Can You Become Addicted to Caffeine?
As time passes by, caffeine drinkers increase day by day. Researches show that in 2020/2021, around 166 million bags of coffee, each of them weighing 60 kilograms of coffee were consumed worldwide, with a slight increase from 164 million bags in the previous year, which as can be interpreted is quite a lot.
How Does It Happen?
As is well known, coffee and other caffeinated beverages can quickly become an addiction for us. This is because of the chemical alterations in the brain, which are obviously caused by long-term usage. Caffeine tolerance develops just the same way it does with other drugs or alcohol if consumed on a daily basis; after a time period, the drinker needs more and more caffeine to achieve the same alertness effects, which is thought as a need in the consumer’s brain. Caffeine drinkers who consume the chemical on a regular basis develop accustomed to the wake-up effect it generates and gradually demand bigger doses to achieve the same caffeine fix feeling. Caffeine users who stop drinking it abruptly, after a lengthy period of time will experience withdrawal symptoms and urge, similar to those who stop using other narcotics. Many people relapse as a result of this. This causes many individuals to relapse when attempting to quit and resume drinking caffeine, regardless of the health problems associated with chronic caffeine use.
Symptoms and Warning Sign
But how are we going to know when things are getting serious, what if it is just a good morning coffee?
There are some physical symptoms of caffeine withdrawal which usually start about 12 to 24 hours after not having caffeine, with peak time occurring after 20 to 51 hours. The most common one is headache, but the list of other ones goes like this: weariness, poor energy and activity, decreased attentiveness, drowsiness, general “bad mood” and dissatisfaction, depression, difficulties concentrating, impatience, and a fuzzy sense.
The physical effects of caffeine withdrawal can also include flu-like symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and muscle pain or stiffness. You may also notice that you have a dependence on caffeine if you have tried to stop consuming it and are unable to stop.
Is it really that bad?
Unfortunately, it is, the side effects include;
- sleep disturbances,
- anxiety and depression,
- stomachaches and acid reflux,
- cardiovascular problems with bodily pain,
- social difficulties,
- irritability,
- nervousness/ difficulty concentrating and the list goes on…
Soo…
Even though we all absolutely love and adore coffee, just like everything else, the proverb goes “enough is as good as a feast”!
Works Cited:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/292595/global-coffee-consumption/
