What's Your Caffeine Intake?
February 5, 2005
By Mandi Bishop
Caffeine. Some studies show it's bad for you. Others
show no link to any heavy-duty problems. Many people
try to avoid it anyway by not drinking coffee, but as
News 4 WOAI's Bruce Kates uncovers, you'd be amazed
what foods, drinks, and other items are loaded with
the stuff.
"I didn't know that had caffeine in it!"
That's a typical response from people who learned caffeine
is in more than just coffee.
Linda Farr, a registered dietitian, gave us some shocking
details about caffeine and where you can find it.
"The problem is, some products contain caffeine
naturally and may not be listed on the label."
For example, if you're drinking decaf coffee, don't
assume there's not caffeine in there. "Even a little
bit of decaf has a little bit of caffeine in it,"
Farr tells us.
So does tea, but there's no caffeine in herbal teas.
There "is" caffeine in most soft drinks, but
how much? Coca Cola has 34 milligrams while Diet Coke
has almost 46 milligrams. Pepsi lovers take in 37 milligrams,
but Pepsi One drinkers have more than 55 milligrams
of caffeine.
Most Root Beers don't have caffeine, but Barq's has
the same as a small cup of coffee.
Caffeine is in more than just drinks. Take chocolate
chip cookies for instance. Farr says an ounce of chocolate
chips gives you a dose of caffeine.
Most experts agree that 300 milligrams of caffeine,
about the amount contained in 3 cups of coffee, is a
moderate intake. More than that and you may be in for
a headache.
Of course, you're not even safe when you take a pain
reliever for your coffee headache. Two Excedrin pills
have the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee.
Getting over a high caffeine day takes awhile. Farr
says, "It actually may take about four to five
hours to get that caffeine out of your system."
Source:www.woai.com
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