· By Plant Press
Spilling the Beans on Caffeine
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re like us: you love caffeine. From that first sip in the morning to that little extra zing in the afternoon, caffeine, for you, is an experience. But, sometimes you wonder…is caffeine really good for me?
In the spirit of World Health Day, we’re here to spill the beans on caffeine.
Let’s start with the basics:
what is caffeine?
Caffeine itself is a mild stimulant (what you might call a little pick-me-up) that, for most people, quickly boosts alertness and energy levels. It’s absorbed within roughly 30 minutes after consumption, but can peak in your system anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours. Your tolerance for caffeine depends on your caffeine habit, weight, health, and the amount of caffeine consumed.
Where does caffeine come from?
Caffeine is found naturally in the fruit, leaves, and beans of coffee, cacao, and guarana plants. When creating our Plant Press energy drink, we use organic green coffee beans, which are the raw seeds of coffee cherries also used for roasting coffee, with the same quality and potential found in your favorite Starbucks roast.
Without roasting them, these pure beans are all caffeine and no flavor–perfect for us to combine with vitamins and real fruit juices to make the Clean Caffeine we’re known for.
What is caffeine good for?
If you’ve had a Plant Press right before the gym or midway during a 12-hour shift, you’ll have felt more alert and energized, in a better mood, more awake and able to focus. While our electrolytes and vitamins contribute to some of these benefits, it’s the caffeine that helps you maintain your energy during a workout or power through the last few hours of your work day.
How much caffeine is too much caffeine?
An 8oz cup of coffee contains about 95 mg of caffeine, but a single can of traditional energy drinks like Reign or Monster can contain as much as 300 mg. That’s essentially 3 cups of coffee in one can, which, for the average person, can lead to feelings of anxiety, stress, and physical jitters. When these effects wear off, it’s common to then experience what people call a “caffeine crash.”
While these crashes can also come from the unhealthy amount of sugar in traditional energy drinks, too much caffeine may cause you to experience anxiety, increased heart rate, sleep deprivation, and the inability to sit still. As your body comes down from these effects, you may feel like you’re “crashing” with symptoms like mental and physical fatigue or difficulty concentrating.
However, according to the Harvard School of Public Health, caffeine toxicity is not likely to result from your favorite caffeinated beverage, as it would take about 100 cups of brewed coffee to be considered fatal.
DYK?
The FDA has cited that 400 mg is considered a moderate amount of caffeine for most healthy adults (excluding pregnant women).
What’s the best amount of caffeine to get all the benefits, but none of the undesirable side effects?
While caffeine tolerance is subjective to each individual person, we consider the most balanced and appropriate amount of caffeine to be around 100 mg, which makes 1 can of Plant Press equivalent to ~ 1 cup of coffee.
In the U.S., adults consume an average of 135 mg of caffeine per day (or 1.5 cups of coffee), which means the amount of caffeine in a can of Plant Press is optimal for most adults in maintaining a healthy amount of energy and focus, without the jitters or crashes that are common to more traditional energy drinks on the market.
Are there other health benefits to caffeine aside from an energy boost?
Yes! Studies have shown that caffeine can have a variety of positive effects on your whole body health:
- Caffeine intake is associated with a lower risk of liver cancer, fibrosis, and cirrhosis.
- Caffeine may protect against Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and dementia, having shown that it can have a protective effect from deterioration in the brain.
- Adults who consume caffeine may have a lower risk of gallstones.
- Caffeine is found in a variety of medications to provide faster and more effective relief, particularly from pain and headaches.
- According to Hopkins Medicine, it is also associated with lowered risk for stroke, colon cancer, coronary heart disease, and kidney disease.
