Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsDosageSourcesRisks and BenefitsSide EffectsDiagnosisPrevention
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Dosage
Sources
Risks and Benefits
Side Effects
Diagnosis
Prevention
Caffeineis a stimulant that triggers thecentral nervous system. It is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world. In moderate doses, caffeine makes us feel good. But in amounts above 400 milligrams per day, caffeine overdose is possible.
This article reviews caffeine consumption guidelines, high-caffeine drinks, and what to do if you’ve hadtoo much caffeine.
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Recommended Dosage of Caffeine
Consuming less than 400 milligrams (mg) of caffeine per day is considered a safe dosage for most healthy adults without any medical conditions.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers excessive caffeine consumption anything above 400 mg/day.
Children under age 12 should avoid caffeine.Teenagersshould limit their caffeine intake to about 100 mg per day. Kids and teens should also avoid consumingenergy drinks.
Caffeine and PregnancyBefore 2021, moderate caffeine consumption (less than 200 mg) duringpregnancywas generally considered safe. However, emerging evidence suggests much lower daily dosages (50 mg/day) may result in smaller birth sizes.
Caffeine and Pregnancy
Before 2021, moderate caffeine consumption (less than 200 mg) duringpregnancywas generally considered safe. However, emerging evidence suggests much lower daily dosages (50 mg/day) may result in smaller birth sizes.
Sources of Caffeine
Over 60 plants contain caffeine. The most common natural caffeine sources are:
Some caffeine is made artificially and added to soft drinks or other products.
A breakdown of caffeine measurements per source is provided below.
How Much Caffeine Is in a Cup of Coffee?
Risks and Benefits of Caffeine
Caffeine increases awareness, reducesfatigue, and lifts mood. It can also improve physical and cognitive performance. Low to moderate doses (40 mg to 300 mg) can improve the following:
In moderate to high doses (200 mg to 400 mg), caffeine can improve athletic performance. Athletes who consume very little caffeine (< 40 mg/day) on a regular basis feel the effects more on game day.
Sports-related benefits of caffeine include:
Caffeine consumption comes with risks. Too much caffeine instantly undoes all of its benefits. Although drinking too much coffee or tea can be risky, energy drinks and highly concentrated caffeine in dietary supplements (pills, powders, liquid shots) present the biggest overdose risk.
One teaspoon of pure powdered caffeine can equal 28 cups of coffee. The recommended dose of 1/16 teaspoon is tiny and difficult to measure accurately. Accidental measurement errors are common. A simple mistake of using 1/4 teaspoon could result in a toxic dose being consumed.
Caffeine can be lethal, but fatalities from caffeine are extremely rare. A lethal dose of caffeine is about 5 to 10 grams (5,000 to 10,000 mg) or 150 to 200 mg per kilogram of body weight.
Sub-lethal caffeine overdose may cause symptoms such as chills, flushing,headache,nausea, heart palpitations, and tremors.Excessive consumption of products containing caffeine can also causerhabdomyolysisand acute kidney injury.
When someone dies from a caffeine overdose, the cause of death is often described asventricular fibrillation(erratic heartbeat).
Calculating Caffeine IntakeIf you’re curious how much caffeine is appropriate for you and your body type, thiscaffeine calculatoridentifies how much caffeine is dangerous based on body weight in pounds or kilos.
Calculating Caffeine Intake
If you’re curious how much caffeine is appropriate for you and your body type, thiscaffeine calculatoridentifies how much caffeine is dangerous based on body weight in pounds or kilos.
Side Effects of Too Much Caffeine
Signs of too much caffeine include anxiety, feeling jittery,insomnia, GI issues, and having your heart race over 100 beats per minute (tachycardia). In rare cases, caffeine toxicity results in death.Individual responses to any dose of caffeine can vary significantly.
Caffeine overdose can cause the following symptoms:
Caffeine SensitivityNot everyone responds to caffeine the same way. Recommended dosages should be viewed as loose guidelines.Caffeine allergycan cause overdose symptoms at doses below 100 mg. Genetic differences linked to the ADORA2A gene make some people hypersensitive to caffeine.
Caffeine Sensitivity
Not everyone responds to caffeine the same way. Recommended dosages should be viewed as loose guidelines.Caffeine allergycan cause overdose symptoms at doses below 100 mg. Genetic differences linked to the ADORA2A gene make some people hypersensitive to caffeine.
An Overview of Caffeine Sensitivity
Exactly how much caffeine is dangerous varies from person to person. If you or someone else accidentally consumes too much caffeine and has overdose symptoms, contactPoison Controlright away. Call 911 in the case of emergencies.
Poison Control Contact Information
Preventing Caffeine Overdose
Educating yourself about how much caffeine is in everything you eat, drink, or swallow is the best way to prevent caffeine overdose.
Caffeine is often hidden in products. Read labels closely and keep tabs on how many milligrams of caffeine you consume each day.
Certain medications increase the risk of caffeine toxicity, including:
Accidental caffeine overdose can occur if these are taken with daily amounts of coffee, tea, or soda.
Speak with a healthcare provider about how much caffeine is in the medication you take. Cut back on typical daily intake of caffeine-containing products while taking these medicines to avoid caffeine overdose.
Read Instructions CarefullyHighly-concentrated forms of caffeine are most likely to cause an accidental overdose. Always use extreme caution when taking any concentrated form of caffeine and follow measurement instructionsveryclosely.
Read Instructions Carefully
Highly-concentrated forms of caffeine are most likely to cause an accidental overdose. Always use extreme caution when taking any concentrated form of caffeine and follow measurement instructionsveryclosely.
Summary
Overdosing on caffeine is rare, but accidental overdoses happen. The recommended amount of caffeine that adults can consume for their health and safety is approximately 400 milligrams (mg) per day. Children under 12 should avoid caffeine. Teens should limit caffeine to about 100 mg per day.
Energy drinks are one of the most common ways to accidentally overdose on caffeine. Read energy drink labels closely and calculate how much caffeine is in each container. Serving sizes and caffeine per fluid ounce can vary greatly. Call Poison Control or 911 immediately in caffeine-related emergencies.
People of all ages are at risk of caffeine overdose. If you want to cut back on caffeine to lower your risk, there are healthy alternatives. Eating a nutritious diet and getting enough sleep will give you the energy to power through the day with less caffeine. Anytime you cut back on your daily caffeine intake, do so gradually.Caffeine withdrawalis avoidable if you don’t go cold turkey.
Frequently Asked QuestionsCaffeine overdose happens, but it’s not common. Although caffeine-related deaths are extremely rare, emergency room visits due to energy drinks are a public health concern. From 2007 to 2011, ER visits related to caffeine overdose from energy drinks doubled from 10,068 to 20,783 visits.Yerba mate, brewed cacao (for chocolate lovers), matcha, and brewed chicory are vitalizing alternatives with less caffeine than coffee beans. These drinks can perk you up with much less caffeine than you’d find in a cup of coffee.Learn MoreShould You Replace Coffee With a Caffeine Pill?A few bites of chocolate can give you instant energy. Nibbling on goji berries also makes people feel energetic. Bananas provide a quick energy boost and may improve athletic performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Caffeine overdose happens, but it’s not common. Although caffeine-related deaths are extremely rare, emergency room visits due to energy drinks are a public health concern. From 2007 to 2011, ER visits related to caffeine overdose from energy drinks doubled from 10,068 to 20,783 visits.
Yerba mate, brewed cacao (for chocolate lovers), matcha, and brewed chicory are vitalizing alternatives with less caffeine than coffee beans. These drinks can perk you up with much less caffeine than you’d find in a cup of coffee.Learn MoreShould You Replace Coffee With a Caffeine Pill?
Yerba mate, brewed cacao (for chocolate lovers), matcha, and brewed chicory are vitalizing alternatives with less caffeine than coffee beans. These drinks can perk you up with much less caffeine than you’d find in a cup of coffee.
Learn MoreShould You Replace Coffee With a Caffeine Pill?
A few bites of chocolate can give you instant energy. Nibbling on goji berries also makes people feel energetic. Bananas provide a quick energy boost and may improve athletic performance.
16 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
dePaula J, Farah A.Caffeine consumption through coffee: content in the beverage, metabolism, health benefits and risks.Beverages. 2019;5(2):37. doi:10.3390/beverages5020037
Temple JL, Bernard C, Lipshultz SE, Czachor JD, Westphal JA, Mestre MA.The safety of ingested caffeine: a comprehensive review.Front Psychiatry. 2017;8:80. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00080
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.What is the relationship between high-dose caffeine consumption and health?.
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.Caffeine and children.
National Institutes of Health.Moderate daily caffeine intake during pregnancy may lead to smaller birth size.
Harvard School of Public Health.Caffeine.
Evans M, Tierney P, Gray N, Hawe G, Macken M, Egan B.Acute ingestion of caffeinated chewing gum improves repeated sprint performance of team sport athletes with low habitual caffeine consumption.International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. 2018;28(3):221-227. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2017-0217
U.S. Food and Drug Administration.Guidance for industry: highly concentrated caffeine in dietary supplements.
Willson C.The clinical toxicology of caffeine: a review and case study.Toxicology Reports. 2018;5:1140-1152. doi:10.1016/j.toxrep.2018.11.002
Chandio ZA, Sidiqua A, Khaskheli MI, Waghani A, Metlo WA.Review effect of caffeine overdose.RADS J Biol Res Appl Sci. 2021;11(2). doi:10.37962/jbas.v11i2.266
Cappelletti S, Piacentino D, Fineschi V, Frati P, Cipolloni L, Aromatario M.Caffeine-related deaths: manner of deaths and categories at risk.Nutrients. 2018;10(5):611. doi:10.3390/nu10050611
Andrade A, Sousa C, Pedro M, Fernandes M.Dangerous mistake: an accidental caffeine overdose.BMJ Case Reports. 2018:bcr-2018-224185. doi:10.1136/bcr-2018-224185
Erblang M, Drogou C, Gomez-Merino D, et al.The impact of genetic variations in adora2a in the association between caffeine consumption and sleep.Genes. 2019;10(12):1021. doi:10.3390/genes10121021
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.The DAWN report: update on emergency department visits involving energy drinks: a continuing public health concern.
Nieman DC, Gillitt ND, Henson DA, et al.Bananas as an energy source during exercise: a metabolomics approach.PLoS ONE. 2012;7(5):e37479. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0037479
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