Nutritional Health and Caffeine

Nutritional Imbalance: Caffeine Toxicity

background info | recommendations

Caffeine causes increased levels of adrenaline to be released into your blood stream, which in turn raises your blood pressure and makes your heart beat faster. Additionally, excess caffeine stresses your kidneys and washes minerals from the kidneys that are essential to their healthy functioning -- selenium, manganese, zinc, calcium, magnesium and others.

Caffeine is found not only in coffee and tea, but also in chocolate bars, soft drinks, prescription drugs for headache and fever, alertness tablets, various allergy and cold remedies, weight control aids, analgesics, etc. Caffeine is an alkaloid (a usually insoluble nitrogenous plant compound), as are its relatives quinine, morphine and strychnine.

Caffeine Recommendations:

In modest amounts (one to two cups daily) coffee does not seem to adversely affect some people and it may actually help to improve mental clarity and overcome fatigue. However, other people are sensitive to caffeine in any amount and for them even one cup of coffee a day could produce toxic symptoms.

If you are pregnant you should not drink coffee in any amount. If you have a history of PMS, migraines, endometriosis, colitis, insomnia and nervousness, or fibrocystic breast disease you should avoid even small amounts of caffeine for six to eight weeks to see if your symptoms improve. Try coffee substitutes or herbal teas. Ginseng tea actually does give you a boost similar to that of caffeine -- don't overdo it. The following supplements will help detoxify your system and clean out caffeine: a high potency B complex tablet daily, selenium - 50mcg twice a day, vitamin C - 500mg twice a day. These should be taken for six to eight weeks to be effective.

If you drink four or more cups of coffee a day and/or if your symptoms are severe you should talk to a holistic doctor (such as a naturopath or a homeopath) about additional supplementation which you should begin taking before you give up coffee. Going cold turkey causes unpleasant side effects for some people. At your health food store you might also look for a homeopathic remedy to help balance you system as you cut back on coffee.

Your liver and kidneys are your body's filtering system and may be affected by any chemical or metal toxicity, including caffeine. To cleanse your liver and kidneys, drink a glass of water with two to three teaspoons of lemon juice first thing in the morning.