If you were asked to name sources of caffeine, perhaps you'd list green teas, venti lattes or just plain coffee. But the stimulant pops up in some every day items, and consumption of these stealthy sources could potentially lead to everything from unexpected jitters to insomnia.
According to the Mayo Clinic, 400 mg (roughly four cups of coffee) is the recommended amount of caffeine for healthy adults to consume each day. Anything greater could contribute to insomnia, nervousness, elevated heart rate and other such effects. If you’re pregnant, have a health condition or are particularly sensitive to caffeine, then overdosing on it could have even more serious effects.
And considering that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require manufacturers to label how much caffeine is contained in their beverages, food, supplements and other consumables, we could potentially be upping their daily levels without realizing it. To ensure you're informed, here are six unexpected sources of the stimulant.
Decaf coffee
That's right. Coffee beans are stripped of their caffeine through a process that involves dousing them in a chemical bath. Said process, however, doesn’t rid the beans of all of their stimulant. According to data gathered together by Mayo Clinic, a single eight-ounce cup of brewed decaffeinated coffee may contain 2 - 12 mg of caffeine. If a consumer orders a ‘venti’ brewed decaf coffee at Starbucks (which begs the question of why anyone would order that much decaf), they’ll be consuming 30 mg of caffeine, per Caffeine Informer’s Starbucks’ caffeine chart.
Decaf brewed coffee isn’t the only café order with an unexpected dose of “whoa.” Decaf espresso also contains traces of caffeine — in fact, one shot can have anywhere from 3 - 15.8mg of caffeine. While this may not be as extreme as, say, popping a Zantrex 3 (which apparently has around 300 mg of caffeine per two capsules), it's still something to keep in mind — especially if you're looking to avoid caffeine altogether.
Weight loss pills
Despite an initial drop in sales for dietary supplements due to studies showing that many ingredients and benefits in said supplements are questionable at best, sales, weirdly, continue to grow. But if you're still ingesting pill and powders in hopes of going down a few belt notches, be aware: manufacturers are notorious for taking advantage of the fact that they aren’t required to report their caffeine quantities, or even mention that caffeine is present at all. Therefore, a supplement consumer could conceivably go over the recommended daily amount of caffeine with just a pill or two.
According to a 2004 USDA report, out of 63 dietary supplements studied, 10 of them had 201 - 300 mg of caffeine per serving. In fact, if taken at the maximum recommended amounts per the label, more than 50 percent of those supplements offer 200 mg of caffeine per day. Meaning? More caffeine than two cups of brewed coffee. In fact, in 2015, government researchers found that, of the roughly 23,000 people who reported to an emergency department due to issues with supplements or vitamins, more than half of those visits were due rapid heartbeat, chest pain or heart palpitations due to weight loss or energy supplements.
Pain relievers
Caffeine is a go-to ingredient for many over-the-counter drugs that treat pain — specifically headaches. Why? Because just like your average American office worker, pain relievers work faster and better with caffeine. But it's good to know that taking something for a pulsing head can be the equivalent of downing a cup or more of coffee. According to the Cleveland Clinic, two Excedrin Migraine tablets could contain 130 mg of caffeine. Got cramps? A pair of Midol Menstrual Maximum Strength caplets could contain 65 mg of caffeine.
So if you happen to get a little happy with your pill-popping, you could potentially exceed your stimulant quota — particularly if you're also downing a venti latte at the same time. Mind the label, folks. Mind the label.
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