Caffeine is a mild stimulant. Many people drink coffee, tea, or soda for this effect—it helps them feel more awake and alert. However, this stimulant effect can also cause jitters, anxiety, and difficulty sleeping. Each person's tolerance to caffeine is different. As we age, we become more sensitive to the effects of caffeine.
You may be advised to reduce your caffeine intake in certain situations. For example:
First, you will need to know all the possible sources of caffeine in your diet. The following table should help understand the caffeine content of different beverages. While chocolate does not contain caffeine, for some people the theobromines in chocolate have similar effects. We have also listed the caffeine equivalents for some chocolate products below.
|Common Sources of Caffeine||Serving Size||Average Caffeine Content (mg)|
|NoDoz (maximum strength)||1 tablet||200|
|Excedrin Migraine||2 tablets||130|
|Coffee, brewed||16 ounces||133|
|Espresso coffee||2 ounces||150|
|Coffee, instant||8 ounces||148|
|Arizona Iced Tea, black||16 ounces||30|
|Black tea||8 ounces||30-80|
|Mountain Dew||12 ounces||54|
|Dr. Pepper, regular or diet||12 ounces||41|
|7-UP or Diet 7-UP||12 ounces||0|
|Redline Energy Drink||23.5 ounces||316|
|5-hour Energy||1.9 ounces||208|
|Monster Energy||16 ounces||160|
|Red Bull||8.4 ounces||80|
|Hershey's Special Dark||1.5 ounce||20|
|Hershey's chocolate bar||1.6 ounces||9|
|Hot cocoa||1 tbs.||8|
Some people experience headaches or drowsiness if they remove all sources of caffeine from their diet. Decreasing over a period of time can help prevent these effects. Try the following:
If you find that one of the above three methods of gradual cutting back works for you, then you can begin to:
If you are trying to lose weight, do not forget that juices and sugar-containing soft drinks may have more calories than some of the caffeinated beverages you are giving up.
American Heart Association
International Food Information Council
Dietitians of Canada
Caffeine. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed. Updated January 25, 2016. Accessed January 26, 2016.
Caffeine and heart disease. American Heart Association website. Available at: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Caffeine-and-Heart-Disease_UCM_305888_Article.jsp. Updated August 17, 2015. Accessed January 26, 2016.
Caffeine content of food & drugs. Center for Science in the Public Interest website. Available at: http://www.cspinet.org/new/cafchart.htm. Updated November 2014. Accessed January 26, 2016.
Cornelis MC, El-Sohemy A, Kabagambe EK, Campos H. Coffee, CYP1A2 genotype, and risk of myocardial infarction. JAMA. 2006;295(10):1135-1141.
Lopez-Garcia E, van Dam RM, Willett WC, et al. Coffee consumption and coronary heart disease in men and women: a prospective cohort study. Circulation. 2006;113(17):2045-2053.
Neurodegenerative disorders: coffee and age-related cognitive decline. Coffee & Health website. Available at: http://www.coffeeandhealth.org/coffee-and-health-topics/coffee-consumption-and-neurodegenerative-disorders/coffee-and-age-related-cognitive-decline/. Accessed January 26, 2016.
ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed. Updated December 14, 2015. Accessed January 26, 2016.
Last reviewed January 2016 by Michael Woods, MD
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.