Excessive caffeine consumption can cause conditions such as dehydration, irritability and muscle tremors. Knowing how much caffeine is healthy as well as knowing how much caffeine is in the foods and beverages you consume helps you to identify when you need to adjust your intake.
Healthy Caffeine Intake
MayoClinic.com states that regardless of the source of the caffeine, you should limit your intake to no more than 500 mg per day. To monitor your daily intake, be aware of how much caffeine is contained in both the beverages and foods you eat.
Coke
For some people, drinking Coca-Cola is as American as baseball and apple pie. However, like other regular sodas, Coke does contain large amounts of sugar and caffeine. The nutritional content for Coke is often listed according to a 12-oz. serving, which is a can of Coke. There are 35 mg of caffeine in each serving of Coke and Coke Zero. Diet Coke drinkers beware -- although you might save yourself some calories and sugar, you inherit some additional milligrams of caffeine, as Diet Coke has 47 mg of caffeine.
Coffee
One 8 oz. cup of brewed coffee contains between 95 and 200 mg of caffeine. Therefore, you can drink an average of three 8-oz. cups of coffee and remain within the healthy range. If you enjoy drinking coffee and want to reduce your caffeine intake, you can switch to decaffeinated coffee. An 8-oz. cup of decaffeinated coffee contains between 2 and 12 mg of caffeine.
Tea
One 8-oz. cup of black tea contains between 40 and 120 mg of caffeine, which is significantly less than coffee. Green tea contains an average of 26 mg per 6-oz. cup. Herbal teas, also known as herbal infusions, contain no caffeine.
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