caffeine | Caffeine and You

4. Hip New Products and Hidden Caffeine

January 4, 2013 By Kate Heyhoe

If you’ve ever chugged down coffee to keep you awake while driving, you know the benefits of caffeine. But coffee spills can be messy. Now you can get caffeine’s benefits in more convenient – or at least more novel – forms.

For instance, there are energy gels used by runners and cyclists, energy bars, energy shots, diet pills, caffeinated gum, mints, jerky, maple syrup, and even aerosol sprays. (The U.S. Army hands out caffeinated gum to our soldiers.) What you may not know: over-the-counter analgesics like Excedrin, as well as some prescription medicines typically contain caffeine to make their painkilling properties more effective.

This chapter highlights today’s trendy caffeinated products. You can also find the most current product reviews in my BUZZ blog (or use the Tag Cloud and click on PRODUCT).

Coming up: Caffeine as snacks, candies, pills, liquids, gels and more…

Caffeine Basics: Table of Contents

The New Buzz of Niche Markets

January 4, 2013 By Kate Heyhoe

New caffeinated products are surfacing faster than I can type – and some of them are disappearing just as fast. Most are more trendy than game changing, but collectively they’re part of a fast-growing industry.

Caffeine Without That Pesky Coffee or Tea

Their biggest appeal is delivering caffeine to people and age groups that choose not to drink coffee or tea. These niche products are portable and easy to consume anywhere; some aren’t even liquid, and most avoid tasting anything close to coffee or tea. Here’s a roundup of these big and little buzzers.

Liquid caffeine

These products range from ultra-extreme to moderately potent. Mio Energy, made by Kraft foods, comes in a cute, droplet-shaped container that fits in your pocket. It’s a “liquid water enhancer” and half a teaspoon adds 60 mg of fruit-flavored caffeine to water, or whatever you’re drinking. “It’s so wild it could get you arrested on a plane, but it’s worth the lawyer fees,” says the website. Hip, edgy ads promote it as an alternative to ready-made energy drinks. It’s sold in supermarkets, minimarts, and gas stations. It’s a lot like self-medicating – add as much as you like, but it’s easy to accidentally add more than you intend.

Extreme liquid caffeine

You won’t see these products in 7-Eleven stores or Safeway; they’re way too concentrated to be let loose on the casual consumer. But you can find them online. Mix them into water, other liquid, or food for a nuclear-level caffeine trip. One brand delivers 500 mg of caffeine per ounce – but here’s the real shocker: it’s sold in gallon jugs or larger, and comes with a handy measuring syringe. Definitely pay attention to the warning labels, as this stuff really can be lethal.

Powdered caffeine

Anhydrous caffeine powder is white, concentrated, and comes in natural (from tea or coffee) or synthetic forms. It’s easy to buy online, easy to use, and even easier to overdose on. The story of a young man’s accidental death from powdered caffeine is recounted in the next section, Death By Caffeine Powder.

Inhalable caffeine

Put the end of a lipstick-size canister in your mouth, and get a puff of caffeinated air. Each Aeroshot canister contains six doses, a total of 100 mg of powdered caffeine (comparable to a cup of coffee), mixed with B vitamins and flavoring. You draw the powder into your mouth and swallow. The powder dissolves in your mouth on impact, so it’s not entering your lungs. But the FDA is questioning the product’s safety and status as a dietary supplement. A less publicized product, Primer Energy Breath Spray, works similarly, but is more potent: it delivers 33 mg of caffeine per spray; it comes in a larger container with a total of 1400 mg caffeine (about 14 cups of coffee).

Caffeinated water

It’s exactly as the name implies: water with caffeine in it. Though not easy to find, most brands may be ordered online. They typically contain about as much caffeine as coffee or tea, or an average energy drink but without the sugar or calories. Some taste like spring water, others have added flavors. If you’re sensitive to bitterness, you may be able to detect the caffeine, but only slightly.

Energy gels and chews

Athletes squeeze energy gel packets into the mouth or pop an energy chew during exercise – as when running a marathon or racing a bike. Energy chews are small, soft candy-like cubes. Most gels and chews contain 25-50 mg of caffeine per serving, plus assorted nutrients. Powerbar, Clif, and Hammer are some of the bigger brands. Not all gels contain caffeine; some simply deliver nutritional ingredients. Caffeinated flavors range from coffee and mocha to lemon-lime, grape, and green apple. Use these as directed for a safe, mild caffeinated bump. But some of the products warn of gastrointestinal distress, so test them at home before setting off on a 10K.

Caffeinated gum, mints, and strips

These are handy for a mild to moderate caffeine bump, especially when liquids are inconvenient (as when driving or traveling). Energy gums range from 35 to 100 mg of caffeine per piece, while mints average about 5 to 7 mg each. Energy strips are like mouthwash strips that dissolve on the tongue (and even taste like mouthwash; yum!), and range from 20-40 mg caffeine.

Caffeinated foods and snacks

You can find caffeine in Perky Jerky, maple syrup, waffles, potato chips, marshmallows, oatmeal and other victuals. Yes, the caffeine craze buzzes up traditional foods. Caffeine varies by product, so check the websites or labels for amounts.

Caffeinated candy, sweets, and ice cream

It may not say caffeine on the label, but any food with natural coffee, chocolate or tea contains caffeine. This includes candy, ice cream, pudding, yogurt, cookies, cake, brownies, and even your kid’s cereal.

Anti-Sleeping and alertness aids

Drugstores stock No-Doz, Vivarin, Jet-Alert and generic brands of caffeine pills. These pills have one purpose: to stay awake. Check the label; most doses deliver 100 or 200 mg of caffeine, about the caffeine in one or two cups of coffee. They make no nutritional claims.

Painkillers, medicines, and vitamins

Both over-the-counter and prescription painkillers add caffeine for its pain-relieving properties. Common brands include: Extra-Strength Excedrin, Excedrin Migraine, Extra-Strength Anacin, Alka-Seltzer Wake-Up Call, Midol Complete, and others. One-a-Day Energy, a multi-vitamin, adds caffeine and guarana seed as energy-boosters.

Weight-loss products and diet pills

Some people take caffeine pills for weight loss, due to caffeine’s appetite-suppression and metabolism boosting effects. Diet pills containing caffeine are available over-the-counter and by prescription. Research is all over the map on caffeine’s ability to produce long-term weight loss. But plenty of weight-loss products feature it, including such brands as Dexatrim, Twin Labs, Hydroxycut, and various green tea supplements and green coffee extracts. Caffeine per serving in these products ranges from 50 to 400 mg.

Next up: See how caffeinated gum is being used by soldiers and pilots around the globe…

Caffeine Basics: Table of Contents

An Army Marches on Caffeine

January 4, 2013 By Kate Heyhoe

Say ciao to regular chow. MREs now buzz with caffeine-enhanced foods.

Soldiers are getting a new arsenal of powerful weapons, but these are the kind you eat. Beef jerky, chocolate pudding, gum, mints, juices – all caffeine-enhanced – are now standard weapons to fight soldier fatigue and enhance alertness. The U.S. Department of Defense and military divisions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are jointly researching – and recommending – the use of caffeine on the battlefield.

Caffeine and Ammo

The Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) has one mission: “to maximize the Warrior’s survivability, sustainability, mobility, combat effectiveness and quality of life by treating the Soldier as a System.” The Massachusetts facility features a biolab, parachute drop tower, wind tunnel, mist chamber – and test kitchens, where caffeine is a prime ingredient.

Caffeine, they say, improves cognitive performance for both battlefield and office soldiers alike.

A typical meal-ready-to-eat (MRE) may contain such caffeinated items as mints, gum, cranberry drinks, maple syrup, and beef jerky – nutritious, delicious caffeine you can sink your teeth into. U2 pilots and battlefield soldiers squeeze caffeinated chocolate pudding from a tube – which tastes better than eating freeze-dried coffee straight from the jar (a practice in earlier wars).

Tea, Kola, and Coke

Caffeine has long been part of a soldier’s toolkit. In 1942, Winston Churchill asserted that tea was more important to his soldiers than ammunition. At the same time, the German war office ordered thirty tons of kola nuts, long used by African warriors for kola’s “courage-producing” capabilities. Coca-Cola has always given American soldiers a physical and psychological boost, especially during WWII. In Vietnam, soldiers literally ate instant coffee to stay awake.

Today, American soldiers say they get their biggest jolt from 5-Hour Energy Shots, which aren’t included in the MREs. They buy them on their own, by the case. Most of the younger soldiers drank energy drinks and shots in civilian life, and take their buzz seriously. Many combine energy drinks with alcohol, a dangerous practice that the military actively battles against.

In Air or on Land: Gum to Go

Stay Alert caffeinated gum was initially a joint project by Walter Reed Army researchers and Wrigley’s Gum. After the gum’s success with American troops, Israeli’s elite pilots and special operation forces added it to their supply arsenal in 2011. The pilots were skeptical at first, but after getting past the taste, they now carry caffeinated gum on all missions lasting more than 48 hours.

Less Perky Jerky

The amount of caffeine the military uses in its jerky remains classified. But civilians and veterans with a craving for caffeinated jerky can get their fix from Perky Jerky, available online and in stores. Today’s Perky Jerky is not as perky as the original version, which the makers claimed was the same as “two cans of Red Bull.” Perky Jerky toned down its caffeine content after the FDA noticed the caffeine, 150 mg per serving, exceeded the allowable limit for a food additive. Perky Jerky still gets a decent boost from guarana, but the makers say the new dosage is comparable to that of a Diet Coke (which is 45 mg).

Caffeine Basics: Table of Contents

5. Wacky Regulations and Misguided Marketing

January 5, 2013 By Kate Heyhoe

The FDA does not require warning labels on highly caffeinated products, but this may change.

Sometimes caffeine amounts are listed on a label – and sometimes they’re not.

FDA and Energy Products Face Scrutiny

Even though caffeine is a drug, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration treats it differently depending on the type of product it’s in – such as medicines, dietary supplements, or food – which makes for a world of consumer confusion.

In the U.S., the FDA considers caffeine safe enough to permit people of all ages to consume it. Regulations for some food and drinks do limit caffeine amounts, restrict marketing claims, and set up guidelines for consumer information. But in other cases, regulations are almost nonexistent.

Internationally, a few countries have taken the lead in establishing more rigorous consumer labels and guidelines, especially on energy drinks. Because several teen deaths have been claimed to be linked to energy drinks, the FDA is scrutinizing the entire caffeinated-product industry, but has yet to make any real policy changes. Some energy drinks have toned-down their marketing tactics to teens and kids, to avoid further scrutiny and public backlash.

Some beverage companies in the U.S. – like Monster Energy – are voluntarily changing their labels, or in some cases, their formulas, in responses to public pressure. They’re no longer dietary supplements, but instead are beverages, and this means different labeling, but with the same amount of caffeine.

Even the FDA admits the rules on caffeine are a little wacky. While the rules haven’t changed in decades, the products they regulate have changed, in ways no one would anticipate.

The following sections cover the basics on caffeine labeling, with tips every consumer should know.

Caffeine Basics: Table of Contents

Your Habit: Set Point, Tolerance, Withdrawal

January 7, 2013 By Kate Heyhoe

When is caffeine too much of a good thing? The body knows. In most instances, we self-regulate our consumption before serious adverse reactions occur. Our bodies tell us how much we can handle, and we learn to stay within that limit. But over time, we become less sensitive to caffeine’s effects, so we gradually increase consumption, to a point. This response is known as tolerance – and it varies from person to person. (Tolerance happens with alcohol and other drugs too, not just caffeine.)

Your Daily Norm: The Self-Regulating Set Point

Think back to when you first started drinking coffee or tea, or even Coke or Pepsi. You probably started with a small amount of caffeine, say one cup, and gradually drank more until you found a daily “norm,” which may be two, three, or four cups, for instance. You may have even tried more, but scaled back to fewer cups. However much you consume, your daily norm is a measure of your set point – a level of preferred stimulation.

Leveling Off: How Tolerance Works

The brain likes balance. It’s equipped with mechanisms to keep neural activity steady. Caffeine revs up neural activity, so the brain attempts to dampen this frenzy.

Like a commander in battle, General Brain sends in neurochemical soldiers to hold down the fort. The result: you get less of a kick from caffeine. So you fight back with more caffeine, and up your consumption – until the point when General Brain and your caffeine habit reach detente. This balance becomes your set point.

In other words, when a drug’s effects are felt over long periods of time, our adaptive brain adjusts to its presence, and considers the effects to be part of normal brain function. When the drug is absent, you experience cravings. This is true of caffeine, amphetamines, nicotine, and even sugar.

Adapting to Your Personal Level of Caffeine

Think of your set point as your personal adaptation to caffeine. Your set point adjusts as your tolerance level changes. As mentioned, this is true of caffeine and other stimulants, like nicotine and alcohol, and even sugar. Some glucose, or dietary sugar, is essential to normal brain functioning. When the customary balance of sugar in the brain is out of sync, this can also create cravings.

So the absence of caffeine creates cravings in habitual users. And if your habit is to always take caffeine with sugar, your brain expects and craves both the caffeine and the sugar. A daily Frappucino may deliver a double-whammy of reward – and a double-edged craving if withheld. Does this sound familiar?

One school of thought suggests brain boost is really just a result of withdrawal. That is, a caffeine-dependent brain heads into withdrawal between doses (like overnight), and the next hit of caffeine merely jumps our brains back into balance.

There may be some truth to this theory, but it doesn’t explain why both one-time and habitual users experience the same caffeine boosts, at least for certain types of behavior.

For instance, caffeine’s enhancing effects on memory, reaction time, reasoning, mood, and attention span don’t appear to diminish with tolerance (or not severely). Energy-producing or ergogenic actions, like athletics, also happen with just a single one dose. Runners still get the same performance boost whether they’re habitual caffeine users or not.

Caffeine Withdrawal: Three Symptoms in 24 Hours

According to the American Psychiatric Association, caffeine withdrawal syndrome is diagnosed when three or more of these symptoms occur within 24 hours after stopping or reducing prolonged daily caffeine use:

headache
marked fatigue or drowsiness
dysphoric mood, depressed mood, or irritability
difficulty concentrating
flu-like symptoms, nausea, vomiting, or muscle pain/stiffness

Additionally, these symptoms must cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. And, the symptoms are not associated with the direct physiological effects of another medical condition (e.g., migraine, viral illness) and are not better accounted for by another mental disorder.

To avoid these symptoms, experts say to taper off gradually over a few days to a week.

Withdrawal Syndrome and Resetting Your Set Point

If you notice you’re not getting the same kick from caffeine, try resetting your set point by weaning yourself off caffeine for a while. Let the brain and body revert to their natural caffeine-free state.

But if you are addicted and quit abruptly, you may feel symptoms of withdrawal – a classic indicator of physical dependence. Headaches top the list, along with fatigue, sleepiness, brain fog, bad moods, concentration difficulty, depression, flu-like symptoms, and all out crankiness. (Painkillers like Excedrin frequently contain caffeine, so taking them to ease a withdrawal headache is like downing a “hair of the dog” cocktail for a hangover.)

Withdrawal symptoms are why many people never succeed at quitting caffeine. They can’t get past the first 24 hours without ill effects, so they return to their habit. But with caffeine, withdrawal symptoms are minor and best overcome by tapering down on consumption.

Caffeine Intervention: My Personal Reset Plan

I practice a weekly plan to reset my caffeine tolerance level. On weekdays, I drink one cup of coffee, or 100 mg of caffeine (I’m a slow metabolizer, so this is my max). But on Sunday mornings, I switch to a cup of tea, about 25 mg of caffeine. Sometimes I go wild and have two cups of tea, but that’s still half of my normal caffeine regimen. Come Monday mornings, my usual coffee dose seems to have more punch to it. Who would have thought I’d enjoy Mondays all the more? Maybe it’s all in my head, but compared to non-reset weeks, I feel perkier, happier, and rarin’ to go. [Note: This strategy may not work for everyone, and it’s not intended as medical or health advice.]

Coming up: Caffeine’s half-life, or “How long does caffeine stay in my body?”…

Caffeine Basics: Table of Contents