# Anything wrong with caffeine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 14, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-wrong-with-caffeine/175213 "2003-05-14T15:16:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-wrong-with-caffeine/175213/1 "2003-05-14T15:16:06Z")
OK, cigarette and marijuana smoking causes lung cancer (both to users and to innocent bystanders). Alcohol can kill brain cells and can impair both judgment and motor skills. Hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin tend to induce paranoia and can lead to all sorts of socially destructive behavior. Caffeine consumption, on the other hand, seems like a rather benign vice. The worst I’ve ever heard about caffeine was that it could lead to lower birth weight if a pregnant mother ingests too much of it, but even that was later disproved (I believe). Besides, I’m a guy, so I’m not too worried about giving birth to underweight children. Are there any known dangers or risks associated with caffeine? I’m assuming that it’s possible to overdose on the stuff to deleterious effect, but I’m talking about moderate consumption here. I know that if you try to give up caffeine cold turkey you can suffer headaches for a short period of a week or so, but aside from the fact that this isn’t much danger, you can avoid this problem simply by continuing to ingest the caffeine. In other words, are there any good arguments against caffeine in moderate doses? Regards, Barry ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-wrong-with-caffeine/175213/2 "2003-05-14T16:04:23Z")
Well, I’ve frequently been addicted to it, and then when I don’t have any I get pretty bad headaches. ---
**Author:** ![Engywook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bc8723/32.png) [@Engywook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engywook)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-wrong-with-caffeine/175213/3 "2003-05-14T16:07:12Z")
Yeah, it does put some strain on the heart. Especially if combined with lots of other vices (for example, booze and cigarettes), drinking about five cups of coffee every morning for years and years could land you in the hospital. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-wrong-with-caffeine/175213/4 "2003-05-14T16:23:45Z")
According to [SupplementWatch](http://www.supplementwatch.com/supatoz/supplement.asp?supplementId=62), it doesn’t seem to be too bad. ---
**Author:** ![netscape\_6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8c91f0/32.png) [@netscape\_6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/netscape_6)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-wrong-with-caffeine/175213/5 "2003-05-14T16:50:00Z")
i sleep a lot better since i switched to caffine free tea (which i drink 2 gallons a day). i discovered this after i accedently bought caffine free tea one week. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-wrong-with-caffeine/175213/6 "2003-05-14T17:02:44Z")
[I don’t think it causes kidney stones](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=155920), if that helps. 🙂 Also, what’s considered an overdose in caffeine? 6mg per kg of body mass per day? ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-wrong-with-caffeine/175213/7 "2003-05-14T17:20:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by netscape 6 \* > \*\*i sleep a lot better since i switched to caffine free tea (which i drink 2 gallons a day). i discovered this after i accedently bought caffine free tea one week. \*\* Well, you may sleep better, but the lack of caffeine seems to have affected your spelling… 😃 Barry ---
**Author:** ![Araby76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Araby76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Araby76)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-wrong-with-caffeine/175213/8 "2003-05-14T22:52:04Z")
I heard on a radio show that caffeine actually improves memory and repairs it. I haven’t looked around to see if it’s true, but it was good enough for me.