Caffeine Supplements - Increasing Risk to Your Health?

Evaluating Risk Factors: Caffeine Supplements

Evaluating your likely current (and near future) state of health means taking into account the risk factors — such as caffeine supplementation — that affect you. Our medical diagnosis tool, The Analyst™, identifies major risk factors by asking the right questions.

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If you indicate having used various medications, The Analyst™ will ask further questions including this one:

Caffeine in powder, tablet or injection form (used to restore mental alertness or overcome drowsiness/weakness).

Possible responses:

→ Never / don't know
→ Some use (under 1000mg per day) in the past only
→ Heavy use (over 1000mg per day) in the past only
→ Currently using some (under 1000mg per day)
→ Currently using high doses (over 1000mg per day)

The Diagnostic Process

Based on your response to this question, which may indicate history of caffeine supplementation, moderate caffeine supplementation or significant caffeine supplementation, The Analyst™ will use differential diagnosis to consider possibilities such as:

Caffeine Intoxication

Caffeine Intoxication also suggests the following possibilities:

Dehydration

Dehydration may result from the increased urinary frequency brought on by caffeine.

Lack of Sleep

It almost goes without saying that coffee decreases the quality of sleep and is one of the leading causes of sleep disturbance. Coffee drinkers are sleepier and groggier than non-coffee drinkers when they get up in the morning, causing them to depend on coffee to get them going. This grogginess may be the result of their entering caffeine withdrawal during the night, or that drinking coffee kept them from sleeping well in the first place, or both.

Low Melatonin Level

Caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine deplete melatonin levels.

Restless Leg Syndrome

Excess caffeine levels cause restlessness. Caffeine has been shown to increase subjects' proneness to develop RLS at lower levels of blood glucose. It is therefore no surprise that a xanthine-free diet (no coffee, tea, cola beverages, cocoa) has been reported to be another effective dietary measure RLS sometimes following a short period of caffeine withdrawal. [J Clin Psychiatry 39: pp.693-8, 1978; Ann Intern Med 119: pp.799-804, 1993]

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