DRUGS AND SUPPLEMENTS

Caffeine Powder: Danger and Effects

By Sherry Baker and Temma Ehrenfeld @SherryNewsViews
 | 
January 12, 2023
Caffeine Powder: Danger and Effects

Teenagers may be especially at risk of dying from overdoses of caffeine, which can easily happen with caffeine powders. Here's what you should know.

For most Americans, coffee and other drinks containing caffeine wake us up in the morning and perk us up when energy reserves run low. But consider gulping down the amount of caffeine in 25 cups of coffee at one time. You’d no doubt feel jittery.

The frightening truth is: You could also end up dead.

It may sound crazy to take in that much, or more, caffeine at one time — but some people have taken the chance while using a caffeine powder.  

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a consumer warning, steering people away from a dangerous product. In 2015 and 2018, the agency warned that “pure caffeine sold in bulk” was illegal.

Marketed as a dietary supplement to increase energy and promote weight loss, powdered caffeine had already been linked to two deaths. Yet it is still available online in guarana powder and pills that can be crushed and snorted.

 

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Caffeine powder deaths: Logan Stiner, James Wade Sweatt

Logan Stiner of LaGrange, Ohio, was excited about his upcoming graduation from Keystone High School. A volunteer with the Special Olympics and member of the National Honor Society, the healthy 18-year-old was set to attend the University of Toledo in the fall.

His bright future ended unexpectedly when Logan miscalculated a dose of caffeine powder and mixed it into a pick-me-up drink. He was found lifeless in his family home on May 27, 2014. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death “cardiac arrhythmia and seizure, due to acute caffeine toxicity due to excessive caffeine ingestion.”

A lawsuit seeking to hold Amazon responsible for Logan’s death — because the company allowed a third party to sell the powder — ended with a decision in Amazon’s favor. Powders that contain “guarana” powder and caffeine pills are still available on Amazon today.

Within weeks of Logan’s death, 24-year-old James Wade Sweatt, a recent college graduate living with his new bride in Georgia, blended a drink using water and powdered caffeine he’d purchased online. Interested in health and fitness, Sweatt reasoned it was a healthier way to get a lift than chugging a soft drink. Instead, his caffeine concoction quickly took his life

Caffeine, a central nervous system stimulant, is found naturally in more than 60 plants, notably coffee, tea, and cocoa.

According to the FDA, healthy adults can safely take 400 milligrams a day — about four to five cups of coffee. But the agency notes that there is a “wide variation” in how people respond and that it has not set an appropriate level for children and teens.

The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages the consumption of caffeine (including energy drinks containing caffeine). Twelve- to 18-year-olds should stick to, at most, two 12-ounce cans of cola a day.

Pure caffeine powder effects

The amount of caffeine in a cup of brewed coffee, depending upon size, ranges between 95 and 200 milligrams (mg). A 12-ounce can of most soft drinks contains about 35 to 40 mg of caffeine, while an energy drink like Red Bull has 80 mg of caffeine.

But caffeine powder takes the potency to a far higher level.

Just a single teaspoon of caffeine powder, equal to more than two dozen cups of coffee, can cause symptoms like a rapid or erratic heartbeat. Accidentally stir a tablespoon (10 grams) of the stuff into a drink, instead of a teaspoon, and you’ve mixed up a lethal dose for an adult.

Man-made versions of caffeine are often added to energy drinks and some medications (in such products as NoDoz, Vivarin, and Excedrin) and by law must be listed on the label.

Users may see caffeine pills and guarana powder as a “natural” and therefore supposedly safe way to increase energy and drop pounds — without realizing just how potent, and potentially dangerous, they may be.

Guarana has among the highest concentrations of caffeine in any plant. It may contain from 2 to 15 percent caffeine by weight (coffee has up to 2 percent).

What are the symptoms of caffeine abuse?

The symptoms of overdoing caffeine include agitation, low blood pressure, confusion, arrhythmia, severe nausea, cardiac arrest, and death.

Snorting caffeine can cause your nose to swell and become stuffy and bleed. If your teen has frequent sinus infections, and you have other reasons to suspect sniffing powders, explain that the practice is harmful. Other risks are a lung infection and an ulcer in your nose and throat.

If you or anyone you know suspects they have overdosed on caffeine, the FDA advises seeking medical help immediately.

 

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Updated:  

January 12, 2023

Reviewed By:  

Christopher Nystuen, MD, MBA and Janet O'Dell, RN