The coffee jitters is that edgy feeling you get when you drink too much coffee and have too much caffeine. This edgy feeling comes because the caffeine in coffee causes you to be stressed. Once that happens, your body sends out adrenaline to deal with the stress.
The increase in adrenaline, then causes you to sweat a lot, gives you high blood pressure and some people experience heart palpitations. Of course, you can get the coffee jitters from drinking caffeinated tea, soft drinks and even energy drinks.
The actual name should be called caffeine jitters because it is the caffeine in the coffee, not the coffee itself, which causes these jitters. If you drink a variety of caffeinated beverages, then you can get the coffee jitters.
How to Get Rid of Coffee Jitters
You may be wondering, how long does it take to get caffeine out of your system? The answer is a “depends” answer. It depends on how many cups of coffee you have had; it depends on your tolerance levels for caffeine; and it depends on the severity of the symptoms as well as your sensitivity to caffeine.
Here are 7 ways on how to stop coffee jitters:
1
Drink Water
You will want to drink a lot of water so you flush the caffeine out of your system quickly.
2
Drink Herbal Tea
This is a good way to flush the caffeine out of your system and the herbal tea should help you relax
3
Stay on the Move
You need to use up that extra adrenaline being sent to combat the effects of caffeine. The right way to do that is to get physically active and stay that way until the jitters go
4
Eat a Banana
...or two. The magnesium contained in a banana helps get rid of caffeine and the jitters
5
Eat Some Dark Chocolate
This style of chocolate is another great source of magnesium but be careful chocolate also contains caffeine. Don’t eat white chocolate as the sugar content aids the jitters not rid your system of them
6
Eat Healthy Fats
Not only do the healthy fats protect against heart disease, but they also absorb caffeine.
7
Get Plenty of Rest
Slow down, relax your body, do some yoga, take deep breathes, listen to calming music or even read and write
How to Counteract too Much Caffeine
If you have a little self-discipline, then there are some good ways to counteract the effects of caffeine. But it will take a little willpower to achieve this objective. Here are 5 ways you can use to make sure you do not get the jitters that come with drinking too much caffeine:
Cut your amount down - in other words, if you have a 20-ounce cup, do not fill it full with coffee. Cut back to 10 ounces and still enjoy the great coffee taste without putting too much caffeine inside of you.
Cut down the frequency - in this case, you stop drinking coffee every hour on the half-hour. Instead, drink about 1 cup in the morning with your breakfast, another at noon with your lunch and a third at supper.
Sip your coffee - if you can’t follow the advice given in point 2, then try to sip your coffee, nursing it along instead of taking big mouthfuls. The longer one cup of coffee lasts, the less caffeine you get in your system
Use real cream - skip lesser creams or fake creams as well as real sugar. Go with whole milk, real creme and honey. The natural fats and sugars these additives help balance your blood sugar as well as stop coffee from raising your stress levels.
Eat something - do not drink coffee on an empty stomach. Make sure you have some food with your coffee. That is, make sure to eat healthy foods when you drink your cup of coffee. The food keeps your energy levels up and does not leave you as tired.
FAQs on Caffeine Jitters
Does Vitamin C Counteract Caffeine
The good news is yesit does help counteract caffeine. It is said that most people can handle about 200 to 300 milligrams of caffeine per day, That amount equals about 2 to 3 cups of coffee per day.
Your real trouble comes in when your coffee intake hits about 500 milligrams per day. That is when you may start to experience the jitters, get insomnia, become restless and so on.
What caffeine does is attack and change the levels of your plasma, whole blood and leukocyte levels regulated by vitamin C. These changes can give you a vitamin deficiency,
Eating fruits high in Vitamin C 1 to 3 times a day should counteract the caffeine effect and keep your body nice and healthy. You should also add in a banana or two as well.
If you do not want to suffer from the coffee or caffeine jitters, then go to a good fruit snack to make sure they do not appear at any time throughout your day.
Can Caffeine Make You Dizzy
Again, the answer to the question is in the positive. Yes, too much caffeine can make you dizzy. The reason for that effect is that caffeine reduces blood flow to your brain. This reduction, in turn, causes your brain to lose power and the dizzy feeling comes into play.
Tobacco and other products that stimulate your system produces the same effect if you use them too often and ingest too much of each one. This includes caffeine. If you drink a lot of caffeinated drinks, then you can expect to feel dizzy at some point in your day.
Does Coffee Make You Sweat
It is not usually the heat of your coffee that does the trick. The caffeine in each cup of coffee you drink will make changes to your nervous system. This change triggers a reaction by your body to help control your internal temperature. That reaction is sweating.
If you do not like sweating, here are some tips to help you avoid getting the coffee sweats that come with the caffeine in your treasured cup of coffee:
Control your caffeine intake - you do this by brewing your own coffee using those blends that do not have a lot of caffeine in them
Monitor your grind levels - in other words, don’t just throw a lot of coffee in the filter, etc. This may give you a lot of extra caffeine you did not know about. Measure your ground portions to make sure no extra caffeine gets inside your cup
Cut down on caffeinated drinks - one way to stop the sweats is to cut back on energy drinks and other stimulants that have large amounts of caffeine in them. This includes cutting back on soft drinks as well.
Try tea - tea has about half the caffeine as coffee, making it a healthier beverage for you and helps cut out the sweats.
There is always decaf - we know you might not save face if you make the switch, but the switch may be very beneficial to you and you may get the last laugh over other coffee drinkers
Cut the brew time down - the longer the coffee brews, the more caffeine gets into every cup of coffee. The shorter the brew time the less caffeine in your coffee
Eat something - one way to stop the coffee sweats is to eat something as you drink. Food helps absorb caffeine and can reduce the sweats without giving up your cup of coffee.
How Long Does It Take to Get Caffeine out of Your System
A better question would be is how long does caffeine stay in your system? This is an easier question to answer. For average people, the half-life of caffeine is between 3 and 5 hours.
If you are not an average person, then you are looking at up to 9 1.2 hours before half the caffeine is gone and just over 2 days for it to totally disappear from your body.
What keeps caffeine in your system longer are a few influential factors:
Your age - the older you get, the harder it is to get rid of caffeine
Body size - people who are tall and heavy get rid of caffeine faster than those who are short and light
Genetics - you need the right genes to get rid of caffeine quickly
Liver & kidney function - if these internal organs are healthy, then the removal of caffeine is faster
Smoking - believe it or not smoking does come with one benefit. Smokers remove caffeine faster than non-smokers
These are just a few of the many influential factors that play a part in caffeine removal. Needless to say, if you are constantly drinking caffeinated drinks, you are not getting rid of all the caffeine by accumulating it.
This accumulation will bring on a lot of the bad side effects that come with caffeine.
The Side Effects of Caffeine
While caffeine is rarely harmful, it is possible to overdose on it. The overdoes is measured by the symptoms, not the quantity consumed. Here are those side effects if you drink too much caffeine:
Dizziness
Breathing difficulty
Convulsions
Diarrhea
Fever
Irregular heartbeat
Vomiting
Twitchiness
If you have a cardiovascular problem, irritable bowel syndrome, osteoporosis, and ulcers, then you should stay away from caffeine. Then if you are taking certain medications, for example, drugs for schizophrenia, asthma, and so on, then caffeine may affect those drugs and make things worse for you.
Check with your doctor when prescribed medication if caffeine can be taken at the same time.
Final Words
Coffee is great and it can be very healthy for you. What isn’t healthy for you is the caffeine inside each cup of coffee you drink. If you can resist temptation then it is possible to control your caffeine intake and let the benefits of coffee lead you to a healthier way to live.
It is not hard to avoid the caffeine jitters either.
Sabrina is the main editor at WhyNotCoffee.com. She has five years of experience producing coffee in Dak Lak, Vietnam. She is a coffee enthusiast who enjoys trying different varieties and brewing methods.
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