| Caffeinated
beverages and shots are displayed January 21, 2013.
Energy drinks, which derive much of their stimulant
capacity from caffeine, have shown up in reports of a
number of recent deaths, the FDA says. |
 |
SANTA
ANA, Calif. — Sitting in a booth at the La Palma Chicken
Pie Shop in Anaheim, Calif., takes you back to a time long
before Starbucks.
As you
scan the interior to admire the macramé hanging planters,
the waitress fills your coffee mug, smiling and calling you
"dear." The coffee they serve at the pie shop —
which opened in 1955, the same year as Disneyland — is
Farmer Brothers of Torrance, Calif., a tough, no-nonsense
brew that costs $1.20 for a bottomless cup.
"We’ve
been using that coffee all along," says Otto
Hasselbarth, who has owned and operated the restaurant with
his wife, Antje, since 1972. "People sure like it, and
that’s the reason we’ve never switched."
We’re
no longer happy with that simple cup of joe, or even four of
them.
Led by
strong coffee sales and an explosion in the popularity of
energy drinks, our addiction to caffeine has intensified. It’s
estimated that 90 percent of Americans consume caffeine
daily, with more than half of us drinking down at least 300
milligrams of it. Although a safe limit for caffeine
consumption has never been determined, some medical experts
say 400 mg should be roughly the limit for adults. That
6-ounce mug at La Palma probably has about 80 milligrams of
caffeine. A Venti-sized cup of Starbucks’ signature blend,
Pike Place, has 415 mg.
Caffeine
is safe for the vast majority of people who consume it, and
those who overindulge usually endure symptoms no worse than
jitteriness or sleeplessness. But ignoring the caffeine
content in certain products, or not knowing about it at all,
can bring trouble. Over the past few months, there have been
several reports illustrating the dangers of overconsumption
of caffeine, for young people and adults. In October, the
FDA said it knew about five deaths in the previous three
years that were possibly linked to Monster Energy drinks;
less than a month later, the agency said it had received
reports of 13 deaths possibly linked to 5-Hour Energy shots.
At the
heart of this nationwide caffeine jolt is the pursuit of an
elusive, prized commodity called "energy." As we
juggle home and work schedules, trying desperately to hold
on to a job or pass a final exam, we’re open to just about
any product that will keep us alert just a little longer.
There are hundreds of products that give us our daily (or
hourly) fix, from those ubiquitous beverages to candies,
mints, beer and even inhalants.
"The
weird thing about all of this is, you’ve got to listen to
your body: If you’re really that tired, go to sleep,"
said Matthew Ganio, an assistant professor at the University
of Arkansas who has conducted research on the physiological
effects of caffeine. "Unfortunately, our lives don’t
usually lend themselves to doing that. That’s why we turn
to caffeine."
Benefits
and drawbacks
The
reason we use caffeine is that it works: It boosts alertness
and improves cognitive and physical performance, for a
period of time, which can vary widely, depending on the
individual. Ganio has studied the influence of caffeine on
athletes, and he says just the right dosage — 3-6 mg per
kilogram of body mass, or 245-490 mg for a 180-pound person
— can improve endurance. Which is one of the reasons
runners love those packets of energy gel: Some contain from
25 mg to 100 mg.
The
way caffeine works its magic is this, Ganio says: A molecule
called adenosine attaches to receptors in the brain, causing
a reaction that leads, over time, to fatigue and drowsiness.
Caffeine "actually blocks that receptor, and does not
allow drowsiness to occur," Ganio said.
It
gets complicated after that, because after the dosage
reaches its peak, about an hour after consumption, the level
in the blood begins to go downhill. After five hours, the
level is down 50 percent from the peak, Ganio says. And so
the body can start to crave it again, leading to withdrawal
symptoms. For habitual users, not feeding the habit can
bring weariness and headaches, which is why many need that
midafternoon fix to keep from crash-landing.
There
are other negative effects from this push-and-pull between a
caffeine buzz and withdrawal: Our sleep patterns get
disrupted (caffeine lingers in the bloodstream for several
hours); it can cause stomach problems and elevate blood
pressure.
On a
recent morning, Goffredo Benitez, 32, sat outside the
Starbucks on Culver in Irvine, the first Starbucks to open
in Orange County in 1992. A worker at the Trader Joe’s
nearby, Benitez drank a Grande coffee with his co-worker
Alex Pinto during their break. Benitez said about eight
years ago, when he had a high-pressure job at a trucking
company, he was drinking 8-10 cups of coffee a day and used
the now-banned stimulant ephedra. "I drank so much
coffee it wasn’t enough for me," he said.
Eventually
he started getting so tired he went to a hospital for tests.
Now he drinks only the one cup of coffee a day, if that.
"Just to wake up."
Regulation
needed?
Each
energy drink has its own proprietary recipes, with
ingredients that include taurine, an acid, and ginseng, a
plant root. "We don’t know what those do to the
body," Ganio said.
Beverage-makers
aren’t required to list caffeine content. Some labels warn
that the products aren’t recommended for children,
pregnant women or people sensitive to caffeine.
In
December, Consumer Reports magazine put 27 energy drinks and
shots through its lab analysis. Eleven of them didn’t list
the caffeine content on the label. Of the 16 that did, five
had more than 20 percent above the labeled amount of
caffeine.
After
the FDA incident reports of deaths possibly linked to
Monster and 5-Hour Energy, those companies defended their
products, insisting they are safe and not responsible for
the deaths. The reports themselves did not prove that the
drinks caused the deaths.
Anais
Fournier, a 14-year-old Maryland girl who died in December
2011 after drinking two 24-ounce cans of Monster, officially
died of "cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine
toxicity," but she also had a genetic disorder that
caused one of her heart valves to leak. Her family has sued
Monster Beverage.
Critics
of energy drinks are pushing for clearer labeling that
includes caffeine levels.
"I
personally think that the more disclosure the better,"
Ganio said, "so consumers can know how much caffeine
they’re taking in."
(EDITORS:
STORY CAN END HERE)
———
Buzz
Meter
A safe
limit for caffeine consumption has never been determined,
but some medical experts say 400 mg should be roughly the
daily limit for adults. Here’s a sampling of the caffeine
dosage in five popular products.
1.
AEROSHOT caffeine inhalant
100 mg
per cartridge, good for 4-6 puffs.
2.
STARBUCKS coffee
330 mg
in a Grande cup (16 oz.) of medium roast, like Pike’s
Place
3.
5-HOUR ENERGY shot
215 mg
per shot (1.93 oz.)*
4. RED
BULL energy drink
164 mg
per can (16 oz.)
5.
MONSTER ENERGY drink
184 mg
per can (16 oz.)*
*Source:
Consumer Reports
