The New York Times has a study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest on the health effects of caffeine. The study analyzes various claims made about caffeine, and it also offers a useful chart listing the caffeine content in typical drinks and foods. For instance, at 320 milligrams per 16 ounces, a Starbucks grande coffee has over four times the 80 milligrams of caffeine of a Red Bull.
Other findings by the Times and CSPI:
- Unless you consume more than 575 milligrams, caffeinated drinks don’t actually make you pee more.
- Coffee does not increase the risk of heart disease or cancer
- Even though it stimulates the metabolism, caffeine does not increase weight loss. It does aid exercise, however, by dulling pain and stimulating the body to burn fat instead of carbohydrates.
Sorting Out Coffee’s Contradictions [NYT]
Caffeine Chart [Center for Science in the Public Interest]
(Photo: AutumnRedux)
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Isn’t caffeine like other stimulants in that it suppresses your appetite? I know it’s one side effect of the Aderral I take.
I think Starbucks is more cost effective than Red Bull. You figure about $1.50 (little less) per can at Wal Mart and like $4 for this for 4 times the caffeine. Maybe I’ll try it.
Caffeine dulls pain?
No wonder I drink it nonstop at work.
aderral is more like cocaine…
@phnxamg: But legal and cheaper. I love how most of the “side-effects” are actually good.
@Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity: I miss Adderall. Sure, I shook like a chihuahua, but I only ate every 3 days and I lost a bunch of weight. Now all I have is the caffeine, so at least I still shake all day!
@christoj879: You’re right that it’s a better value, but your costs are wrong. I’ll assume you can get Red Bull for $1.50/can at WalMart (I don’t shop there) – I’ve seen it on sale at Target for about that much. But you’re also assuming $4.00 for a grande coffee at Starbucks, when a grande coffee is actually less than $2.00 with tax in most markets. So in reality, the Starbucks coffee is actually a much better value than you figured, at approximately the same cost as the Red Bull but four times the caffeine content. This chart is exactly what I needed in my time as a barista; so many people would come in whining about needing lots of caffeine, then would order an espresso drink and refuse to believe that a 16 ounce coffee has far more caffeine than their “double-shot” mocha.
@Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity:
When I do drink a good amount of caffeine (which isn’t often, since I tend to build a tolerance to it pretty quickly), I’ve never really noticed it affecting my appetite. Other sources I’ve found seem to say that caffeine may or may not be a mild appetite suppressant, but not to the level of other psychostimulants.
However, as you say, I certainly notice Adderall reducing my appetite. If I was particularly engaged in something, I’ve occasionally gotten to late afternoon/early evening and suddenly realized I never ate lunch. (Not really a big deal though-I just set a time in my head to eat if I take an Adderall and am working from home, such as not to miss eating until dinner.)
These studies that they don’t quote concern me; specifically, where they say that up to 550mg produces no diuretic effect, and 575mg and up do. Doesn’t seem very scientific to me. One person could have a diuretic effect at 300mg, another might take 1000mg. Without further references and data as to body mass, average regular caffeine consumption, and other factors, it’s really hard to tell what this extremely specific cut-off point actually means.
@ptkdude: When you said that, all I could think of was the shaking Mr. Spears from Grease.
I had a friend in college who had a reaction to only one caffeinated beverage: Mt. Due Code Red. She would drink it during finals and she would shake like a chihuahua. It got worrisome at times.
Wow, back in college I used to down a whole 2 liter of Dr Pepper and be high off my ass. Apparently all I needed was half a Starbucks.
“Unless you consume more than 575 milligrams, caffeinated drinks don’t actually make you pee more.”
If I contact these people do you think they’ll let me show them that they are incorrect?
Coffee is a diuretic and a laxative. So sitting in the bathroom all day might curb your appetite.
WTF? This info is over a year old.
@strathmeyer: I agree – more than one cup and for the next three hours I’ll pee at least 5 times. Maybe it’s just me?
Haven’t we always known that coffee is high in caffeine? Isn’t that the whole point? If anything, I think this shows that there really isn’t a good reason to drink Red Bull.
One good reason to drink a Red Bull, late night clubbin’. It mixes damn well with vodka. Though Sparks is usually cheaper and hits the stomach like a sledge hammer.
Red Bull is a much better drink mixer than a stimulant.
Starbucks FTW
I brew mine at home. I would love to see a comparison of caffeine content based on how much of the grounds you use. I’ve often wondered if the darker coffee that my wife brews is more caffeinated than mine.
@cobaltthorium: Although one cup isn’t much volume, people who consume large amounts of any beverage will by necessity process more volume through their bodies.
My Venti Iced Vanilla Latte may not have enough caffeine to induce a diuretic effect directly, but the 32 oz of liquid certainly will…
@dakotad555: IIRC, lighter coffee actually has more caffeine in it.
This used to be more important to me, when pulling all-nighters in college. I personally prefer darker coffee, for taste.
<3 Starbucks.
RobCoyota — just a quick caveat, while lighter coffee does have caffeine, that “lightness” refers to the amount of time/darkness that the coffee is roasted for, where as Dakotad was wondering if adding more grounds (or less water) would increase caffeine… which it would.
As for me, I’m loving Sbucks $2.00 grande deal after 2:00 … IG et a coffee at lunch and often times, one later in the day, and a grande ice with two shots for just $2.00… instead of $3.50+, that’s pretty neat!
Hmm, so Vault, my recent drink of choice, has about 20% more caffeine than Mountain Dew. No wonder I can’t stop drinking it.
@BobCoyote: @MichaelBrazell: True, if you’re talking about lightness/darkness of roast, lighter = more caffeine. In fact, if you want the most caffeine and don’t care about sacrificing taste, you should actually stick to diner and truck-stop style coffee, or certain canned coffees. These are all usually made from cheaper Robusta beans, which have more caffeine but are much more bitter than premium Arabica beans. Arabica is used in most coffee applications, but there are still those dispensers at rest stops and true truck stops that have Robusta… if you dare
On the other hand, I can get a bottle of Jet Alert for about four bucks. That’s sixty pills @ 200 mg of caffeine each. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Starbucks.
Caffeine is a diuretic, regardless of the quantity in which it’s consumed. I agree, though, that it usually takes a decent amount of caffeine to get “results”, but it’s different in everybody. For me, I can feel the diuretic effect after only about 100mg.
Most cost effective form of caffeine? Generic No-Doz. 200mg caffeine pills for a few cents each.
@ratnerstar: ya beat me too it! Dag nabit!
For cheap caffeine just go with caffeine pills. Looking up no-doz 400 mg of caffeine is about 25 cents.
Cross posts for me too. My hat off you to guys.
I’ve seen several reports over the years about decaffinated coffee.One of the biggest problems with decaffinated coffee is that it’s not,especially when ordered out.
They say the residue on an unclean pot can hold caffeine and affect the caffeine levels of your coffee.Makes you wonder how clean the pots are or what was in them before hand.
no wonder I feel like I am on friggin speed when every once in a while I get a cup from there… believe me I talk non stop like a junkie grinding my teeth and what not.
I agree with the caffeine pill posts. Red Bull drinkers are just posers who like the taste of piss.
light roasted coffee + french press = assloads more caffeine than starbucks.
Efficient as they may be, there’s a certain stigma that comes with taking pills. Somehow being able to drink drugs is preferred.
A win for caffeine. Now I am even a little more interested in buying Starbucks. Makes Red Bull seem like a rip off, although Red Bull does have vitamins and other ingredients.
As a hardcore caffeine addict who’s Doctor told him to stop, this is bullshit. For one, if I so much as drink two Pepsi’s I’ll have to maker at least seven bathroom breaks, I start feeling dehydrated, I’ll actually sweat, and than I lose weight. I’m 5’8 and I weigh 138 pounds, mostly because I walk around a lot but the caffeine certainly has helped with my slim weight.
I also want to call bullshit on the Starbucks thing, since they reccommend only having (at maximum) two Red Bulls per day. Anymore and you risk heart problems and a heart attack. Oh, and why’d I have to stop for awhile? I could’ve given myself a heart attack at age 18 with the amount of caffeine I was consuming.
@christoj879:
certainly tastes better.
brewed coffee can have a lot of caffeine, but well, thats a given. a “cup” of coffee is 8oz or so, so a 16 oz is 2 cups.
of course no one really uses such cup measurements, but its the standard for measuring a cup worth of caffeine.
@u1itn0w2day:
well decaf is bound to have a bit, even if uncontaminated. the process isn’t 100%. its just heavily reduced. @sean77:
coffee isn’t that. it if you are pissing and sh*ting because of a coffee its probably because you are new to it. or you’ve drunk way more than the good dose. coffees hard to abuse because it reaches a peak effectiveness rather quickly. anything over this and it punishes you with jitters and all sorts of bad feelings.
Red Bull actually contains Three active ingredients, not just the caffeine (which by the way, as it is produced artificially, is more pure and an exact quantity can be added, better for athletes who wish to know exactly what they are drinking)
The other two active ingredients are:
Glucoronolactone,
which is a naturally occurring chemical compound produced by the metabolism of glucose in the human liver. It is an important structural component of nearly all connective tissues. It also fights fatigue.
Taurine,
is found in the intestines as a major component of bile, but helps reduce muscle fatigue and raises exercise capacity.
There you go! Coffee does not contain all of these, and it is hard to reach a consistent level of caffeine in this drink due to the nature of roasting the beans.
@kylo4: You do not risk heart problems and heart attacks by drinking more than two Red Bulls every day, although this is the recommended amount due to the fact that you just end up buzzing!.
The only reason you would have any danger from Red Bull or Coffee is if you are caffeine Hyper-Sensitive which is a documented allergy, and if you are then you should avoid ALL forms of caffeine including colas, coffees, energy drinks and chocolate.
@SarahC83: A grande HOT coffee (just a coffee) at Starbucks is less than $2, not $4. $4 is for specialty drinks which include espresso shots.
@u1itn0w2day: I think it also has to do with the clerk/barista/what have you not knowing/caring about the difference when they make/pour it. There are tons of articles covering this on every pregnancy site, since Caffeine is one of those substances that may or may not hurt the developing fetus.
One study showed that of all the chains, only McDonald’s was consistent in the lower levels of caffeine found in their decaf. [www.consumerreports.org]
and
[consumerist.com]
That’s why I fell awake just by smelling Starbucks
No other brand has same effect on me.
Now that I have my Starbucks coffee, I re-read this and thought this gem was rather funny:
575 milligrams = 0.0202825281 ounces
A grande Starbucks coffee = 16 oz.
Yeah, but Starbucks burns their coffee, so…
kidding.
@chiieddy. I assume it means that the caffeine itself in the drink doesn’t make you pee more than any other drink would. No?
Starbucks. Hate it. Every time we go by one my girlfriend is like oh, Starbucks, nom nom nom. I think I might leave her over it.
“caffeine does not increase weight loss”
There’s a lot of people in the body building community that would disagree with this. One of the better ways to cut fat is with a Ephedrine/Caffeine stack.
@weakdome: LOL! My thought exactly. Of course, I drink Diet Pepsi so not really all that much caffeine.
@chiieddy: I’m pretty sure that means 575 mg of caffeine, not liquid. I think that’s around 3 cups or so, not sure. From what I’ve heard (and this is purely anecdotal, so feel free to correct me) the average person would need to surpass about 1 g of caffeine to start worrying about getting sick. I’m sure it’s easy to OD on pills, just pop several, but you’d start feeling sick from all the liquid before you drank enough coffee to kill you.
@TomCruisesTesticles: And anecdotally, again, I made a pot of coffee the night before a major paper was due, around 8 cups. I drank it all over the course of about 2-3 hours. Other than shaking like I had Parkinson’s and feeling extremely nervous I was OK. My handwriting went to shit though. And I was so exhausted, but I couldn’t nap after the paper was due. That’s the worst, wanting to sleep, but being kept artificially alert
@chiieddy: I suspect they actually meant more than 575 mg of caffeine, not more than 575 mg of liquid, which wouldn’t be measured in mg anyway. Here’s a randomly found chart of caffeine levels in drinks: [www.energyfiend.com]
@psychos: Could be that the amount they list before it acts as diuretic is an average, like the LD-50 levels.
Back in the day, my university used to hand out “Great Stuff” boxes to the dorm students every semester. They included sample packs of Vivarin. I’ve dropped some of those when pulling all nighters on senior projects – my brain felt like an engine running at high rpms with no oil. I drink coffee to stay awake now – I don’t like sodas/pills with artificially added caffeine for staying awake.
Excedrine! My favorite!
However I’m kinda frightened that one of those Cocaine drinks has more caffeine than a NoDoz tablet. I knew this kid in college who would pop those tablets like tictacs 3 nights in a row. I’d hate to see what he’d do with Cocaine.
Unfortunately, caffeine also causes kidney stones, and those are less than enjoyable. I’ve had 8 (I’m a producer, I’ll have ‘em the rest of my life). The interesting thing is, since it IS a diuretic, it can also help PREVENT stones by making you pee. It’s a weird world…