|
Are You "Caffeine Sensitive"
对咖啡因是否“敏感”？
最近，我翻阅办公桌上的英国《每日电讯报》，看到这样一篇报道：
“一位40岁男子，每日摄入320mg的机能性饮料，他在一家超市工作，这天下班前突然身亡。”
这是否算是大剂量摄入咖啡因？不，对普通人来说，不算是。在美国，建议人们每天摄入300mg左右。这相当于2-3杯咖啡，或者是6杯茶。不同“机能性”饮料的咖啡因含量不同——一份饮料含量从80mg到300mg
不等。
验尸报告显示，该男子的心脏过大。处理该案的病例学家推测，他的心脏病突发有可能是因为过量摄入咖啡因，尽管对大多数人来说这个剂量不算多。很难说咖啡因摄入是造成心脏病的直接罪魁祸首，但是我认为，是应该时候该了解一下自己对于这些饮料的敏感度，即便是“天然”兴奋剂。
关于咖啡因，我先前写过一些相关的“益处和弊端”以及“传言和真相”。对于饮用咖啡因的人来说，最主要的热点话题在于“咖啡因敏感”者。这究竟是什么意思？又会产生什么影响？
咖啡因对于中枢神经系统有刺激作用，人们常常希望借助咖啡因保持兴奋帮助提神——比如集中注意力，保持头脑清醒，反应敏捷等等。作为唤醒神经机制的一部分，相关生理反应随之产生——心跳加速，血压升高。如果你对这些反应很敏感，那有可能你的身体对咖啡因产生的新陈代谢信号会作出“过度反应”，导致潜在健康威胁。
如果你喝咖啡这类饮料的话，留意一下每天摄入咖啡因的量。留心看看此类机能性饮料包装上是否标有“香浓型”或者“高含量咖啡因”，然后确定一次喝多少。
即便咖啡因是一种天然兴奋剂，本身具有一定好处，但是现在很多产品中都含有咖啡因，无论是感冒药，减肥药还是机能运动饮品都有，摄入过多咖啡因未必就是件好事。而你，摄入多少咖啡因呢？
A report from England's Daily Mail came across my desk recently:
A 40-year-old man, a daily user of an energy drink, consuming 320 mg daily, collapsed at the end of his work shift in a supermarket.
Is this a high dose of caffeine? No, not for the average person, where in the US, the recommended daily intake is around 300 mg per day. This is about 2-3 cups of coffee or about 6 cups of tea. "Energy" drinks vary in their caffeine content - from about 80 mg per serving to about 300 mg in a serving.
It turns out, after an autopsy, that he had an enlarged heart. The pathologist on the case suggested that his higher-than-average caffeine consumption might have contributed to his heart attack, although for the vast majority of people this amount of caffeine is readily tolerable. While it's hard to say whether his caffeine consumption was a direct contributor to his cardiac problems, it's a good time, I think, to point out, that it's important to know your own sensitivities to even "natural" stimulants.
I've written before about the " pros and cons" , and " myths and facts" related to caffeine. Among the major buzzwords for those choosing to consume caffeine is that of the "caffeine sensitive" person. What does that mean, and does it really make any difference?
Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, and produces the familiar and desired effects of a stimulant - improved mental focus, arousal, and alertness, for example. The related biological effects also occur as part of this arousal mechanism - increased heart rate and increase in blood pressure. Here's where the caffeine sensitive part comes in. If you have a biological sensitivity to these effects, it's possible your body can "over-respond" to the metabolic signals from caffeine, and cause some potential health damage.
If you're a caffeine consumer, pay attention to how much caffeine you consume in a day. Watch out for terms like "turbo" or "super-caffeinated", and read the label on those energy drinks, to determine how much you're consuming at one time.
While caffeine is one of nature's stimulants, with many positives, now that caffeine is put in every product from cold remedies to diet pills, to energy boosters, it can often be too much of a good thing. How much caffeine do you consume?
[责编：朱静]
| 
