7 Reasons You're So Sensitive To Caffeine

We all have coworkers who can down six cups of coffee in a given day without flinching, and friends who can indulge in an after-dinner cappuccino and be sleeping like a baby within the hour. Yet a single cup leaves many of us feeling jittery, anxious and restless. What gives? To be sure, coffee is safe. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the average American consumes 300 milligrams of caffeine each day, and the Mayo Clinic says it is safe for adults to consume upward of 400 milligrams daily -- the equivalent of four cups of coffee. It is our most popular caffeine delivery mechanism by magnitudes, and provides quite a few health benefits as well. Research shows that moderate coffee consumption can help ward off liver disease, provide a big boost of antioxidants and even protect the brain against Parkinson's disease. While the health recommendations surrounding caffeine consumption have been standardized over the years, one's personal reaction to the stimulant cannot be summed up in a similar fashion. Most of us consume caffeine in some form (coffee, tea, soda, even chocolate) frequently, but the ways our bodies process the chemical varies based on several key factors, some of which you'd never suspect. Here are seven reasons you might be more sensitive to the effects of caffeine than the standard java junkie. You don't consume that much of it. It sounds counterintuitive, but people who don't consume caffeine regularly and in moderate amounts tend to f...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news