"Everything in Moderation"

Our focus is on caffeine, but microdosing is being used across the spectrum with popular drugs, natural nicotine, certain supplements, cialis for men’s health and more. Doctor’s call it titration, keeping their clients in a steady state or even dosage over time to avoid the typical over-doses or under-doses which do more harm than good.

Speaking of Doctors, our caffeine company was linked in a really good blog post by a plastic surgeon named Chris Hess. He was running his own practice in Virginia at the time, but has since moved to Tampa, FL.

Chris went into extensive detail about caffeine microdosing and how it can help you stay focused without the jitters. If anyone knows Chris, please tell him thank you for his kind words.

As he correctly points out, more than 90% of us consume caffeine on a daily basis. Downing multiple caffeinated beverages through out the day causes problems, namely caffeine fatigue. The spikes of caffeine, and sugars, create jitter, anxiety, headaches and irritabilty. By the end of the day we’re a wreck. If this routine sounds familiar, microdosing is the solution.

What is Caffeine Microdosing?

Caffeine Microdosing refers to the practice of ingesting small amounts of caffeine over a longer period of time. This could be throughout the day, or if you’re a night shifter all night long. The difference is that most people drink a large cup of coffee or a giant can of energy drink and then experience a huge jolt of energy or a massive sugar rush and then come crashing down in a few hours time. Their next move is to do it again, because there was an personal energy precedent set. The Doctor calls this “baseline functioning”, which is a term that really describes how we all want to feel on a regular basis. This massive fluctuation in our energetic feelings is where the pain starts. Keep your feelings in check with microdosing to stay in that constant state of “mild alertness”, being your best self for longer.

Is Caffeine Microdosing really effective?

There are studies on studies about this subject. According to a Harvard Medical School study, researchers found that participants who consumed smaller amounts of caffeine more frequently were more productive, had better cognititon, and experienced fewer “microsleeps” or un-planned naps, lol. These benefits were attributed to caffeine microdosing’s abilty to counteract homeostatic sleep pressure — the tired feeling that naturally builds in our bodies throughout the day. This also shows that caffeine microdosing is especially useful for the long or even overnight shifts like doctors, nurses, EMT’s, cops, firefighters, truck drivers, bartenders, servers and more. Want more caffeine studies? Here’s about 30 more…

How much Caffeine should I Microdose?

For most, the ideal range of caffeine is somewhere between 50–100mg, I call this “The Stack”. We’re all different with caffeine, usually classified into two groups — the fast metabolizers of caffeine, and the slow. If you’re a slow metabolizer, you want to take less caffeine that your counterpart. Jitters, anxiety and sweating start somewhere up in the 150mg range for most. You’re going to want to experiment with this, try consuming around 30–50mg of caffeine and then wait a few hours to see how your mind and body reacted, take specific note of how you feel. If you feel fatigued after this time frame, try taking the same small dose again.

If you begin to feel jittery or anxious after this second dose, try reducing your doseage and/or frequency of re-upping. Your sensitivity to caffeine may start to show up here so it’s important to pay attention and tune into your results. You can dial in the perfect amount with trial and error.

Important Note: Not all Caffeine is the same.

Your cup of coffee has a far different nutritional makeup than an artificial energy drink. Same with your caffeine source. There are a lot of “energy blends” that pass as a caffeine sources in today’s confusing marketplace. Synthetic and Natural Caffeines are not the same. Un-brewed coffee beans have a completely different profile from brewed beans. Roasted, un-roasted, how do stay consistent with your caffeine?

Coffee is by far our favorite form of caffeine. 7 out of 10 people in the US drink coffee every week. It’s more Worldwide. Coffee consumption comes with a whole host of positive health benefits including longevity and anti-aging, reducing disease and more. Coffee also contains all kinds of vitamins and minerals, just stay away from the sweeteners.

Tea is also an effective and healthy way to consume caffeine. In the natural world, the order of strength of caffeine goes: Coffee — Tea — Chocolate. Tea has an added benefit of containing L-theanine, which slows the body’s absorbtion of caffeine for a more even, gradual boost. L-theanine also reduces anxiety and promotes calmness, both of which can be extremely helpful for most people.

What are the Health Benefits of Microdosing Caffeine?

Consuming smaller amounts of caffeine can have the following health benefits: Lower blood pressure; Decrease anxiety; Improve collagen synthesis for healthier skin; reduce stomach acid; reduce sugar and calorie intake; and more.

Microdosing can also help you taper off Caffeine

It may not be your intention to quit caffeine, but a lot of people feel they are getting too much caffeine in their diets. Microdosing can be the “off-ramp” to help you reduce your caffeine consumption. Taking smaller doses in intervals over the course of your day adds up to a big savings in miligrams. If done correctly, you’ll notice a decrease in any caffeine tolerance buildup you may have been suffereing from, like headaches or not sleeping at night, etc.

The other thing to keep an eye on as you learn how to microdose your caffeine is your Circadian Rhythm. Your body clock is specific to you, but as an example if you’re getting up at 7am and going to bed at 10pm, you could look to caffeinate mid-morning, mid-day and mid-afternoon to optimize your results.

How much Caffeine am I consuming?

Accuracy of caffeine content is not a strong suit in any drink, that’s the disclamer. If the coffee pot sits on the burner for longer than an hour, the caffeine content changes. No one can really be sure how much caffeine is actually in that new bubble gum flavored energy drink can, because it’s not regulated. But here’s a place where you can find all kinds of caffeine numbers — Caffeine Informer. Love this site!

Can of Soda ~30mg

Green Tea ~30mg

Espresso shot ~75mg

Redbull ~80mg

Black Coffee ~100mg

Bang Energy Drink ~300mg

Some methods of Microdosing Caffeine

Caffeine Microdosing can simply mean that you are drinking your coffee more slowly thoughout the day, or it can involve a completely new caffeine ritual. Either way, natural caffeine may be one of the healthiest things on the planet for us so this is definitely worth your time to get it right. Some suggestions on the coffee side include: Half Calf mixture of Decaf and Regular Caffeinated Coffee; The Sip method, sip a coffee in the AM, sip a tea in the PM; Drink a half cuppa in the morning and a half in the afternoon and of course a bunch of other variations on the theme.

If you’re looking for a new way to consume caffeine, there are some new advances in caffeine product tech that might interest even the stoutest caffeine aficionado.

New Products that can help you Microdose Caffeine

These products are more accurate and precise with their caffeine count, allowing you to really hone in on the exact amount of caffeine for your lifestyle. Some of these also work different when the caffeine is absorbed through the cheek linings in the mouth, as opposed to going all the way through your digestive tract. That’s another area of benefit for those with GI issues.

Punch’d Energy Caffeine Gummies are all-natural fruit gummies infused with un-brewed green coffee bean caffeine. Each gummy contains 10mg of caffeine to help you keep track of your dosage. This option has organic ingredients, is ultra-low glycemic and provides an added dose of Vitamin C.

AHA Sparkling Water has a line of caffeine infused sparkling waters, each 12oz can with 30mg of added caffeine. No artificial flavors or sugars, they come in creative flavor combinations like Mango + Black Tea and Citrus + Green Tea.

Tempo Sparkling Teas are naturally flavored sparkling matcha, green and black teas. Each can has 30–40mg of caffeine and is organic and unsweetened. There are a ton of fun flavors on their website and they didnt get bought out by Coca-Cola, yet.

The Key: Moderate Your Caffeine Intake

The Mayo Clinic limits caffeine intake to 400mg max. Since you’ll be consuming smaller amounts of caffeine now, you should find this an easy ceiling. If you’re sensitive to caffeine you’ll be way under that number. If you can’t consider less than 400mg of caffeine throughout the day this study is not for you.

Consult with your Doctor if you have questions, this is by no means medical advice. Some people may be at serious risk if they consume more than 200mg of caffeine per day. Pregnant women should consume less than 200mg per day as well.

Limit caffeine before bedtime if you are a slow metabolizer of caffeine. Some studies show that no caffeine should be consumed 6–8 hours prior to bedtime, while others can drink a double espresso after dinner and sleep like a baby. We’re all different, and some of us love “caffeine dreams”.

Natural Caffeine is a good thing.

Clean, natural caffeine is a good thing for us, in moderation, and without a bunch of artificial sweeteners or other ingredients piled on top of it. Did you know that the bitterness of natural caffeine is also an evolutionary trigger? That’s a topic for another time. Stay up my friends, life is short.