THE PHARMACY

Caffeine — How does it work, and what happens when you detox from it?

Believe it or not, caffeine is considered a drug. Like other drugs, it works for a while; then, your body becomes reliant on it to function. This article will examine what caffeine is and what happens when you don’t consume it anymore.

What is caffeine?

Caffeine belongs to a group of drugs called stimulants. The most common food sources of caffeine are coffee, black and green tea, soft drinks, and chocolate. So, in short, a lot of delicious and dopamine-releasing foods.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the limit of caffeine intake per day for healthy adults is 400 mg. To put this in perspective, that’s equivalent to six shots of espresso in your Starbucks drink, ten cans of cola that you hide underneath your bed, and three cans of Monster chugged consecutively to finish that term paper on time.

About 54% of Americans over the age of 18 consume caffeine daily. About 21 million Americans drink six or more cups of coffee every day. Caffeine has become such an integral part of our community that the fact that it’s a drug often slips people’s minds. Trying to quantify the amount of productivity and focus created by caffeine would be an impossible task, and in that regard, caffeine has done its job.