Of particular concern is the rate of caffeine intake among populations potentially vulnerable to its negative effects. This recent increase in caffeine-containing food products, as well as changes in patterns of consumption of the more traditional sources of caffeine, has increased scrutiny by health authorities and regulatory bodies of the overall consumption of caffeine and its potential cumulative effects on behavior and physiology. Historically, this addition was limited to soda-type beverages, but over the past decade, caffeine has been added to a diverse variety of foods and non-food items to promote arousal, alertness, energy, and elevated mood ( 3– 5). Synthetic caffeine is also added to products to enhance their stimulant properties. Natural sources of dietary caffeine include coffee, tea, and chocolate. It occurs naturally in the leaves and seeds of many plants and has a taste bitter enough to deter pests ( 2). We also identified several gaps in the literature on which we based recommendations for the future of caffeine research.Ĭaffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug in the world ( 1) and one of the most comprehensively studied ingredients in the food supply. We report that, for healthy adults, caffeine consumption is relatively safe, but that for some vulnerable populations, caffeine consumption could be harmful, including impairments in cardiovascular function, sleep, and substance use.
Here, we review the research into the safety and safe doses of ingested caffeine in healthy and in vulnerable populations. Of particular concern is the rate of caffeine intake among populations potentially vulnerable to the negative effects of caffeine consumption: pregnant and lactating women, children and adolescents, young adults, and people with underlying heart or other health conditions, such as mental illness. Over the past decade, the introduction of new caffeine-containing food products, as well as changes in consumption patterns of the more traditional sources of caffeine, has increased scrutiny by health authorities and regulatory bodies about the overall consumption of caffeine and its potential cumulative effects on behavior and physiology. Synthetic caffeine is also added to products to promote arousal, alertness, energy, and elevated mood. Natural sources of caffeine include coffee, tea, and chocolate. Increased aORs were also observed for tea intake but were more attenuated for coffee and soda intake.Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug in the world. We observed an increase in SGA births for mothers with higher caffeine intake, particularly for those consuming 300+ mg of caffeine per day.
Little indication of additive interaction by maternal smoking, vasoconstrictor medication use, or folic acid intake was observed. Increasing aORs were observed for increasing intakes of total caffeine and for each caffeinated beverage with aORs (adjusting for maternal education, high blood pressure, and smoking) ranging from 1.3 to 2.1 for the highest intake categories (300+ mg/day total caffeine and 3+ servings/day for each beverage type). Six hundred forty-eight infants (8.2%) were found to be SGA in this analysis. Interaction with caffeine exposures was assessed for maternal smoking, vasoconstrictor medication use, and folic acid. Crude and adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using unconditional logistic regression. Maternal caffeine exposure was examined as total caffeine intake and individual caffeinated beverage type (coffee, tea, and soda) sex-, race/ethnic-, and parity-specific growth curves were constructed to estimate SGA births. Non-malformed live born infants with an estimated date of delivery from 1997-2007 (n = 7,943) were included in this analysis.
We examined the association between maternal caffeine intake and SGA using National Birth Defects Prevention Study data. Small for gestational age (SGA) is an important perinatal outcome and has been associated with long term complications. Caffeine is consumed in various forms during pregnancy, has increased half-life during pregnancy and crosses the placental barrier.