Caffeine: Quick Way to Get Old

Our hectic lifestyle, void of any exercise and healthy diet obviously promotes aging. And to add to it, consuming caffeine-oriented products like coffee, colas and caffeinated teas only help in adding more years and deteriorating your health.

Studies reveal people who are more susceptible to developing chronic ailments will find that reducing their caffeine intake will go a long way in helping them to reduce the risks of disorders associated with ageing. Here are a few reasons why you should kick the caffeine habit as you progress towards thirty’s and forty’s:

Continuous consumption of caffeine triggers the stress mechanism and pushes the body into a state of chronic stress. This in turn activates the production of stress hormones like cortisol. Uncontrolled stimulation of cortisol accelerates the process of aging. Increased caffeine consumption exposes our body to stress related symptoms. Contrary to the common belief, even decaf coffee, also directly affects the brain and the nervous system. This shows that besides the caffeine present in the coffee, even other compounds work to produce similar effects. Hence, reducing your cups of coffee and other sources of caffeine will reduce the stressful affects of caffeine on the body thereby slowing down the aging process.

Studies reveal that regular as well as decaffeinated coffee increase the risk of heart diseases, especially in elderly people. Caffeine consumption elevates blood pressure, cholesterol, heartbeat and levels of homocysteine thereby promoting heart attacks and various other ailments and health disorders associated with heart diseases. Caffeine also has a tendency to constrict the blood vessels, which contribute to arteriosclerosis, i.e.; hardening and stiffening of the arteries. You can easily reduce your chances of heart diseases by quitting your habitual cups of coffee or reducing any other intake of caffeine.

Caffeine not only reduces the absorption but also, simultaneously increases the excretion of essential minerals from the body. As it is, with aging, the body’s ability to absorb these essential minerals is greatly reduced and continuous caffeine consumption only aggravates the condition all the more. In addition, studies reveal that high caffeine intake is closely associated with cases of low bone density and high rate of bone loss. Osteopenia and osteoporosis are widely prevalent during aging. Caffeine further enhances the risk of osteopenia and osteoporosis.

Excessive caffeine or coffee consumption may be related to osteoporosis. Caffeine is a weak diuretic and increases the urinary excretion of sodium, magnesium, and calcium. Besides this, caffeine also promotes metabolic acidity, which again supports depletion of these minerals from the teeth and bones. With aging, the incidence of kidney stones also amplifies. Caffeine encourages the excretion of calcium in the body, which exposes people prone to stone formation, even more to the risk of development of kidney stones. In addition to the health risks mentioned above, caffeine also affects the memory and cognition skills negatively.