Adrenal Fatigue Caused by Caffeine

What is adrenal fatigue?

Simply put, it is the condition wherein your adrenal glands gets 'overworked' that it functions far below than normal when our body needs its 'services'. Stressful situations can trigger the adrenal glands to release adrenaline(epinephrine) and stress hormones.

Normally, the adrenal glands releases hormones which are necessary to meet the challenges of demanding situations. These hormones make your senses sharper than normal, increases your blood pressure, increases your heart rate, increases glucose levels in the blood, release your body's stored energy for use at the specific situation and boost your physical and mental energy.

I have heard of a person who carried a heavy object, which would normally require 2 to 3 people, during a fire alarm. When the fire threat was over, it was impossible for him to carry that same object!

That's an example of adrenal glands at work. Nature had designed it to last for a short period of time only.

Too much stress on your daily activities can put your adrenal glands at high alert constantly and in the long run could cause adrenal fatigue. Fearing the loss of your job, your too demanding boss, your financial worries and relationship woes are some examples of situations which demand action from your adrenal glands.

Caffeine can cause adrenal fatigue

Coffee contains helpful antioxidants which can neutralize free radicals that are constantly occurring in our bodies but sad to say it also contains caffeine which can deceive the adrenal glands into thinking that the body needs its services. A lot of people drink coffee to keep them alert like when they are going to drive a car, study, make a presentation, etc., not knowing that the more coffee they drink each day, the more 'fatigued' their adrenal glands become.

How caffeine fools the adrenal glands

As we tire, adenosine levels rise and binds to receptors in the brain instructing our cells to slow down. It's some sort of a natural tranquilizer. Caffeine's structure is much like adenosine and it binds easily with the receptors, however, it gives the opposite instructions, it speeds up the cell's activity. This change in activity triggers the adrenal gland to release hormones via the instruction from the pituitary gland which thinks that there must be some stress going on. That's why coffee seems to make you more alert, the adrenal glands are triggered.

After the effect of caffeine has worn off, you'll feel more exhausted than before you drank your cup of coffee. Feeling worn down, you drink another cup to pep you up not knowing that you are stressing out your adrenal glands.

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My next post will touch on the hormones that the adrenal glands release as a result of caffeine intake.

Limit your coffee as much as possible for good health. The antioxidant benefit can be over shadowed by the stressful events that caffeine brings. If you cannot help it, go for the decaffeinated variety.

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Related Posts

Adrenaline and Caffeine

Caffeine Intake and Pregnancy

How Much Caffeine Do You Take?

Caffeine Can Elevate Your Stress Hormones

Can Caffeine Make Your Heart Stop?

How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your Body?

Decaffeinated Tea

Caffeine and Tea

Herbal Green Tea

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We want people to read our content and we need traffic to achieve that. Traffic can be had from many ways: blog directories, social networks, social bookmarking, discussion forums, etc. A new way of generating traffic is this new program developed by John Reese which he calls BlogRush.

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Want to generate more traffic? Join BlogRush now and improve your exposure.

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Caffeine Intake and Pregnancy

Coffee and tea are good sources of antioxidants but they are also a source of caffeine. Tea however has a much lower caffeine content than coffee but the latter is more popular. Do you know that coffee is the most popular drink in the world? - two billions cups are drunk every day.

Even pregnant women drink coffee. Experts agree that less than 300mg. of caffeine can be safe for pregnant women - that's 2 to 4 cups of coffee. More than that amount can be hazardous for the baby and some researchers associate it with birth defects and miscarriages to name some ill effects. Other studies however found no association with these maladies.

The popularity of coffee rose because of the 'energy lift' it gives. It's true that caffeine can boost your energy because it increases your heart beat and activates the cortisol hormone in your body making you feel stronger, heightens your senses and makes you feel more alert.

Normally, the cortisol hormone is activated only in times of stress when you need a temporary boost to keep up with the demands of a situation. If you ingest caffeine, your body reacts the way it reacts when you get 'stressed' and it lasts as long as the caffeine is in your blood. It's not natural and it strains the hormones which is not beneficial in the long run.

The half-life of caffeine for pregnant women is longer and longer still for the fetus. Caffeine can enter the fetus through the placenta. Since the fetus is still growing - the organs are not fully functioning therefore eliminating the caffeine takes longer. Caffeine in a newborn can have a half-life of up to 30 hours. Whatever the chemical reactions of caffeine to your body, the fetus also gets.

Caffeine can also be transmitted to a nursing child through the breast milk.

Pregnant women should be aware that the safe level for caffeine is about 2 to 4 cups of coffee and 6 to 8 cups of tea spread throughout the day - not in succession. If you eat or drink other caffeine sources like sodas, chocolates, medicines - you should cut down your coffee or tea consumption so as not to exceed the safe level.

Choosing decaffeinated coffee or tea may limit your caffeine intake to a large degree but residues of the chemicals used to take off the caffeine may have other effects for your body. Decaffeinating tea can be done without chemicals and which you can do right in your own home - it could take out the caffeine content of tea up to 80%. The lesser the caffeine content, the more coffee or tea you can drink without arriving to the safe level and at the same time get more of the beneficial antioxidants.

Even if pregnant women does not consume more than the safe level, I feel that they should cut their caffeine intake for the sake of the child in their womb. It would be best to give the child a healthy head start!

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Related Posts:

Adrenaline and Caffeine
Adrenal Fatigue Caused by Caffeine
How Much Caffeine Do You Take?
Caffeine Can Elevate Your Stress Hormones
Can Caffeine Make Your Heart Stop?
How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your Body?
Caffeine and Tea
Herbal Green Tea
Calming Effect of Theanine in Tea
Meditation Can Give You a Lift
Caffeine and Meditation

Caffeine Free Tea:

Herbal Green Tea Extract

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How Much Caffeine Do You Take?

You may not know it but most likely you ingest caffeine almost everyday from food, drinks and even medicinal drugs. Coffee and tea are not the only beverages that contain caffeine.

In Coffee

Decaffeinated coffee has the smallest quantity of caffeine, approximate 2 to 5 mg. in a 5 oz. serving. Instant coffee is a bit higher, 47 to 68 mg. in a 5 oz. serving. Other types can range from 93 to 164 mg. in a 5 oz. serving

In Tea

Black tea has the highest caffeine content, almost comparable to instant coffee. Oolong tea comes next and green tea has the lowest caffeine content.

Longer brewing time and higher water temperatures can increase the caffeine content per serving.

In Cocoa and Chocolate

Cocoa beverages, chocolate bars and baking chocolate has caffeine too.

In Softdrinks

The cola types have caffeine content in the range similar to oolong tea. Surprisingly, mountain dew also contains caffeine.

In Medicinal Drugs

Caffeine is also an ingredient in some medicinal drugs. One reason is that caffeine can enhance the effect of pain relievers. Another reason is to counter the effect of drowsiness in some medicines.

In Energy Drinks

Red Bull contains around 80 mg. of caffeine.

Other Sources of Caffeine

Frozen deserts and candies.

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It's obvious that even children are exposed to caffeine. It's not bad however if taken in moderation. Three cups of coffee in a day may be considered safe and beneficial. Six 12 oz. bottles of a caffeinated soft drink may equal the caffeine content of three cups of coffee. Eight to ten cups of tea may also reach that caffeine level.

You may find some list of caffeine content in food and drinks from the links below.

http://www.holymtn.com/tea/caffeine_content.htm
http://www.cspinet.org/new/cafchart.htm

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Herbal Green Tea

Caffeine Free Tea:

Herbal Green Tea Extract

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Caffeine Can Elevate Your Stress Hormones

The levels of the stress hormone cortisol is raised when caffeine is ingested in your body. Caffeine can stay in your body for several hours when you drink coffee, tea or other foods that contain caffeine (read How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your Body).

Although stress is not the only factor that raises cortisol, it is commonly called as such because it's levels are automatically elevated when a person gets stressed. What situations do we encounter that gets us stressed? To name a few:

• Anger
• Frustration
• Fearfulness

Hearing tragic news, failing to meet deadlines, a reprimand from your boss, facing an angry customer are some examples of everyday events that can trigger stress. It could help you get through those moments though, as nature has designed it but for short periods only, extending the time of your 'stressed' level can be destructive for your health.

Cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands and is involved in bodily functions such as inflammatory response, immune functions, regulation of blood pressure and glucose metabolism. It is sort of a survival response to get you through at the moment - your energy, memory, immunity shoots up, But If cortisol stays in the blood for too long

• you'll be prone to sickness
• it will retard your thinking
• your blood pressure could rise
• your blood sugar balance could be disrupted
• your fat in the stomach could increase
• bone density could decrease
• your muscle tissues can weaken

Drinking cup of coffee or tea can leave caffeine in your blood for several hours which means that cortisol levels also rises for the same amount of time that caffeine is in your blood. It would be like having the effects of being stressed for several hours. Not good for your body right?

Among the beneficial effects of tea includes preventing the rise of blood pressure levels and reducing glucose levels but the caffeine contained in tea does just the opposite. Tea has a calming effect but caffeine can heighten your senses because of the rise of cortisol levels.

To get the most benefit of coffee and tea (antioxidants), several cups spread throughout the day would be needed. But then caffeine which raises our cortisol levels will also be in our blood throughout the day. The best way to get those antioxidants from coffee and tea are to choose the decaffeinated or caffeine free variety.

Next time you take a cup of coffee, think of cortisol.

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Related Posts:

Adrenaline and Caffeine
Adrenal Fatigue Caused by Caffeine
Caffeine Intake and Pregnancy
How Much Caffeine Do You Take?
Can Caffeine Make Your Heart Stop?
How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your Body?
Decaffeinated Tea
Caffeine and Tea
Herbal Green Tea
Calming Effect of Theanine in Tea
Meditation Can Give You a Lift
Caffeine and Meditation

Caffeine Free Tea:

Herbal Green Tea Extract

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Can Caffeine Make Your Heart Stop?

Maybe there's a possibility if taken too much in a short period of time.

How much is too much? Experts say that 250mg of caffeine in a day may give symptoms of overdose - irregular heart beat, dizziness, restlessness, anxiety, ringing in the ear, difficulty breathing, etc. That would be more than 3 cups of coffee or more than 8 cups of tea, depending on the type.

Here's a case of a motorcycle rider who drank 640 mg. of caffeine in a span of just 5 hours. He consumed this amount contained contained in 8 cans of Red Bull to give him the edge on the competition. Red Bull warns against taking more than 2 cans per day but Matthew Penbross did not heed the warning.

After the motorcycle competition on Aug. 5, 2007, his heart stopped and luckily the ambulance officers were able to revive him with defibrillation.

We cannot be certain of course that caffeine is the cause as Red Bull contains other ingredients. But 640 mg. of caffeine combined with energy enhancers only in a span of 5 hours may be too much.

This event may give us a lesson to take everything in moderation, including caffeine. Choose decaffeinated tea or coffee to get more antioxidant power and lessen the risk of caffeine overdose.

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Related Posts:

Adrenaline and Caffeine
Adrenal Fatigue Caused by Caffeine
Caffeine Intake and Pregnancy
How Much Caffeine Do You Take?
Caffeine Can Elevate Your Stress Hormones
How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your Body?
Decaffeinated Tea
Caffeine and Tea
Herbal Green Tea
Calming Effect of Theanine in Tea
Meditation Can Give You a Lift
Caffeine and Meditation

Caffeine Free Tea:

Herbal Green Tea Extract

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Bloggers for Positive Global Change Award

Markeff has presented me with another award!

I am truly honored to be presented with this award from a sincere blogger who is interested in a wide range of topics as you can see from his stumbles.

I myself will present this award to deserving bloggers at a later time is this will take some time to prepare.

My congratulations to other bloggers who also have been presented with this award from Markeff.

How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your Body?

As long as caffeine is in your blood, it's effects will also manifest.

The time it takes for the body to eliminate one half of a caffeine dose is normally between 3 to 12 hours. It is called the half-life of caffeine. Several factors can shorten or lengthen the half life of caffeine. Smoking, medications and diseases are some factors. Pregnant women have higher caffeine half-life, 18 to 20 hours - pretty much longer for the fetus since its organs are not yet fully formed to be able to eliminate caffeine easily. About 99% of the elimination process takes place in the liver.

The effects of caffeine can begin as soon as you swallow your caffeinated beverage or food. It easily enters the bloodstream through the stomach and the intestines. Noticeable effects can be experienced 15 minutes after ingesting and peaking at around 30 - 60 minutes.

If you regularly drink a cup of coffee or tea in the morning and another in the evening, you can expect to have caffeine in your blood every hour of the day. The effect of caffeine in your body will be active 24/7. Stress hormones are released by the adrenal glands because caffeine fools your body into thinking that you are in a stressful situation. It follows that your body is in stress mode 24/7. We cannot avoid it but we normally encounter stressful situations in our daily lives and ingesting caffeine heightens the stress effects.

We know that coffee and tea are rich in antioxidants and having these in our body gives us better protection against diseases. The irony is that coffee and tea also contain caffeine which may not be good if you take more than 250 mg (approximately 10 cups of green tea or 3 cups of coffee). Nausea, dizziness, headaches and irregular heart beats are some symptoms of taking too much caffeine.
Decaffeinated coffee or tea may be helpful although they are not totally caffeine free. At least only a little caffeine is left and you can drink more without having the symptoms of caffeine overdose and getting more benefits from antioxidants that these beverages contain. See the benefits you get from this decaffeinated herbal green tea .

An alternative to drinking decaffeinated tea is decaffeinating it yourself. See my earlier post: Decaffeinated Tea.

Decaffeinated Tea

Decaffeinated teas are commercially available. However, the process involves chemicals which may leave traces after the processing.

How are coffee, tea and colas decaffeinated?

The process of decaffeinating tea using chemicals not only removes the caffeine content but also some of the health promoting nutrients and polyphenols found in the tea leaves.

There is an alternate way of making a decaffeinated tea right in your home. How about that? A caffeine free tea which you prepare yourself. The process uses no chemicals and can remove up to 80% of the caffeine from the tea leaves. How much caffeine will be left will depend on the source (black tea, oolong tea, green tea).

Caffeine is very water soluble compared to the antioxidants (polyphenols) in tea. It means that caffeine easily combines with water when it makes contact with it. The higher the water temperature, the faster the caffeine combines with it. Here's what you'll do to make your tea almost caffeine free, approximately 80% caffeine free.

• Boil some water
• Place your tea leaves in a separate container
• Pour some boiling water in the container where you placed your tea leaves.
• Allow to steep for 30-45 seconds.
• Discard that water which now contains a lot of caffeine from the tea leaves.
• Boil the water again then pour it in the container and allow to steep for 2-5 minutes
• You can now drink and enjoy your home made decaffeinated tea.

You can drink more cups in a day without worrying of the side effects that caffeine may bring to your health.

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Related Posts

Adrenaline and Caffeine

Adrenal Fatigue Caused by Caffeine

Caffeine Intake and Pregnancy

How Much Caffeine Do You Take?

Caffeine Can Elevate Your Stress Hormones

Can Caffeine Make Your Heart Stop?

How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your Body?

Caffeine and Tea

Herbal Green Tea

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Caffeine and Tea

I'm including caffeine in my posts because is one of the components of tea. This is the start of several posts regarding caffeine.

How much caffeine does tea contain?

Approximate figures from the U.S. Department of Nutritional Services are as follows:

• Black Tea 25 -110 mg
• Oolong Tea 12 - 55 mg
• Green Tea 8 - 36 mg

The longer the tea is brewed, the higher the caffeine content in a cup will be.

Where else can caffeine be found?

• Coffee - A richer source of caffeine than tea.
• Soft drinks - Usually the colas. A 12oz cola has more caffeine content than green tea
• Cocoa and chocolates
• Pharmaceutical drugs - An example is Midol

Is caffeine beneficial for your body?

At low doses - less than 200mg - may be beneficial. It can improve alertness because it stimulates the nervous system - this could help students when 'cramming' for an exam-:)

At higher doses, the beneficial effects diminishes and the harmful effects sets in.

My personal experience with caffeine

I started drinking coffee when I was a teenager. From time to time, I experience my heart palpitating but it lasts for only a few seconds, it's not frequent though. I didn't know what caused it and I just accepted it as a natural behavior of my heart.

Later on I noticed that the more coffee I drank, the more frequent those palpitations manifested.

Another experience I had which I think I had a caffeine overdose was the time when my flight was delayed. The plane was scheduled to leave at 7:00 AM. With nothing to do at the airport, I drank around 8 cups of coffee in a span of 2 hours. It made me wide awake and felt refreshed. A few hours after I arrived home, I experienced the feeling of over fatigue that led me to sleep for 4 straight hours. What a waste of day time it was.

Caffeine and Tea

Tea contains many beneficial ingredients for good health. Antioxidants are one of them. The more tea we drink, the more antioxidants we ingest to our body which could equate to better health. But the caffeine in our blood also increases as we drink more tea.

Well I have good news for you. There is a way to cut the caffeine content of tea by up to about 80%. I'll show it to you in my next post. In the mean time why not check out this caffeine free herbal green tea, it's great for the health.

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Related Posts:

Adrenaline and Caffeine
Adrenal Fatigue Caused by Caffeine
Caffeine Intake and Pregnancy
How Much Caffeine Do You Take?
Caffeine Can Elevate Your Stress Hormones
Can Caffeine Make Your Heart Stop?
How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your Body?
Decaffeinated Tea
Herbal Green Tea
Meditation Can Give You a Lift
Caffeine and Meditation

Caffeine Free Tea:

Herbal Green Tea Extract

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