Ahhh, the taste of the fresh cup of coffee each morning - you cannot imagine life without it or at least you do not want to. But is all that caffeine good for you? The verdict is not in. However, most health professionals agree, caffeine has benefits and any harmful effects are probably only in small sub-groups of the population.

On the positive side, caffeine does have the capacity to wake us up and stimulate mental alertness at all hours of the day or night. It has not been shown to increase blood pressure or hyperactivity as previously thought. Caffeine may cause:
* headaches,
* anxiety,
* nervousness,
* gastrointestinal distress,
* insomnia, and
* increased symptoms in women with premenstrual syndrome and/or fibrocystic breast disease

Current recommendations allow low to moderate intake of caffeine during pregnancy and lactation. If you want to stop taking in caffeine, it is important to reduce your intake gradually over several weeks, particularly if your usual intake of coffee is greater than 4 cups daily. This will help reduce headaches which can develop without a gradual decrease of usage.

It is also important to note that although coffee is the primary source of caffeine in the American diet it is not the only source:
* teas,
* chocolate,
* colas and other soft drinks, and
* medications can contribute to the total caffeine intake.

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