Caffeine; is it harmful?

Caffeine today is considered the most commonly used mind-altering drug in the world. Some of its benefits include: the ability to make you more alert, improved concentration, enhanced mood and a boost in your energy.

So what's the harm?

Medical experts say that while moderate caffeine intake (200 to 300 milligrams, or about two to four cups of brewed coffee a day) isn't likely to cause harm, too much can noticeably affect your health.

According to staff at the Mayo Clinic, heavy daily caffeine use—more than 500 to 600 mg a day, or about four to seven cups of coffee—can cause the following negative side effects.

Negative Effects of Too Much Caffeine

• Insomnia
• Nervousness
• Restlessness
• Irritability
• Nausea or other gastrointestinal problems
• Fast or irregular heartbeat
• Muscle tremors
• Headaches
• Anxiety

Additionally, it can cause frequent urination, dehydration, jittery hands, and increased anxiety and panic attacks.

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Caffeine Protect from Skin Cancer

Lead researcher Dr. Paul Nghiem, an associate professor of dermatology at the University of Washington in Seattle, states,"We've found what we believe o be the mechanism by which caffeine is associated with decreased skin cancer."

During the study, Nghiem's team looked at caffeine's effect on human skin cells in a laboratory that had been exposed to ultraviolet radiation. They found that in cells damaged by UV rays, caffeine interrupted a protein called ATR-Chk1, causing the damaged cells to self-destruct. 

According to Ngheim, caffeine has no effect on undamaged cells.

ATR is essential to damaged cells that are growing rapidly and caffeine specifically targets damaged cells that can become cancerous. Caffeine more than doubles the number of damaged cells that will die normally after a given dose of UV, added Nghiem. this is a biological mechanism that explains what we have been seeing for many years from the oral intake of caffeine. 

On a topical study, Nghiem has been experimenting by applying caffeine directly on the skin (of mice and humans. According to Nghiem, "It suppresses skin cancer development by as much as 72 percent in mice." (more on website, FloridaSpaGirls.net)