The Caffeine Roller Coaster: Why There’s Such a Thing as Too Much

The Daily Routine

You like caffeine, or at least how it makes you feel. You’re not alone. As many people as 85% of the U.S. population drinks at least one caffeinated beverage every single day, making them the most sought-after drinks on the planet besides water.

There are coffee shops on every corner, canned cold brews in every grocery and convenience store, countless caffeinated sodas, and energy drinks that promise to either kick you in the ass or give you wings. You can even buy caffeine powder and add it to anything. The point is, if you want caffeine, you won’t have a problem finding it. 

See if this sounds familiar: you wake up, and one of the first things you do is fill up your cup with coffee. You either exercise or go to work feeling pretty good, but just after lunch, your morning energy starts to plummet. Fortunately, your fridge (if you work from home) or your break room (if you’re in an office) has plenty of caffeinated beverages to choose from. Another jolt of caffeine is all you need to push through the rest of the day. And a “little” sugar in those drinks will give you that extra oomph.

By the end of the workday, you have a headache, feel sluggish or jittery, depending on how much caffeine and sugar you’ve ingested all day, and head home. Perhaps an evening jog or yoga class is in order, so you may squeeze in a touch more caffeine. That should fix the headache and get you moving again, right? But be careful: too much caffeine too late in the day screws up your sleep. It’s a dilemma we’ve all faced.

Let’s look at caffeine a little closer and why this approach doesn’t work so well.

Is Caffeine The Enemy?

First of all, caffeine is not bad. It’s a mild stimulant in its original form, but these days, we’ve taken it to another level. Most energy drinks, sports drinks, and other beverages that brag of their incredible caffeine levels use synthetic caffeine. As you may guess, synthetic caffeine is made in a laboratory, not from a plant. Instead of regular coffee with normal amounts of caffeine per serving, these beverages can contain 10X the amount of caffeine. They are, after all, created to give you energy.

But here’s the problem. Caffeine is one of those chemicals that you can develop a tolerance to. The more you have, the more you need to get that same boost of energy. And the more you ingest, the better the chance you will crash once your body metabolizes it all. And what do you do when you crash? Yep, you reach for more caffeinated beverages to come out of the crash.

This sets up a vicious cycle of ups and downs with no way to stop it unless you quit caffeine. See how you feel once you go cold turkey on caffeine. Not pretty.

But there’s a better solution — caffeine water with electrolytes. You may be thinking: “Wait. You just said to lay off the caffeine.” True, sort of. You can still have caffeine but just lessen the amount to avoid headaches or jitters followed by a crash. 

Caffeine Water to The Rescue?

There are several caffeinated waters on the market, and like we said, you can also buy caffeine powder to add to your drinks. But here’s where that synthetic caffeine issue comes up again. These items use synthetic caffeine, and they taste terrible. Even organic caffeine derived from organic coffee beans tastes lousy if you use too much. It’s why many of the highly caffeinated beverages out there mask the bitter taste with loads of sugar and artificial flavors. It’s the only way you’ll continue to buy the product.

You want to look for water with low amounts of caffeine and natural caffeine from organic coffee beans so there is zero taste. The water should taste like great water, nothing else. No bitterness, no aftertaste, no weird flavor. Pure water, plain and simple.

Even better, look for one that adds natural electrolytes to boost hydration. Drink a few bottles during the day and you’ll feel a mild, steady flow of energy and stay hydrated throughout the day. Your headaches will likely disappear, you’ll experience no jitters or crashes, and you’ll feel great all day.

Don’t Forget The Sugar

There are a few reasons why this type of caffeinated water with electrolytes sells so well. One is because more people are looking for better options to reduce their caffeine intake. It’s hard to go from 100 to zero overnight, and truthfully, you probably don’t need to. Just by reducing your intake to more normal amounts will do wonders in how you feel. Caffeinated water with small amounts of caffeine will give you just enough to ward off withdrawal symptoms without contributing to your habit.

Another reason is that not everyone wants to drink all of the sugar and artificial ingredients found in many caffeinated beverages. This is an extreme example, but the Starbuck’s Gingerbread Latte with oat milk in venti size contains more than 14 teaspoons of sugar - whopping 523 calories. Keep in mind that 2,000 calories per day is the daily recommendation for most adults. 

So maybe you don’t indulge in lattes. Your go-to is energy drinks. Depending on the size of the can, you can easily drink 7 to 21 teaspoons of sugar in one serving. Most experts cite the American Heart Association’s (AHA) recommendation of no more than 9 teaspoons of added sugar per day for men and only 6 teaspoons of added sugar for women. Sugars found naturally fruits and vegetables are not included.

Even with so much science behind these recommendations, AHA says American adults still consume an average of 77 grams per sugar per day. To put it into perspective,  that totals the weight of about six 10-pound bowling balls every year. The number one culprit for all of this sugar? Forget ice cream and cake. Beverages are the leading category source of added sugars - 47%, to be exact. People are drinking their way into obesity, heart disease, and all kinds of other ailments.

Does that mean you should go to artificially-sweetened drinks? Not necessarily. Most of those sweeteners are highly-processed chemicals that have zero nutritional value. And according to Harvard Medical School, they can also cause a long list of health issues.

Your best bet is to stick with water. Zero calories, zero fat, zero artificial or synthetic anything. If you need more flavor, simply add an ounce or two of freshly-squeezed lemon, lime, or orange juice. With the low amounts of caffeine and electrolytes, you’ll supercharge your hydration and energy without all of the bad side effects from too much caffeine, sugar, and strange ingredients.

You can kick your caffeine and sugar addiction, and get off of the roller coaster of highs and lows. With caffeine water that has only a touch of caffeine and healthy electrolytes, you don’t have to say goodbye to all caffeine, just excess caffeine. You’ll feel great all day without any of the guilt.

Want to give caffeine water with electrolytes a try? Buy now and have it shipped directly to your door.