For many of us, a large dose of caffeine may be the best way to start the day, but for some people too much caffeine could have serious health effects and even lead to fatal poisoning, health experts said yesterday.
To help people calculate how much caffeine they gulp down with their morning coffee, the Department of Health will ask big coffee chain stores, such as Starbucks and Dante, to explicitly label coffee with a caffeine content of more than 500ppm.
According to the Food Safety Law (
"Although many studies report the beneficial effects moderate caffeine consumption can have on alertness, cognitive functions and mood, the story of science is not empirically true for everyone," said Lin Ja-liang (
According to Lin, patients with cardiovascular diseases, pregnant women and children under the age of six should limit their coffee intake, as well as only drinking coffee with a lower caffeine concentration.
Pregnant women who ingest more than 600mg of caffeine run a higher risk of miscarriage and giving birth prematurely. In patients suffering from high blood pressure, heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases, too much caffeine could lead to a rapid, irregular heartbeat and convulsions. Children cannot handle the same dosage of stimulants as adults, and too much caffeine may cause difficulties in sleeping, anxiety and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Lin said.
He said that a dose of 5g to 10g of caffeine could be poisonous.
"In the worst case, a healthy adult could die from brain edema or enter into a coma," Lin said.
He suggested that coffee aficionados keep their caffeine intake to less than 300mg per day, which amounts to about one cup of coffee per day.
A 300ml cup of coffee contains about 150mg of caffeine, and people drinking four cups of coffee per day are at risk of caffeine poisoning, Lin said.
Chen Chi-chang (
"For people suffering from depression, an anxiety disorder or panic attacks, an overdose of caffeine will cause sleeplessness and compromise both their mental and psychical health," Chen said.
However, the rate of absorption of caffeine depends on a person's size, weight and tolerance, health officials said.
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