Caffeine: How much is too much?

In less than an hour you start to feel caffeine’s effects. You’re more alert, energetic and productive. Your mood lifts and that foggy, tired feeling is gone.

If you rely on daily doses of caffeine to chase away fatigue and perk up your disposition, you aren’t alone. Nine out of 10 Americans consume some type of caffeine regularly, making it the most popular behavior-altering drug.

For most people, moderate doses of caffeine — 200 to 300 milligrams (mg), or about two to three cups of brewed coffee a day — aren’t harmful. But some circumstances, such as caffeine sensitivity or use of certain medications, may warrant limiting or even ending your caffeine routine. Find out if you need to decaffeinate your diet and, if so, how you can do it with minimal distress.

When to cut caffeine use

Certain circumstances call for reducing the amount of caffeine you consume. Evaluate your habits. If any of these situations apply, you may need to cut back.

You consume unhealthy amounts
Though moderate caffeine intake isn’t likely to cause harm, too much can noticeably affect your health. Heavy daily caffeine use — more than 500 to 600 mg a day, or about four to seven cups of coffee — can cause:

• Restlessness
• Anxiety
• Irritability
• Muscle tremors
• Sleeplessness
• Headaches
• Nausea, diarrhea or other gastrointestinal problems
• Abnormal heart rhythms

You have caffeine sensitivity
If you’re susceptible to the caffeine’s effects, just small amounts — even one cup of coffee or tea — may prompt unwanted results, such as anxiety, restlessness and irritability. The more sensitive you are to caffeine, the less you need to consume before feeling its influence.

Your sensitivity depends on many factors, including:

• Body mass. People with smaller body masses feel the effects of caffeine sooner than those with larger body masses.
• History of caffeine use. People who don’t regularly consume caffeine tend to be more susceptible to its negative effects than are people who do.
• Stress. All types of stress — for example, psychological stress or heat stress — can increase a person’s sensitivity to caffeine.

Other factors can contribute to variations in caffeine sensitivity as well, including age, smoking habits, drug or hormone use, and other health conditions, such as anxiety disorders.

You’re not sleeping well
Most adults need seven to eight hours of sleep each night. But caffeine can interfere with this much-needed sleep. Chronically losing sleep — whether it’s from work, travel, stress or too much caffeine — results in sleep deprivation. Sleep loss is cumulative, and even small nightly decreases can add up and disturb your daytime function. Sleep deprivation can cause impaired memory, mood swings, lack of concentration, and poor performance at work or school.

Using caffeine to mask sleep deprivation creates an unwelcome cycle. For example, you drink caffeinated beverages because you have trouble staying awake during the day. But the caffeine keeps you from falling asleep at night, shortening the length of time you sleep. Caffeine can also increase the number of times you wake up during the night and can interfere with deep sleep, which makes your night less restful. With less sleep and poor-quality sleep, you’re more tired the next day. To battle the fatigue and to feel more energetic, you reach for your morning jolt of Java.

The best way to break this cycle is to limit your caffeine and to add more hours of quality sleep to your day. Also, avoid caffeinated beverages eight hours before your desired bedtime. Your body doesn’t store caffeine, but it does take many hours for it to eliminate the stimulant and its effects.

You’re taking certain medications and supplements
Certain medications and herbal supplements negatively interact with caffeine. The following are some examples.

• Some antibiotics. Ciprofloxacin (Cipro) and norfloxacin (Noroxin) — types of antibacterial medications — can interfere with the breakdown of caffeine. This may increase the length of time caffeine remains in your body and amplify its unwanted effects.
• Theophylline (Theo-24, Uniphyl, others). This medication — which opens up bronchial airways by relaxing the surrounding muscles (a bronchodilator) — tends to have some caffeine-like effects. Taking this drug along with caffeinated foods and beverages may increase the concentration of theophylline in your blood. This can cause ill effects, such as nausea, vomiting and heart palpitations. If you take theophylline, your doctor may advise that you avoid caffeine.
• Ephedra (ma-huang). This herbal dietary supplement increases your risk of heart attack, stroke, seizures and death. Combined with caffeine, it becomes especially risky. The Food and Drug Administration has banned ephedra in the marketplace because of health concerns. This ban applies to dietary supplements but not herbal teas, which may still contain the herb.

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about whether caffeine might affect your prescription. He or she can best direct you on whether you need to reduce or eliminate caffeine from your diet.

How to curb your caffeine consumption

Caffeine can be habit-forming, so any attempts to stop or lessen the amount you normally consume can be challenging. An abrupt decrease in caffeine can cause withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches, fatigue, irritability and nervousness. These symptoms usually resolve after several days.

To adopt new caffeine habits, try these tips:

• Know how much caffeine is in the foods and beverages you consume. You may be consuming more than you think.
• Gradually reduce the amount of caffeine you consume. For example, drink one less can of soda or drink a smaller cup of coffee each day. This will help your body get used to the lower levels of caffeine and thereby lessen the withdrawal effects.
• Replace caffeinated coffee, tea and soda with their decaffeinated counterparts. Most decaffeinated beverages look and taste the same.
• When preparing tea, brew for less time. This cuts down on its caffeine content. Or choose herbal teas, which don’t contain this stimulant.
• Check the caffeine content in over-the-counter medications that you take. Pain relief or headache medications, such as Excedrin or Anacin, can contain from 65 mg to 130 mg of caffeine in one dose. Switch to caffeine-free versions, if possible.

If you’re like most adults, caffeine is a part of your daily routine. And most often it doesn’t pose a health problem. But be mindful of those situations in which you need to curtail your caffeine consumption.

Shopping strategies for healthy foods

To eat healthy foods, you don’t have to drastically change the way you shop. But these strategies will help ensure you have the right foods to follow your healthy eating plan.

Step 1: Plan ahead

Decide how many major meals you’ll be shopping for. Then, consider the number of food items you’ll need for breakfasts, lunches and snacks. Take an inventory of your staples, such as low-fat milk, fresh fruit and whole grains (brown rice, cereals and pasta).

Step 2: Make a list

A list will make your shopping trip more efficient and help you avoid impulse purchases. Try to stick only to what’s on your list, but don’t let your list prevent you from looking for or trying new healthy foods.

When making your shopping list, use your weight-loss menus as your guide. Make sure your list includes the food items you’ll need to follow the menus. Also, be sure your list includes healthy and convenient snack foods. Suggestions include:

• Baby carrots
• Celery sticks
• Broccoli florets
• Apples
• Oranges
• Pears
• Fresh berries
• Grapes
• Whole-grain bagels
• Animal crackers
• Pretzels
• Salsa and baked tortilla chips
• Low-fat cottage cheese
• Whole-grain snack crackers
• Reduced-calorie, fat-free yogurt

Step 3. Shop the perimeter of the store for fresh foods

Picture your grocery store in your mind. Chances are the fresh produce section, meat and seafood departments, and dairy case are all located on the perimeter. Great, because that’s where to concentrate your shopping when using the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid. Fresh foods are generally better than ready-to-eat foods because you can control what extra ingredients you add.

Step 4. Shop after a good meal

It can be hard to resist buying high-fat, high-calorie snack items, especially when you’re hungry. So set yourself up for success and shop after you’ve eaten a good meal. If you do find yourself shopping on an empty stomach, drink some water or buy a piece of fruit to munch on.

Step 5. Read food labels

Since May 1994, packaged goods sold in the United States have carried the Nutrition Facts label. This panel is an at-a-glance method for verifying how a food fits into a typical weight management plan. Each label contains information pertaining to serving size, calories, nutrients and Daily Values. This information can inform you about foods that are healthy, and warn you of those that aren’t so healthy — often those that are highly processed or refined. Routinely checking food labels helps you compare the nutritional qualities of similar products.

Men Need More Fruits and Vegetables A Day

Do you know that men need to eat more fruits and vegetables than women?
The National 5 A Day program is encouraging men, who have greater health risks than women for some diseases, to shoot for nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day and women to aim for seven servings a day.

Fruits and vegetables contain many powerful and important nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, fiber and disease-fighting phytochemicals, and that helps reduce the risk of many cancers, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Why do men need more than women?

The recommended servings are greater for men because more than two-thirds of men are overweight or obese, and men have a higher death rate for certain diseases than women.

Those diseases include:

• Cardiovascular disease (1 times greater)
• Lung cancer (About two times as high)
• Colorectal cancer (1 times greater)

Among Americans, at least 58 million have some form of cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, and 8.2 million Americans have a history of cancer.

How much equals one serving?

• cup fruit juice
• 1 medium banana
• 1 cup chopped or diced raw vegetables
• 1 medium apple
• cup cooked vegetables
• cup dried fruit
• cup cooked beans or peas

One serving of fruit or vegetables should fit in the palm of your hand. It’s a lot smaller than most people think.

How can you increase your intake of fruits and vegetables?

• Have fresh fruit in the morning
• Snack on fresh fruit throughout the day
• Eat a big salad at lunch
• Snack on raw vegetables with a healthful dip
• Eat at least two vegetables with dinner
• Add beans and peas to salads

Skinny Trimmings

Trying to slim down but can’t bear the thought of giving up your daily dish of dulce de leche fro-yo? No problem. Too much deprivation is bad for dieters — trimming more than 500 calories a day can slow down your metabolism and trigger cravings intense enough to sabotage even the most valiant weight-loss efforts, according to Cynthia Sass, R.D., coauthor of Your Diet Is Driving Me Crazy. So the only question is: How fast do you want to lose the weight? Whether your goal is to shed a pound a week (the amount you can lose if you cut 500 calories a day) or a pound a month (if you cut 100), we’ve got the tricks and tips you need to kiss those extra pounds goodbye — without kissing off cake.

To Lose 1 Pound Per Week
Dodge dining-out disasters
Even your seemingly healthy grilled swordfish and vegetables can pack more calories and fat than a stick of butter. “Many restaurant meals contain up to 2 ounces of added oil [500 calories],” says Anita Jones, founder of the Healthy Dining Program, which analyzes the nutritional content of restaurant food. Pasta dishes are notorious: Oil is used throughout the cooking process and added to sauces and cooked noodles. Stick with steamed veggies and grilled, poached, or broiled lean protein (like poultry and fish), and ask the chef to prepare your dishes without oil. Or just cook meals at home instead of eating out.

Careful With That Cappuccino
Vanilla shots, caramel, sugar packets — they’re not harmless just because they’re in your cup of joe. A large white-chocolate mocha with whipped cream from Starbucks logs in at 630 calories (the whip alone has 100!). Get your sweet fix with two shots of sugar-free vanilla syrup in a medium cappuccino with soy or fat-free milk and kick 500 empty calories to the curb.

Dress Down
“Most entrée salads at restaurants are pre-dressed with 6 to 10 tablespoons of dressing,” Jones says. “And most dressings have 70 to 100 calories per tablespoon and 7 to 10 grams of fat.” That’s an average of 680 calories just for the dressing (let’s not even get into croutons and bacon bits). Order dressing on the side and dip into it sparingly with your fork between bites — you’ll cut back to about 2 tablespoons (roughly 175 calories).

Lighten Up At Happy Hour
If it tastes sweet or has a salty rim, it’s usually bad news — think cosmos, lemon drops, and appletinis. Most cocktails have 2 to 5 ounces of liquor. Add in 5 ounces of sugary syrups or mixers like cola, grenadine, and Midori and you can down more than 700 calories in just one drink. Stay away from Margaritaville (and below 100 calories) by pairing your liquor with diet or club soda. Or go for a bottle of light beer or a 5-ounce glass of chardonnay, which contain around 125 calories each. Sorry, Jimmy.

To Lose 1 Pound Every 2 Weeks
Cut Out 300 Calories A Day

HERE’S HOW
Be Tricky In The Kitchen
For leaner cuisine — and to save 115 calories — swap out that tablespoon of olive oil for canola or olive oil cooking spray. Sauté vegetables and fish with 1/4 cup of broth rather than 1 tablespoon of butter and trim 100 more. Replace the quarter cup of heavy cream in Alfredo and cheese sauces with the same amount of skim milk mixed with 2 tablespoons of flour — bam, another 150.

Switch Dishes
The larger the serving dish, the more you’re likely to consume, according to recent research in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Downsize your ice cream bowl and serve that fettuccine on a 9-inch appetizer plate instead of a standard 11-inch dish — you can save up to 300 calories in a day, says Jenna Anding, Ph.D., associate professor of nutrition and food science at Texas A&M University. Dining out? Cut your entreé in half and doggie-bag it as soon as your food arrives.

Skip The Sweet Swill
“One of the easiest ways to uncover hidden calories is to look at your beverage consumption,” Sass says. American women get up to 300 more calories a day now than they did 30 years ago. At least half of those come from sweetened beverages like soda and fruit juice, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. A 20-ounce bottle of Arizona Iced Tea has 240 calories — about as much as a small meal. Ditch the sports drinks, fruit punch, and Slurpees and get your produce nutrients from whole fruit instead of juice — a 1-pint carton of Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice has 220 calories. An orange? About 35.

Pare Down Your PMS Picks
Forgo the cup of Ben & Jerry’s for the same amount of low-fat ice cream. Slow-Churned Dreyer’s Grand Light Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough has only 260 calories per cup. The B&J version? 540 calories. Yeah, we know that eating Ben & Jerry’s is as close as any of us is likely to get to paradise on earth. So if you just can’t live without the boys, mix 2 tablespoons into a cup of the skinnier stuff and you’ll still save 250 calories.

To Lose 1 Pound Per Month
Cut Out 100 Calories A Day

HERE’S HOW
Buy Skinnier Bread
The calorie content in different brands can vary as wildly as Anna Nicole’s “before” and “after” shots. For example, Milton’s Healthy Whole Grain packs 90 calories a slice, while Sara Lee Delightful Wheat weighs in at just 45. Switch brands and you cut your sandwich calories by 90. Better yet, wrap your cold cuts in lettuce — a big leaf of romaine has only 10 calories.

Trade Up Your Toppings
Swap the half-cup of guacamole on your burrito for an equal amount of salsa and spare yourself 150 calories. Get the same savings by using salsa in place of the sour cream on your baked potato and the mayo on your wrap. Other tricks of the topping trade: Swap Gorgonzola for grated Parmesan, dip vegetables into hummus instead of ranch dressing, and sprinkle salads with lightly toasted pecans rather than oil-soaked croutons.

Turn Off The Tube
We know Laguna Beach reruns can be just as tempting as tiramisu, but too many hours in front of your plasma screen can wreak havoc on your waistline. Researchers from Georgia State University found that people took in up to 130 more calories on days when they ate in front of the TV than on days when they left the remote alone.

Spritz Up Your Vino
Mix 3 ounces of club soda with 3 ounces of wine and your drink will have about 60 calories. If you usually have two glasses of Shiraz, substituting the bubbly stuff will save you about 120 calories. An added bonus: Research shows that moderate drinking (one drink daily for women) may increase levels of leptin, a natural hormone that curbs the appetite for sweets.

Camouflage Your Candy
A study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that office workers who kept candy within reach in a clear dish ate three times as much as those who kept it farther away in an opaque container. That’s a 150-calorie difference. If you’ve gotta have a Godiva stash, make sure it’s out of sight and that you have to work (at least a little) to get to it.

Bulk Up
Eating low-cal, fiber-rich foods before a meal — think fruits, vegetables, and broth-based soups — can help reduce your total calorie intake. A study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that women who ate a 100-calorie salad before their meal consumed 12 percent less — 107 fewer calories — overall (salad included) than those who skipped the leafy appetizer. Make your first course a cup of veggie soup or 2 cups of mixed salad with reduced-fat cheese and fat-free dressing. Now get chopping!

Flip the Fat Switch

According to its publicist, sugar is a health food. After all, it contains zero fat, provides instant energy, and makes almost any food taste better. But these attributes are all trumped by a physiological fact: Sugar makes you fat. That may seem like a given, but by understanding why, you can minimize sugar’s harmful effects and create a leaner, healthier body.

Eating sugar is like flipping a switch that tells your body to store fat. And sugar is everywhere — not just in soda, candy, and desserts. It’s disguised in refined carbohydrates like bread, rice, and pasta, and even in beer and milk. Your body can’t tell the difference — it quickly digests and absorbs all these sugars into your bloodstream as glucose.

This means most men eat the equivalent of a high-sugar diet — even if they’ve sworn off sweets. Case in point: During digestion, one slice of white bread is converted into the same amount of glucose as 4 tablespoons of sugar.

Here’s what happens: Every time you eat sugar, your blood-glucose level rises quickly. In turn, this stimulates the release of insulin, a powerful hormone that signals your body to store fat. There’s also a dose response: The more sugar you down at any one time — resulting in a greater rise in blood glucose and, consequently, in insulin — the longer you stay in fat-storage mode.

Of course, you may not be ready to give up sandwiches, fried rice, and spaghetti. But use the cutting-edge strategies that follow and you can slow the rate at which sugar is absorbed into your bloodstream. The payoff: You’ll diminish the impact any food has on your glucose levels — and on your body’s ability to burn fat. Consider it nutritional damage control. And the benefits extend beyond the physiology of fat metabolism. Research shows that keeping blood-glucose levels in check decreases appetite and reduces the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Fortunately, that’s not just industry marketing hype; it’s a scientific reality.

Skip the granola bar
Ohio State University scientists recently studied the effects of three popular energy bars containing varying amounts of carbohydrates — low, moderate, and high — on blood glucose in 20 people. Compared with the effects of white bread, blood-glucose levels were 71 percent lower after an Atkins Advantage Bar, 50 percent lower after a Balance Bar, and just 4 percent lower after a PowerBar. If you want a convenient snack, avoid most breakfast, cereal, and “performance” bars — they’re full of sugar. Instead, choose a product like Atkins Advantage, which contains just 21 grams (g) of carbohydrates.

Douse your salad with vinaigrette
In a 2005 study, Swedish researchers observed that when people consumed 2 tablespoons of vinegar with three slices of white bread, their blood glucose was 23 percent lower than when they ate white bread only; they also felt more full. Credit acetic acid, a primary component of vinegar, dressings, and pickled products. The advice: Order extra pickles on sandwiches and begin any high-carbohydrate meal with a side salad that’s mixed with a vinegar-based dressing, such as balsamic vinaigrette or Italian. Or make your own vinegar-and-oil dressing by slowly whisking 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a bowl containing 2 tablespoons of red or white vinegar.

Pop a fiber pill
Researchers in Taiwan found that taking 1.2 g glucomannan — a soluble fiber made from the Japanese konjac root — 30 minutes before eating white toast led to a 28 percent reduction in blood glucose 2 hours afterward, compared with having none of the fiber supplement. Better yet, when people took that same amount of glucomannan before each meal three times a day, they reduced LDL (bad) cholesterol by 21 percent in just 4 weeks. Look for Nature’s Way glucomannan: One serving contains 2 g of the fiber, a safe and effective amount to take 15 to 30 minutes before any meal ($15; vitacost.com).

Eat java-friendly foods
Canadian researchers discovered that men who downed the caffeine equivalent of 1 to 2 cups of coffee an hour before a high-sugar meal experienced 16 percent higher levels of blood glucose afterward, compared with when they consumed a caffeine-free placebo. An important point: When it’s not paired with sugar, caffeine increases the rate at which your body burns fat. So, whenever possible, drink the coffee but skip the doughnut, muffin, or bagel. Opt for breakfast foods like eggs and fruit instead; they have little or no effect on blood glucose.

Add some metal to your diet
In a recent study, Swiss scientists gave men a single 400 microgram (mcg) dose of chromium picolinate before a high-carbohydrate meal. Subsequently, the men’s blood-glucose levels were 23 percent lower than when they ate the same meal without the supplement. Try it yourself, but make sure the mineral name includes “picolinate”; the compound is the form of chromium that your body can most readily use. Our choice: GNC Chromium Picolinate 400 ($7 for 90 tablets; available at drugstore.com). Don’t double your dose; the researchers found that 800 mcg was no more effective than 400.

Pump iron first thing in the morning
Scientists at Syracuse University recently found that a single weight-training session reduces the effect of a high-sugar meal on blood glucose by 15 percent for more than 12 hours after a workout. The likely reason: Exercise drains your muscles’ fuel reserves — stored glucose known as glycogen. To ensure that you have plenty of energy for your next workout, your body immediately shuttles any available glucose to your muscles, where it’s packed away for future use — helping to reduce blood-glucose levels. So until glycogen levels are replenished, which can take several hours, high-sugar foods aren’t as detrimental. Because aerobic exercise calls on glycogen, too, you can expect a similar effect from your cardio session.

Try a natural supplement
When University of Scranton researchers gave study participants 1,500 milligrams of Phaseolus vulgaris extract (derived from white kidney beans) before a high-sugar meal, the test subjects’ blood-glucose levels were 57 percent lower 2 hours later, compared with when they consumed a placebo. The mechanism? Phaseolus vulgaris inhibits the enzyme that breaks down starchy carbohydrates — any type of grain or potato — in your gut. The product tested in the study was Phase 2 Starch Blocker; look for it online at cvs.com ($25 for 120 capsules).