Caffeine in the Diet: Country-Level Consumption and Guidelines

Abstract

Coffee, tea, caffeinated soda, and energy drinks are important sources of caffeine in the diet but each present with other unique nutritional properties. We review how our increased knowledge and concern with regard to caffeine in the diet and its impact on human health has been translated into food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG). Using the Food and Agriculture Organization list of 90 countries with FBDG as a starting point, we found reference to caffeine or caffeine-containing beverages (CCB) in 81 FBDG and CCB consumption data (volume sales) for 56 of these countries. Tea and soda are the leading CCB sold in African and Asian/Pacific countries while coffee and soda are preferred in Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Key themes observed across FBDG include (i) caffeine-intake upper limits to avoid risks, (ii) CCB as replacements for plain water, (iii) CCB as added-sugar sources, and (iv) health benefits of CCB consumption. In summary, FBDG provide an unfavorable view of CCB by noting their potential adverse/unknown effects on special populations and their high sugar content, as well as their diuretic, psycho-stimulating, and nutrient inhibitory properties. Few FBDG balanced these messages with recent data supporting potential benefits of specific beverage types.

Plasma metabolite biomarkers of boiled and filtered coffee intake and their association with type 2 diabetes risk

“…Both questionnaires had identical questions for coffee intake, that is one for filtered and one for boiled coffee [11,24,30,32]. In the investigated population at baseline, the intake of both boiled and filtered coffee estimated by FFQ, scored from 0 to 8 according to consumption frequencies, reflecting never (0), a few times/year (1), 1-3 times/month (2), 1 time/ week (3), 2-3 times/week (4), 4-6 times/week (5), 1 occasion/ day (6), 2-3 occasions/day (7) and 4 occasions/day (8). The categorical scores were transformed into occasions per day and were subjected to further analysis (Table S1).…”

Caffeine-induced Plasticity of Grey Matter Volume in Healthy Brains: A placebo-controlled multimodal within-subject study

“…Caffeine is the most commonly used psychostimulant worldwide and mainly consumed in forms of coffee, tea, energy drink, and soda [1][2][3][4] . Although caffeine is mostly considered to be non-addictive, the observed physical and psychological dependence 5,6 consolidate its regular consumption [7][8][9] through the caffeineinduced reinforcing effects 10 , as well as the motive to resist withdrawal symptoms 11 and to increase alertness 12 .…”

High Risk in Energy Drinks: Caffeine

“…36 Dünyadaki duruma değinilecek olursa; Danimarka, Norveç, Uruguay, İsveç, Litvanya, Letonya ve İzlanda, çocuklara veya 18 yaşından küçüklere yapılan satışları yasaklamış veya sınırlandırmıştır; Macaristan ve Meksika ise enerji içeceklerine ek vergi uygulamaktadır. 37 Ülkemizde enerji içeceği hakkında yasal düzenlemeler mevcut olmasına rağmen denetimlerin yeterli seviyede olmaması nedeni ile gençler ve çocuklar bu içecekleri kolaylıkla temin edebilmektedir. WHO ve diğer kuruluşların konu hakkındaki ucu açık açıklamaları, enerji içeceklerindeki kafein miktarlarının tartışmaya açık olduğunu, hâlihazırdaki kısıtlamaların ve kontrollerin gerekli düzeyde olmadığını göstermektedir.…”