Caffeine Intoxication

This article reports on the varying levels of caffeine served in espresso coffee in different coffee shops. They mention that the general assumption that a cup of strong coffee contains 50 mg caffeine is misleading. They found levels ranging from 51 mg to 321mg and many were over 200mg per cup. 

They note that this could be increasing the risk of miscarriage as previous research found that women who drank more than 200mg caffeine per day had increased risk of miscarriage compared to women who drank none. According to Dr Euan Paul of the British Coffee Association current advice is that 400-500mg caffeine per day is safe for adults and may confer some health benefits and that pregnant women should restrict to 200mg per day. 

However, from an esoteric and energetic perspective, caffeine is harming to the body at any level and as such there is no ‘safe’ level of consumption. It is a nervous system stimulant and thus disrupts the true harmony of the body and this can be easily felt. A quick search on the internet will also reveal the many known harming effects of caffeine consumption.

The real question is – how are we living each day that we need to use such stimulants in order to keep us going? What are we doing that has us so exhausted that we need artificial stimulants like caffeine to get us through the day?? By addressing the underlying issues and lifestyle that results in exhaustion and hence the need for stimulants we can develop a way of living that leads to true vitality, harmony and well-being without the need for such stimulants. 

I use to ignore the fact that if I drank 2 or more cups of strong filter coffee I would get a sore head – a message that what I was taking in wasn’t really that good for me. I was also dismissive of ‘caffeine withdrawal’ until I experienced it – twice. The first time I was away for a few days with no apparent access to coffee. I began to feel unwell, flu-like symptoms, sore joints, really tried, very sore head and pretty awful all round. After 36 hours of this, I did find some coffee and the symptoms abated after re-loading my system. However, I wasn’t totally convinced this was caffeine withdrawal so I did an experiment and deliberately stopped drinking it again a few weeks later to see what happened and sure enough the same symptoms returned. I thought if caffeine is altering me so much that when I stop it I am getting ill – then time to stop it. It was clearly not having a healthy effect on my body. 

So I gradually weaned myself off and converted to herbal teas – but even then I got caught out. I was initally unaware that green tea had caffeine – though funny enough I only drank it in the morning! Again, however I found myself away and after having peppermint tea one morning instead of green tea began to get the same symptoms of headache, tired, aching and thus came to realise there was caffeine in green tea as well and that too was set aside.  

The point is, the body is designed to be harmonious without the need for any stimulants. When we do artificially stimulate it, then we can also experience the symptoms of withdrawal from that artificial state when we stop consuming the toxin. By addressing the reasons for needing stimulation – eg exhaustion, over-working, going to bed late, burning the candle at both ends, being emotional, taking on too much, not saying no when we really feel to, not speaking or honouring one’s true feelings and much more besides we can develop a way of living and being that is vital and harmomious without the need for such stimulants.

Not only that, but the effects of consuming such stimulants are then so clearly felt to be harming to the body that it becomes easy to just say no….without the need for any scientific research to affirm what can already be clearly felt in the body. 

Anything that artificially arises the body out of the pure stillness, joy and harmony that is naturally contained within is clearly felt to be harming. The body is the marker of truth and by listening to it, it can tell us very easily and simply what is good and healthy for it and what is not. Our job is to listen to it and honour its messages and not override it as I did with coffee and alcohol for example. Of course there is a bigger picture to that also – the underlying reasons why we override the true feelings and messages from the body and persist with that which in-truth we know is harming…..but that would take another blog!!

Feel free to share your experiences with coffee. Have you noticed how it affects you or have you had any consequences of withdrawal? Have you been able to discern the underlying reasons why you needed to drink coffee in the first place?