Caffeine is a natural ingredient found in coffee beans, tea leaves, cocoa beans…It is usually most common in coffee and tea, also added to some carbonated drinks, chocolate and headache medications. 

Caffeine, as a natural substance, is classified by the Food and Drug Association, as both a food additive and a drug, as it stimulates the central nervous system causing physiological changes like increased heart rate and alertness.

​How caffeine works

Caffeine acts as a stimulant, it increases alertness. Some people are more sensitive to caffeine than others. For these people, too much caffeine can cause:

Trouble sleeping, irritability, rapid heart rate, headaches…

​Yet some others enjoy their caffeine intake as it provides them the energy and alertness they need. With increased use of caffeine over time, people can become more tolerant and need more caffeine in order to experience the desired effects.

​Caffeine sources 

The most common sources of caffeine and the amounts of caffeine in them.

Safe amounts of caffeine

Caffeine affects people differently, depending on their size, gender and sensitivity to it. Usually, consuming up to 400 mg or four cups of coffee does not cause health problems.

If you think you may be taking in too much caffeine or struggling with your Ramadan fasting because of it, the best approach is to adopt moderation and reduce caffeine intake gradually over several days.

With caffeine, you can go back to the baseline by reducing your intake. This can be done following different strategies.

Method 1: Eliminate all caffeine sources from your diet at once.

 This is the fastest way to break the caffeine habit, however this sudden cutback can cause caffeine withdrawal symptoms for few days during which you might experience headache, fatigue… Warning! this fast method involves a higher tendency to give up.

Method 2: Progressively switch from regular coffee

Try new tips to help you reach your goal:

• Enjoy refreshing water
• Try flavored herbal tea over ice. Some herbal teas need to be avoided during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
• Instead of 3 cups of coffee a day, cut down gradually by having 2 cups of coffee and 1 cup of decaffeinated coffee.

All mentioned methods are effective, but you must decide which one will have the least impact of your lifestyle and would most probably succeed given your circumstances.

​