vary widely from person to person, experts say."

54 of 212 comments (clear)

  1. From reading the article... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...caffeine will someday become a controlled substance after the prohibitionists finish up outlawing tobacco.

  2. Drag them Feet, Feds by retroworks · · Score: 4, Funny

    Drag away. What they should be measuring is the amount of caffeine that is going into the water table from urine. At that point, it's actually affecting someone else, second hand, and may actually be appropriate to regulate.

    --
    Gently reply
    1. Re:Drag them Feet, Feds by sjames · · Score: 5, Funny

      It must be a lot. I've never seen a fish blink even once!

  3. Caffeine is a drug.. by mrbluze · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The part about caffeine that is dangerous is that, like other stimulants, it gives the impression of improved brain performance without really delivering it. A fatigued person propped up with caffeine still makes mistakes related to fatigue. The other effects like jitters and palpitations is probably harmful to the heart in the long term also but it's less of a hazard to others.

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    1. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by jittles · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It is, yes. But the FDA is definitely right that it affects people differently. I can drink a red bull, a monster, a coke, tea, or anything but coffee and easily take a long nap afterwards. Something about the caffeine I get through coffee is different. It actually makes me feel alert and awake. So is there some other chemical in coffee that increases the effectiveness of caffeine for me, or is the caffeine delivered differently? Does it have a slightly different composition? I don't know. But its a difference I can definitely feel.

    2. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by vlm · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Gut clogging quantities of HFCS most likely. Unless you drip a quarter cup of corn syrup into your coffee as a control.
      The no-cal versions have vast quantities of strange sweeteners.

      If you want a real control, assuming you can still legally buy caffeine pills OTC (or maybe over the net) like Vivaran (sp?) you can simply pop pills equal to however many milligrams you'd like. Drink some water to wash it down and maintain hydration and its almost guaranteed to be healthier for your innards than the additives in either drink.

      Its rather telling WRT lethal dosages that they used to sell vivarin caffeine pills in 50 packs (implying you can chug them all and live) but sleep aid pills in 5 packs (implying more than a couple and you're dead). Then again they sell tylenol in 500 capsule buckets at sams club so maybe my theory doesn't apply.

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    3. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by vlm · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Whoops I forgot to mention that if a cup of raw corn syrup literally knocks you out despite the caffeine you might want to stop doing that until you mention it to your doctor who will probably order a glucose tolerance test to see if you have some insulin issues. That involves chugging a bottle of corn syrup with blood sugar level testing before and periodically after. Note that only an idiot would get official medical advice from /., but this was an accurate and true anecdotal summary of what my wife had to do (result in her case was nothing wrong with her).

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    4. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by LordLimecat · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Gut clogging quantities of HFCS most likely.

      Put this stupid myth to rest. There is no known reason for-- nor observed effect-- HFCS to be processed significantly differently in your body than straight up sucrose. In 1 of the 2 most common mixtures, it has 1% more glucose (better for you); in another it has 6% more fructose (a bit worse for you). Either way, its a wash, and chemically it has the exact same stuff that sucrose has, just already partly broken down into its constituent sugars (sucrose = glucose + fructose).

      Its seriously irritating that of all things for people to worry about, they quibble about WHAT KIND of sugar is being imbibed (which has negligible effect) rather than the amount. Its like wondering whether the lake you are drowning in is fresh or brackish, and what health effects that might have on you.

    5. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Placebo effect maybe?
      Asking this because I used to play a prank to a friend of mine whenever he came for dinner: He always complained about being unable to fall asleep after drinking coffee, so since we all drank coffee after dinner I started giving him decaf without him knowing.
      Guess what, when asked the day after or a couple of days later he would say that he had difficulty falling asleep with decaf as well... Well, he didn't knew it was decaf.
      After a couple of repeats I finally told him that we were giving him decaf.... and I switch, started giving him coffee again. You got it, when asked he would say that he didn't had any problem falling asleep.

      But then again, it may not be the case with you.

    6. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 5, Funny

      The part about caffeine that is dangerous is that, like other stimulants, it gives the impression of improved brain performance without really delivering it.

      That's not true for all drugs. For example, ethanol intake makes me funnier, smarter, stronger, and sexier.

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    7. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by garyebickford · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, technically each of these sugars is metabolized somewhat differently, and uses up different amounts of B vitamins in the enzyme conversion chain. IANA biochemist but it takes, IIRC, two molecules of B-something to assist in the splitting of a sucrose molecule to its constituent frucose and glucose molecules, and so forth. I forget which vitamins are used where. So again, different people will be affected differently depending on your vitamin levels as well as your phenotype.

      Funny how these things go, it wasn't that long ago that you could buy fructose at the health food store, as a 'healthy alternative' to sucrose - coming from fruit and all.

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    8. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by Lumpy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "The no-cal versions have vast quantities of strange sweeteners."

      Really? My sugar free coffee every morning has none of those. What twisted person would defile the holy coffee by adding anything to it?

      --
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    9. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by NatasRevol · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not a myth. Actual observed effects.

      http://science.slashdot.org/story/10/03/24/2122231/high-fructose-corn-syrup-causes-bigger-weight-gain-in-rats

      In case you don't want to go click it, here's TFS:
      "In an experiment conducted by a Princeton University team, 'Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.' Long-term consumption also 'led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides.' Psychology professor Bart Hoebel commented that 'When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese — every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this; they don't all gain extra weight.'"

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    10. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by hierophanta · · Score: 4, Informative

      This is actually scientifically not true. Caffeine affects us by blocking the chemicals that make us tired. As a result we are not only feeling more awake, but actually are more awake. The crash that occurs is because the chemicals that have been blocked thus far, are in a waiting pattern until their blockage disappears after which they flood the receptors. I do agree though, there is a good amount for false positive when it comes to perceived performance though.

    11. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by dissy · · Score: 2

      ... assuming you can still legally buy caffeine pills OTC (or maybe over the net) like Vivaran (sp?) ...

      One of my favorite health food stores sells pure powdered caffeine in bulk.
      $13 for a half ounce (smallest increment) up to $300 for a kilogram (Largest increment as far as price breaks go)

      That same health food store also sells empty gellotin capsules with which pure caffeine pills can be made, without all the stomach churning effects from the rest of the commercial "energy blends"

      There is a huge market for caffeine, and anything the FDA could end up doing is only going to make matters worse, just like every other time they've put their fingers into things in the past decade and ended up costing lives :/ I really hope they find enough sense to leave this one alone.

    12. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by nabsltd · · Score: 3, Informative

      I can drink a red bull, a monster, a coke, tea, or anything but coffee and easily take a long nap afterwards. Something about the caffeine I get through coffee is different.

      Depending on how it is prepared, coffee can have more caffeine than Red Bull, and definitely has more than Coca-Cola and the vast majority of teas. See this table for details.

      You can also do some searching and see that the "caffeine" in various substances isn't always the real thing, but instead is closely related compounds.

    13. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by Obfuscant · · Score: 5, Informative

      Put this stupid myth to rest.

      You mean the myth that using fructose in place of sucrose makes no difference?

      The simple fact that a simple sugar has already been broken down to a simple sugar means that it will flood the system much more quickly than a more complex sugar that needs to be converted before transport. If we don't need to pay attention to what the sugars are, then explain why cellulose (long chains of glucose) are indigestible, while simple glucose floods the system almost as soon as it is ingested.

      Yes, sir, the metabolic paths for glucose and fructose are different, and flooding the liver with massive amounts of fructose rapidly does result in a different effect than a slower appearance of glucose. The liver and endocrine systems need time to react to the influx of the sugars no matter what they are, so a rapidly appearing slug of one kind of sugar can easily overwhelm the regulatory mechanisms of the body and cause harm where a slower appearance of a different sugar does not. That harm may only be an unnecessary conversion of sugars to glycogen and fat, but in the long term that results in obesity and that can be harmful.

      You're talking to a diabetic who has monitored his blood sugar for years through all kinds of experiments with different sugars, who can tell you that the "glycemic index" and "sugar alcohols" information is a truly dangerous myth, along with the sugar industry shills telling us that there is no danger from HFCS. Yes, you're right that cutting sugar overall is a good thing, but trying to claim that if you are going to down a sugar laden drink that it makes no difference is just parroting the sugar industry media flacks. You'd point to data denying global warming or the link between smoking and cancer as being from an industry source, why are you so quick to accept data from the sugar industry?

    14. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Why pay that much? They sell it by the kilo for $30.

      http://www.amazon.com/Caffeine-Powder-Pharma-freshness-Powder/dp/B006IFGRLW/ref=pd_sbs_misc_8

      10X as much for only 50% more...

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    15. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by jones_supa · · Score: 3, Informative

      More specifically, the chemical is adenosine.

    16. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by Obfuscant · · Score: 2

      That's not true for all drugs. For example, ethanol intake makes me funnier, smarter, stronger, and sexier.

      And I've noticed exactly the opposite. When I intake ethanol you are dumber and uglier. The effect is, of course, gender specific and not all effects occur, since most women get prettier the more I drink. Not smarter.

    17. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by zebadee · · Score: 3, Informative

      The other effects like jitters and palpitations is probably harmful to the heart in the long term

      Caffeine (at high) doses can cause heart problems much more acutely. We have shown that 0.3mM caffeine (equivalent to ~2.3g*) can modify the activity of a protein in the heart sufficiently to mimic the effect of herditary mutations capable of causing fatal arrhythmias and that effect is quick (within mins). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18518861

      *Based on an average water volume of a 70kg man = 40L, caffeine = 194g/mole and all caffeine being absorbed.

    18. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by LurkerXXX · · Score: 2

      Good coffee I don't add anything to. Mediocre to worse coffee I add cream and sugar to.

      Just like steaks and steak sauce.

    19. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by kwyjibo87 · · Score: 2

      More specifically, the chemical is a modified version of adenosine called cyclic AMP (cAMP). cAMP is generated by enzymes from ATP, the energy molecule of cells. It acts as a signal amplifier in cellular signaling cascades, and for the purposes of how caffeine affects the body, increased cAMP concentrations = more cellular metabolism. Think the adrenaline response at the cellular level.

      Caffeine inhibits enzymes which break down cAMP and turn off the signal. No off switch = artificial build-up of cAMP in the cell = artificial high metabolism state.

      Cocaine acts in a somewhat analogous manner, in that it doesn't increase the amount of neurotransmitters being released directly or directly stimulate neurons, but prevents released dopamine from being broken down and thus prolongs the signals artificially, leading to the psychological effects of cocaine use.

    20. Re:Caffeine is a drug.. by ceoyoyo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      French press Kona coffee... Nothing. The swill that comes out of the machine at work? Whiskey.

  4. Um... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Caffeine gets cleared from the body at different rates because of genetic variations, gender, and even whether a person is a smoker.

    ...Isn't that true for most substances?

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    1. Re:Um... by kevkingofthesea · · Score: 2

      Yes, to varying degrees, but a lot of substances have fairly predictable half-lives in the body.

    2. Re:Um... by Brian+Feldman · · Score: 3, Informative

      fat soluble chemicals never actually leave (like LSD), they just get stored away in the alrd region

      This is wrong. Lysergic acid diethylamide is broken down by monoamineoxidase. This is just like the myth of LSD being stored in your spinal fluid and causing flashbacks or the one of THC being stored in your fat and getting you high when you exercise -- completely baseless.

      --
      Brian Fundakowski Feldman
    3. Re:Um... by Shoten · · Score: 2

      What's most true about most substances and also caffeine is "that lethal limit can vary widely from person to person." Yeah, that's true of most things; hence the standard measure of toxicity for anything is called "LD50," which stands for "lethal dose, 50%". It's the dosage in mass of substance/kg of body weight that will kill 50% of people who ingest/breathe/snort/whatever it. So why this is some kind of huge challenge is beyond me. For some substances the deviation from LD50 is smaller (botulinus toxin) and for others it's larger, but you still have a good means of measuring it, and the LD50 for caffeine is 192mg/kg for rats, 224 mg/kg for rabbits, 127 mg/kg for mice, and so on. (I'll know the LD50 for Bob as soon as he stops twitching... *turns to look behind me* "Settle down Bob, this will all be over soon. There's no sense trying to chew through the duct tape; I used too much of it for you to be able to get away.")

      It also seems that what matters isn't the half-life of caffeine. Caffeine is absorbed almost instantly within the gut; it will actually travel through your skin, if you rub it on your body, it's so easily absorbed. So the peak concentration in the blood is pretty easy to predict, coming at just after the time of peak dosage consumption. Anything after that is lower, unless you consume mor....ahhh, I get it now.

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    4. Re:Um... by dryeo · · Score: 2

      While MADD started out by being against drunk driving, they've pretty well been taken over by complete abolitionists.
      Caffeine is like most forms of speed, take too much and you get jittery and start hallucinating. Having hallucinating drivers on the road can also be dangerous.

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  5. Re:Tremors and explosive diarrhea by vlm · · Score: 4, Funny

    No no no AC we're talking about caffeine here not taco bell. Get with the program!

    --
    "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
  6. The smell alone by futhermocker · · Score: 2

    Makes me want to puke.

    Although being a coffee addict myself I never tried a single can of "power" or "energy" drinks, just because the smell is so distinct, yuck!

    Cougar Boost anybody? /American Dad

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  7. Mr Anecdotal here by EmperorOfCanada · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Some caffeine from Green Tea keeps me programming, driving, studying, etc. Red Bull makes me wound up and literally makes my heart skip a beat every now and then. Straight caffeine pills just knock me out and a few hours later make me angry. So needless to say I limit myself to occasional green teas. (Matcha!)

    If my wife has a coffee after 6pm she will have trouble sleeping that night.

    My brothers can't operate with much less than 5+ cups of strong coffee per day.

    So needless to say within my reach are a pretty wide set of reactions to caffeine. The drug I would love to see studied even more is Chocolate.

    1. Re:Mr Anecdotal here by magic+maverick+ · · Score: 2

      Some caffeine from Green Tea keeps me programming, driving, studying, etc. Red Bull makes me wound up and literally makes my heart skip a beat every now and then. Straight caffeine pills just knock me out and a few hours later make me angry. So needless to say I limit myself to occasional green teas. (Matcha!)

      Red Bull has other stuff (like taurine) besides caffeine that might be the cause. The green tea making (do you have rituals?) might be part of what helps you keep going as well.

      If my wife has a coffee after 6pm she will have trouble sleeping that night.

      Do a controlled test. Give her a decafe, but don't tell her it's decafe. As normal, see if it affects her. Proper double blind tests have shown that students (it's always students because they are cheap) act as if decafe has caffeine, but that warm milk laced with caffeine is just warm milk (and thus helps them sleep).

      My brothers can't operate with much less than 5+ cups of strong coffee per day.

      Suggest that they wean themselves off the stuff. It's not healthy at those levels. Swap in a decafe instead of ordinary coffee, and then continue with the other 4+ cups for a bit. Then swap out another coffee for decafe, and repeat until only drinking decafe. It might be the taste and the associated feelings of relaxation they are really after (rather than the caffeine).

      So needless to say within my reach are a pretty wide set of reactions to caffeine. The drug I would love to see studied even more is Chocolate.

      I'd rather they studied THC and LCD more. Chocolate is legal, the other two should be.
      ---
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      And some people just feel like a cup of good tea or a glass of beer after a hard days work. It's the association of, well, work's over I can relax.

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  8. Toxic level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The toxic level in humans, about 10 g, is roughly the equivalent of imbibing 75 cups of brewed coffee (in 8-oz mugs) or 120 cans of Red Bull over a few hours.

    According to the eminent Wikipedia, that's the LD50 (150 to 200 mg/kg).
    If you gave an average group of humans 10g of caffeine, half of them would die.

    Now LD50 is a way to measure of toxicity, but I think it's fair to assume that a substance is toxic well below the lethal dose.

    1. Re:Toxic level by MiniMike · · Score: 4, Funny

      According to the eminent Wikipedia, that's the LD50 (150 to 200 mg/kg).
      If you gave an average group of humans 10g of caffeine, half of them would die.

      But you wouldn't know which ones for a few hours...

  9. There should be a simple test by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    that would measure the effect on the subject, rather than physiological measures.

    Give the subject some simple tasks and ask him or her to solve the problem using Perl. Check back after two hours:

    - less than 50 Perl LOC: not enough caffeine
    - 50 - 500 Perl LOC: just enough caffeine
    - more than 500 Perl LOC: too much caffeine

    1. Re:There should be a simple test by PRMan · · Score: 3, Funny

      I would think it would be more like:

      - 500 lines of Perl: not enough caffeine
      - 50 lines of Perl: just enough caffeine
      - 1 line of Perl: too much caffeine

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  10. Different rates? isn't this also true of alcohol? by fantomas · · Score: 2

    From the summary: "Caffeine gets cleared from the body at different rates because of genetic variations, gender, and even whether a person is a smoker."

    - isn't this also true of alcohol? Any slashdot readers with a bit of medical knowledge help me understand the difference between how the body processes the two different substances?

  11. Re:Different rates? isn't this also true of alcoho by Talennor · · Score: 2

    Difference: Current US regulation: you must clearly state the amount of alcohol in any canned/bottled/whatever drink.

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  12. How? by ak3ldama · · Score: 3, Interesting

    How can they regulate this? You can go to almost any grocery/goods store and buy a 33 ounch can of ground coffee. They would surely let you buy as many of these as you wish to. Since a bunch of stupid white kids drink monsters too fast they now need to pursue regulation of it? Really? I know, maybe they should pass a law stating that energy drinks cannot taste better than coffee so as to damper the enthusiam with which these drinks are imbibed. Dumb.

    Caveat of my own stupidity: While in the dorms one weekend night I drank two pots of coffee in a relatively short span of time. What would that be? Maybe 2x 6x cups of coffee? So somewhere around 1200mg or so? Anyways my stomach hurt, my head kinda spun, and my legs twitched a little as I laid in bed wondering when I would fall asleep. I learned from that to take it easy.

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  13. Re:Tremors and explosive diarrhea by Lumpy · · Score: 3, Funny

    In the future all restaurants are Taco Bell... oh dear god.....

    --
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  14. Only used by poseurs and amateurs... by Lumpy · · Score: 2

    I see the fake programmers try and use coffee every day to code faster. What a bunch of noobs. Anyone that is a true pro already knows that Cocaine is the one true way to get that project done on time and with GENIUS level code.

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  15. Re:Just tax it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The nice thing about caffiene, in every way we normally consume it that I'm aware of, is that your body will let you know you've had too much WAY before it gets dangerous. Obviously and quicly. That is, unless there's something very wrong with you to begin with. Otherwise drinking enough Monster or coffee to put yourself in the hospital is almost always a willful act of stupidity.

    As such, I'm not too concerned about the FDA "dragging its feet" on the matter.

  16. Ephedra... by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 3, Informative

    Ephedra disappeared from the market because of negative press coverage of several stupid athletes who abused it.

    Personally, I think that the War on Drugs had a lot more to do with that. Ephedra (and the active alkaloid, ephedrine) can be used as precursors for methamphetamine manufacture. The FDA yanked ephedra and ephedrine products about the same time that the DEA rammed through the laws requiring you to put your name into a federal database to buy a package of cold/allergy pills.

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  17. Caffeine pollution is a known issue..... by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.nature.com/news/2003/030120/full/news030113-10.html

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111122112023.htm

    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/07/120730-caffeinated-seas-pacific-northwest-caffeine-coffee-science/

    http://researchmatters.noaa.gov/news/Pages/caffeine.aspx

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  18. Re:SVT by Greyfox · · Score: 2

    You know, that's a heartwarming story about how you decided to continue to use a substance that could potentially kill you :-P

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  19. Re:Just tax it. by Insanity+Defense · · Score: 3, Informative

    Not for everyone. For some people (like myself) the problems caffeine cause are subtle and work in combination with other things. With caffeine in my system I'm allergic to perfume, cigar and pipe smoke and sunburn in 15 to 20 minutes. Caffeine alone does nothing obvious but add any of the other things and my health goes to hell with the appearance that it is the 2nd thing causing it alone. Only by accident did I learn of the caffeine connection and solve my lifelong health problems.

  20. Don't even think about it, FDA by russotto · · Score: 2

    You thought the protests against SOPA and PIPA were bad? Move against caffeine and they'll look like a walk in the park. It's not just geeks: pretty much every white collar profession (and more than a few blue collar ones) runs on caffeine. That includes lawyers and lobbyists. Just put the Federal Register down and back away slowly.

  21. Re:The best legal stimulant, but should be respect by clifyt · · Score: 2

    Too much coffee makes me fall asleep too.

    I also have ADHD and stimulants have what they call a paradoxical effect with someone with true ADHD. Your brain can focus for once and you can put your brain to sleep. Your body might not be having much of it...its an horrible achy sleep, but I can sleep.

    However, at about 8 shots in an ice coffee, it starts to turn around...I've learned this the hard way...

  22. Re:Just tax it. by dixonpete · · Score: 4, Interesting

    For me caffeine gave me a 25 year mood disorder that mimicked Bipolar II. Docs were clueless. My symptoms disappeared after going cold turkey 4.5 years ago. Caffeine is seriously underrated as to how dangerous it is.

  23. Re:Tremors and explosive diarrhea by arkane1234 · · Score: 2

    it's what plants crave...

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  24. Re:At least they already regulated the important p by DMUTPeregrine · · Score: 2

    The problem with morons and alcohol is that they tend to add heavy machinery to the mix and get others around them killed.

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  25. Re:The future. by craigminah · · Score: 2

    Mmmm, tomacco...

  26. Re:Tremors and explosive diarrhea by definate · · Score: 2

    No, that's electrolytes.

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