Understanding the Need for Caffeine Pills
When you think of the fact that just about every soft drink on the market has some form of caffeine and that coffee shops can be found in just about every neighborhood in America and that chocolate is the candy that sells the most worldwide, you might be tempted to ask what people would need caffeine pills for and what exactly they are all about.
Other than this you might also want to ask whether they do any good and whether there are any real dangers with taking them.
First of all we should look at the people who are taking caffeine pills. The answer includes some obvious ones, for example the college students and shift workers who require some form of mental alertness throughout the night. Most college students could probably make it through college without the need for medication if they found the time to do their schoolwork before partying but their priorities are mostly turned the other way round. Other than this you have college students who have heavy class loads and have to take up jobs in order to make their way through school. Cram sessions at night and last minute research papers might be rather tiring so it isn’t surprising that they seek solutions from caffeine instead. Caffeine is a much smarter choice than amphetamines and people who work graveyard shifts and other long hours use these pills to get them through their daily tasks.
So why should you get caffeine in pill form instead of simply drinking coffee or soda? The answer varies and this is because of the complexity of the question in the first place. Late shift workers may not have access to beverages except in break periods. College students working to beat a deadline don’t have the time to make a cup of coffee or go down the hall to a vending machine. Caffeine pills are also popular because they are easily accessible, relatively cheap and do not require brewing time or refrigeration. Users of caffeine tablets may also feel that these pills work faster and much stronger than caffeine which as been diffused in liquid, this last theory has no evidence to support it however.
So do these caffeine pills work? Well, it all depends on what you mean. A single tablet of a typical caffeine pill is usually the equivalent of anything from one to four cups of coffee. When four cups of coffee gives you trouble sleeping then you’d benefit from a caffeine pill in order to stay up and get something done. If four cups of coffee does nothing to you on the other hand, then a single caffeine pill probably will not work. Caffeine pills work but no more than their equivalent beverage-based counterparts.
So are caffeine pills bad for you? Well this depends on whether you overdo it or not, the same thing applies if you drink a whole pot of coffee or an entire six pack of 20oz soft drinks. Some of the side effects which you may experience from overconsumption of caffeine pills are nervousness, anxiety, restlessness, stomach cramps, increased heart rate, chest pain; headache, and even seizures.
Darren Williger is a tea drinking, guitar playing, meditating, wine making sales maker who writes for CaffeineZone.com, SavoryTea.com, and MindSatori.com.
