Too Much Buzz? The Hidden Risks of Everyday Caffeine

Caffeine is safe in moderate amounts, but excessive intake, especially from supplements or in children, can pose serious health risks.

Caffeine is a common part of daily life, found in coffee, black tea, cola, energy drinks, and even chocolate.

“In moderate amounts, caffeine has a stimulating, positive effect,” explains biologist Dr Anke Ehlers. In high doses, however, caffeine can cause sweating, anxiety and heart rhythm disorders, as well as affect the growth of the foetus in the mother’s womb. In extreme cases, severe overdoses from food supplements can even be fatal.

For healthy adults, a single dose of up to 200 milligrams of caffeine is generally considered safe. This is roughly equivalent to two cups of coffee, two energy drinks, four cups of tea, or five cans of cola. When spread throughout the day, a total daily intake of up to 400 milligrams is usually well tolerated.

That said, individual sensitivity to caffeine varies. People who consume it regularly often develop a tolerance, meaning they may need higher amounts to feel the same stimulating effects.

Caution with Caffeine Supplements

Particular caution is advised when taking food supplements containing caffeine, which are sometimes used to enhance performance in sports. In this case, it is essential to follow recommended dosage instructions, otherwise overdosing can easily occur.

“In particular, pure caffeine powder in loose form is problematic,” says BfR expert Ehlers: “It is in such a high concentration that you just can’t measure it with a kitchen scale.” The safe amount of 200 milligrams or 0.2 grams corresponds here to about a pinch. And just one or two teaspoons can be fatal.

Caffeine and Children

For children and adolescents, the amount of caffeine that is still harmless to health is determined by body weight: a daily intake of 3 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight is therefore acceptable.

For younger children in particular, caffeine is mainly ingested through chocolate. However, to consume a dangerous amount of caffeine from sweets, a child would have to eat or drink a very large amount in a very short time.

“Taking a four-year-old child weighing around 17 kilograms as an example, they could just consume about 50 milligrams of caffeine,” says Ehlers. This amount is roughly equivalent to the caffeine content of two and a half bars of milk chocolate or half a liter of cola. “Of course, this is not a recommendation, not least because of the high sugar content, but rather the amount that is just safe in terms of caffeine concentration.”

Energy drinks contain about the same amount of caffeine as coffee. A 250-milliliter can contain an average of about 80 milligrams of caffeine. For teenagers, therefore, just three cans is enough to exceed the safe amount.

“Mixing energy drinks and alcohol can intensify the effects,” says Ehlers. “Both the caffeine and the alcohol affect the cardiovascular system and can cause heart rhythm disorders. When both factors come together, these negative effects could intensify.”