The alarm goes off. Systematically, you  press the snooze button. Within minutes you panic as the alarm goes off again. It is now essential that you race to start your day. You muster up enough energy to get out of bed. You’re feeling the urgency for that nice big fat coffee mug. Time seems to stop until you smell the rich aroma. You pour the first cup of coffee. You taste it. It is almost orgasmic! You can already begin to feel the caffeine effects kick-start your day.

Is this psychological? Meaning - do you have a caffeine addiction, or is the urgency for a decent cup of organic coffee before the day begins just a routine habit?

Since the powerful stimulant running by the name of caffeine effects the central nervous system, you are basically jump starting your body. Once you have become accustomed to caffine helping you to wake up, be it your regular fresh coffee, your espresso cup, or your cappuccino, the question comes up - is this habit or dependency?

Caffeine Effects

Fact is, a couple of hours after you consume it, the caffeine effect wears off. Studies show that the effects from caffeine in coffee can be as long as six hours. By that time, you most likely are feeling more tired than before. This makes you go for more caffeine drinks: A good thing we have flavored iced coffee, or that handy Red Bull can!

And when you start thinking about the negative effects of caffeine (we will get to that), you might want to quit. In that case, here come the dreaded caffeine withdrawal symptoms: I have heard of many people who stop drinking it started to suffer from such things as caffeine headaches, fatigue, irritability, and even depression.

Concerns as to whether there is such a thing as caffeine addiction, or rather that mug being healthy coffee - that is, caffeine having a healthy effect on the human body - have been questionable over the years. People say this, and people say that. But what is?

Is coffee truly “the nectar of gods” or “the devil’s drinks”?

Top 28 Caffeine Drinks: How much caffeine they contain

Here are some very popular caffeine drinks we consume every day that give us that boost of energy. Since we usually super size everything, they are measured by 16 ounces servings, unless noted otherwise.

So: how much caffeine is in a cup of coffee?

Now the caffeine amount being suggested as being safe is 200 milligrams per day. Keep that in mind as you read this.

Hot Coffee



1. McDonald’s regular coffee: 145 milligrams caffeine amount
2. Dunkin’ Donuts regular coffee: 206 milligrams caffeine amount
3. Starbucks coffee (regular): 320 milligrams caffeine amount

Caffeine in Espresso and Cappuccino

4. Espresso cup (1.5 fluid ounces): 77 milligrams of caffeine

Since a Cappuccino is usually made with a single Espresso cup:

5. Cappuccino cup (5 fluid ounces): 77 milligrams of caffeine

And since a Caffè Latte also usually contains the same amount of Espresso, we can see:

6. Latte cups (6 fluid ounces): also, 77 milligrams of caffeine

Cold Caffeine Drinks

7. Silk Soylatte (8 ounce bottle): 55 milligrams of caffeine
8. Shock Coffee (8 ounce can triple latte): 231 milligrams of caffeine

Quite a difference, huh? Moving on to our beloved energy drinks:

Energy Drinks

9. SoBe Adrenaline Rush (8.3 ounce can): 79 mg
10. Red Bull Energy Drink (8.3 ounce can): 80 mg
11. SoBe Essential Energy (16 ounce can): 96 mg
12. Crunk!!! (8.3 ounce can): 100 mg
13. Socko (16 ounce can): 160 mg
14. Red Devil (16 ounce can): 160 mg
15. Rumba Energy Juice (16 ounce can): 170 mg
16. Arizona Caution Energy Drink (16 ounce can): 200 mg caffeine amount

Here’s the answer to your question “do energy drinks really work”! Red Bull gives you wings, indeed…

Next in line is tea caffeine - yes, tea contains caffeine too!

Tea Caffeine

Tea has been documented being the favorite of the Chinese Emperors, back then in ancient times. Records show as far back as 3,000 BC. They enjoyed a very dark strong brewed tea.

It wasn’t found until 1927 that there is caffeine in tea also. Here goes:

17. SoBe Green Tea (20 ounce bottle): 35 mg
18. Nestea Peach Green Tea Caffeine is about 42.4 mg per 20 ounce bottle
19. All Lipton flavored tea (20 ounce bottles): 50 mg caffeine amount

Sometimes, you’ll hear tea caffeine running by the name of “teein”. Caffeine in tea is real though - does green tea have caffeine? Yes, it does.

Caffeine Effects in Waters

20. Glaceau Vitamin Water Energy Citrus (20 ounce bottle): 42 milligrams of caffeine
21. Propel Invigorating Water (20 ounce bottle): 50 mg of caffeine
22. Vital Energize (20 ounce bottle): 60 mg of caffeine
23. O Energize (16 ounce bottle): 64 mg of caffeine

Unfortunately for me, caffeine also is in many of my favorites - see below.

Ice Cream

Caffeine in one 8 oz. cup of ice cream:

24. Breyer’s All Natural Coffee: 30 mg of caffeine
25. Häagen-Dazs Coffee Ice Cream: 48 mg
26. Starbucks Coffee Ice Cream: 60 mg
27. Ben and Jerry’s Fair Trade Coffee Ice Cream: 70 mg
28. Edy’s Grand Espresso Chip Ice Cream: 90 mg of caffeine

And now, that we know what we’re dealing with, I want to invite you on a short journey with me. We’ll go into the past.

The History of Caffeine

The history of caffeine starts with cocoa and goes back to 600 BC. Back then, cocoa drinks were used in Mexico by the Mayans. The cocoa bean contains a small amount of caffeine as well. To the Mayans, cocoa beans were as good as gold and often exchanged as money. I have read the Mayans gave the Conquistadors a spiced cocoa drink when the arrived in Mexico.

As for actual coffee, Ethiopia is said to be the source of the coffee bean, where Brazil and Columbia received them through trade. These two South American countries are today’s top coffee producers. Coffee beans can be tracked back to 575 AD in Africa. They were used for trade also; and records dating back to the 11th century show that Arabs were enjoying coffee as well.

Soon, coffee beans also became extremely popular in North America. During the 18th century, the Americans switched from tea to coffee due to the high taxes. The Boston Tea Party was a big splash in that account, and maybe the most famous historic event regarding caffeine. You might even say it was the first masquerade party here in the states.

On my last post about caffeine effects, where I tried to find out the truth about energy drinks, Chichi asked in the comments where caffeine actually comes from. Well, here goes:

What’s inside of Coffee Beans?

After Europe being introduced to coffee somewhere around the late 1500s, in 1817, German analytical chemist Friedrich Ferdinand Runge was asked to analyze coffee beans, in order to find out why it did what it did. Within a few short months, he identified caffeine. Runge, who studied chemistry at Jena and Berlin, distracted the white powder (in German called koffein, and translated in English of course caffeine). He also taught chemistry at the University of Breslau before working at a chemical company, where he was later fired and 15 years later died in poverty.

Hard to believe such a genius meant such a demise.

Coffee Beans

It takes 2,000 coffee beans to produce one pound of coffee. The plants can take as long as five years to bear their fruit. The seeds inside the berries are what is called the coffee beans. Once harvested, it must be processed within 24 hours.

In 1912, the U.S. House of Representatives set an amendment for the The Pure Food and Drug Act stating caffeine was an addictive substance. It was not until 1958 that the FDA actually recognized that caffeine was safe.

Does this also appliy to the caffeine effects?

Caffeine Side Effects

Claims from studies are rendered as suggested more than fact - and there are more claims of negative effects of caffeine on humans than positive ones. Studies are continued to be done everyday; so until then, let’s see what the past studies have come up with. Basically, that too much caffeine leads to disturbing side effects.

• It increases high blood pressure,
• there is the possibility of developing urinary tract, renal and pancreatic cancers,
• the acid created by heavy caffeine consumption irritates the esophagus and stomach. This leads to heartburn, which may result in stomach ulcers and acid reflux.

Some people may experience jittery feeling of nervousness, increased heartbeat and respiration. And, huge amounts of caffeine (like way too much coffee) can be dangerous to people with an undiagnosed heart condition. Remember the recommended daily dosage of 200 milligrams of caffeine per day - and take a look at the list above again. There have been several incidences world-wide with people who had indulged in energy drinks such as Red Bull experiencing fatal or near fatal heart attacks.

It’s not all bad though. Researchers are also studying whether caffeine may have an effect on preventing diseases - such as Diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s; and caffeine helping against Gallstones and Kidney stones; but also helping with such serious problems as cirrhosis of the liver and colo-rectal cancer.

Another upside of caffeine effects: it has been proven that it does help control and prevent asthma. It has been proven that it increases an alert mental performance - although with that, you also have increased anxiety and higher blood pressure.

What’s a Caffeine Headache?

A caffeine headache is something you might experience when you stop drinking coffee after having consumed it regularly. Many people complain about headaches when cutting short like that; to me, that’s an indication that there is such a thing as caffeine addiction.

From my own experience, I know the caffeine in coffee has helped me when I have had migraine headaches. The caffeine actually dilates constricted arteries in the brain that cause the pain. When you know the onsetting symptoms of a migraine (blurred distorted vision, pressure at the base of your head and temple), a couple cups of coffee can give you relief.

Caffeine Effects on Women

Women with a condition called fibrocystic breast disease are usually better off when restraining from any caffeine. In most cases, women experience less pain in their breasts. This is important for those of us who experience breast pain prior to and during Aunt Flo’s monthly visit.

Women that are trying to conceive or have become pregnant already are recommended not to drink caffeine drinks. There are several risks for women regarding this - starting with not being able to conceive in the first place, miscarriage, and a low birth weight for the baby, the Washington Post reported earlier this year.

There are also dangerous effects with nursing moms drinking high levels of caffeinated drinks. The caffeine being passed on to the baby could create iron and calcium deficiencies. The caffeine could also interfere with the baby’s capability to absorb nutrition properly.

Can you Sober Up with Coffee?

When drinking alcohol, you are drinking a depressant. Knowing now that caffeine / coffee is a stimulant, you are doing your body more harm by practicing this method.

I found these facts very interesting. Moderation is the key with most of everything we put in our bodies. So are you ready to stop or cut back on coffee? Now that you know of all those caffeine effects - will you continue drinking Vodka & Energy?