Every generation has some product/ingredient that they didn’t know was dangerous at the time: tobacco, lead, asbestos, etc. What is that item for this generation?

Jpopy@lemmy.world to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 717 points –
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Please, please, please, don’t be caffeine! 🤞

Coffee has been around for thousands of years but I'm pretty sure %100 pure caffeine could kill if you ingested enough at once

This mystery can be resolved by googling 'ld50 caffeine.' ~750mg is toxic and 10,000mg can kill people

The median lethal dose (LD50) of caffeine is estimated between 150 to 200 mg per kilogram but reports of lethal intoxications have been made with doses as low as 57 mg per kilogram. Personally, 300mg is pretty much as far as I want to go.

Caffeine isn't terrible for you in moderate amounts, and coffee is actually a decent source or antioxidants especially if you don't get them elsewhere in your diet, but this is independent of caffeine itself (decaf has antioxidants). Daily high doses of caffeine is definitely bad for your health, and can negatively impact other health issues you may have such as anxiety, depression, etc. Do your research, talk to your doctor, and consider decreasing your daily intake.

What's the threshold for "high doses"?

According to Google, 400 mg (~4 cups of coffee or 10 cans of soda) per day is when you run into health risks, while 1200 mg in a short time span is overdose territory.

If you're drinking 10 cans of soda a day you got much bigger problems than caffeine.

True. But I could see some people reaching 400 mg with like two coffees, an energy drink, and a couple cans of soda.

Too bad they don’t list caffeine on the nutrition facts. Who knows how much you get.

For what, soda? Looking at a Mountain Dew right now and it says 54mg caffeine. It’s next to the nutrition facts but not in the box itself

Cool, I’ll look for it. I haven’t bought soda in many years. More interested in coffee. I still don’t know if “breakfast coffee” has more or less than “half caff”.

Breakfast blend is unspecific, but it's a mix of normal, not decaf coffee, aimed at being smooth, not too bold or acidic etc. Half caff is a blend of decaf and normal beans, so breakfast will have approximately twice as much caffeine. Light/dark roast and specific coffee bean type used will vary the caffeine levels.

I should have specified I specifically mean Folgers. I can see that the way you make it will affect the caffeine level. But they should still specify a amount for if it is made in a “standardized” way. That at least lets you compare things by their labels, while standing there in the store. Folgers only says their half calf is “darker” than breakfast, which I assume just means the flavor.

I'm no scientist, but I've been in the coffee industry for a long time. I would say more than 500mg per day is a lot. 200-300mg per day seems to be a nice sweet spot. That's about 12-16oz of brewed specialty coffee.

Once again, I'm not a food scientist, but I believe other ingredients you find in energy drinks can compound the effects of caffeine. Similar to how alcohol mixed with certain medications with fuck up your liver really fast.