Caffeine Dose & Longevity

Anyone aware of an ideal threshold of caffeine consumption for longevity? I know a lot of this probably depends on the individual.

It’s my favorite drug — I love the performance benefits — but guessing exceeding, say, 300 mg per day can be problematic when it comes to long-term health (especially because of how it can impact sleep, even if you cut it off early in the day).

probably about the best i can find without cracking open academic databases

TL;DR: moderate caffeine consumption (3-5 cups of coffee daily) may be more beneficial than NOT taking it. 5 cups at about 80mg caffeine per should be around 400mg caffeine daily intake.

You should be fine, but long-term studies (say 10 years) are always hard to come by because regular life has a lot of variables that cant be accounted for.

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Studies advocating coffee/caffeine intake to boost health/longevity are usually epidemiological and have little real world application. Further, there are also studies showing potential negative side effects from polyphenols, and that’s without going into the additional downsides of coffee’s roasting process and use of pesticides.

So while it may have performance benefits, not to mention pleasure benefits, I do not think it can be justified for longevity.

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Just to add: Coffee has almost zero calories.

A cup or two in the morning is great for the people around me.

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And appetite-suppressant effects, which help with staying lean

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That’s how I’m feeling…hard to make sense of the literature. It’s probably not horrible for longevity, but probably also not great.

A cup or two for you or for others?

I drink it for them. It’s not about me perking up and getting my fix. It’s about making the world a better place, one cup of happy juice at a time.

This is intended to be humorous.

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Thank you for clarifying :joy:

Caffeine constricts your blood vessels, increases blood pressure, and increases resting pulse. Doing this over and over (daily for many people) is definitely not healthy and on top of that makes you reliant upon a stimulant, also unhealthy.

I’m swedish and consume probably a liter coffee a day, and have been doing so for 30 years. Yet to encounter any issues. Doesn’t prove anything apart from coffee not being toxic in my case.

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As a Swede I feel this overlaps with my periodic coffee consumption. We do consume a lot of coffee, don’t we?

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Yes, industrial amounts! :sweat_smile:

Btw, nice to see a countryman here! Not too many swedes around it seems. But, I realize you have been a resident here for quite some time. Have been lurking your log and congratulate you on great improvement over time! Kanon!

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That’s what I’d think, theoretically, but doesn’t this conflict with the studies that show caffeine can enhance (or at least not seriously harm) longevity?

Everything with health/fitness is this way, but it feels like the effects of caffeine are ESPECIALLY dependent on the individual and other lifestyle factors

Coffee itself has a lot of health benefits but caffeine is no good. I guess drinking decaf would be very beneficial for your health without the downsides of caffeine.

@plinnyc88 interesting thought - might this refute the decaf suggestion?

For anyone interested - as I am cutting back on caffeine, I just ordered some Organifi red juice. I know it won’t give me what caffeine does, but the ingredients (including cordyceps) might help with withdrawals. I’ve heard about it on some podcasts.

I used to work with a Swede of older generation and she said they made coffee by putting it in the kettle with the water and boiling it all together. Saying that, one of my friends is Swedish and you can always be assured of a damn good cup at his house. Strong, black hot as lava but smooth and moreish :coffee::stuck_out_tongue:

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