The emergence of cafes on every other nook and corner has brought about a cafe revolution. Along with this it has brought about another kind of addiction. More than 90 percent of the people in the developed world consume caffeine either in the form cold or hot coffee. It is the largest psychoactive drug consumed by adults and children alike. Coffee is the costliest international exchange commodity after oil. Not just tea and coffee contain caffeine, harmless food items like chocolates, cool drinks, beef jerky and toffees, lollipops, etc contain caffeine. Many snacks which promise to give your body that extra boost contain caffeine. Hence you have more than one way of getting the addictive caffeine into your blood system, many times without you even knowing.

What caffeine consumers do not realize is when a casual cup of coffee or tea turns into a full fledged addiction. Due to regular consumption of caffeine, the body adapts to the regular caffeine and slowly increases the body’s level of tolerance and makes it to consume more. People need to realize that caffeine is a form of drug just like alcohol and nicotine in cigarettes. As opposed to energizing the brain, caffeine has a rather opposing effect. It causes the brain to become numb i.e. it slows down mental alertness. This effect makes consumers of caffeine reach for those regular cups of coffee more and more. Caffeine just gives a temporary lift which gives the brain the false impression that it is not tired. It is unhealthy to fool your brain and will lead to damaging effects causing caffeine intoxication. Caffeine intoxication’s symptoms include irregular heartbeat, sleeplessness, nervousness, frequent urination and anxiety which will lead to diabetes, hormonal imbalance, acidosis, diarrhea, frequent exhaustion, and kidney insufficiency. Caffeine also acts as a diuretic, causing useful vitamins such as Vit C and B to pass out from the body. It causes the entire rhythm of the body to go into disarray and the sugar and insulin machinery to mistune. Caffeine has also shown to degrade bones, thereby leading to osteoporosis.