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In Defense of Caffeine Pills

Illustration: Elena Scotti (Photos: Shutterstock)

Hannah Frishberg
10/18/18 • Filed DON'T GOTTA HAVE MY 75.1K 59 Save
10:30AM to: JAVA

In college, I used to measure out small amounts of caffeine powder on a milligram

scale, put it in a gel cap, pop, and repeat throughout the day. A two-inch tall
mountain of the dusty substance sat Scarface-style on a piece of paper atop my then-
boyfriend’s desk next to the scale and alongside a baggie of caps. I was dosing on
average 30 or so milligrams a piece, three to four times daily, whenever I began to
feel sleepy. Periodically, the caps would open before I swallowed and my mouth
would be filled with the harsh, bitter taste of powdered caffeine.

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When I moved back to Brooklyn after graduating, I quit cold turkey without giving it
any thought —unlike its liquid equivalent, there is virtually no routine in terms of
powdered caffeine consumption; it is to coffee what Soylent is to food. I didn’t even
realize I had been hooked until I came down with the cold sweats, migraines and
body convulsions a few days after being caffeine-free, as I went through withdrawal
from my 120-ish mg daily caffeine habit. I was able to find a $10 bottle of 100 200 mg
capsules (so, roughly five cents a pill) in the supplement section at a local pharmacy,
and my body was immediately appeased. From then on, I stuck to pre-capped
caffeine over the powdered stuff, for no reason but ease (though there are safety
reasons to make this switch too—more on those later). In powder more than liquid
form, caffeine is powerful stuff: here’s what to know before you dose, for coffee
haters and lovers alike.

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while I write this:

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The Basics of Caffeine Safety

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Caffeine is the most commonly used psychoactive legal drug in the world. More than
half of American adults consume over 300 mg of caffeine a day, making it America’s
most popular drug by a significant margin, according to Villanova University. Your
average 8 oz cup of coffee probably has around 100 mg of caffeine; a 20 oz venti
Starbucks Blonde Roast has 475 mg; a can of Diet Coke has 76 mg; a shot of 5-hour
Energy has 200 mg, all according to this chart from the Center for Science in the
Public Interest.

There are an infamous number of contradictory health studies proclaiming various

pros and cons of caffeine: it causes cancer, it cures cancer, it shortens your lifespan,
it’ll make you live longer, etc. One thing health professionals are generally in
agreement about, though, is that moderate caffeine consumption is not a health risk.
In the shorter term, it’s important to be aware that there is such a thing as ingesting
a dangerous and even fatal amount of caffeine.

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From liquid caffeine alone, it is hard to OD – you’d need to drink tens of cups of
coffee one after the other. When severe caffeine overdoses do happen (and they are
quite rare, especially for such a universal drug) they are obvious: vomiting,
abdominal pain and seizures are all symptoms, according to Vox. Always call 911 for
seizures or other serious symptoms. For a mild overdose, when your symptoms are
just the jitters, you’re probably fine to stay calm, drink some water, and wait it out.
For anything in between, or if you’re not sure, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222
or use their online tool.

Here’s some basic caffeine safety info:

· A healthy adult is recommended to take no more than 400 mg a day of caffeine.

· An 8 oz cup of coffee usually has about 100 mg or less caffeine.

· 10,000 - 14,000 mg of caffeine is considered to be a lethal dose by the FDA.

Today, my plastic container of Nutricost caffeine pills sits in the corner of my

medicine cabinet. It is labeled “Dietary Supplement” in small print and decorated
with a blue metallic stripe and the molecular structure of trimethylxanthine, the
chemical compound which composes pure caffeine. The container initially contained
50,000 mg of caffeine—enough to constitute a fatal dose for at least three people,
based on the FDA’s lethal caffeine estimate of 10,000 to 14,000 mg per full-grown,
healthy human. I generally limit my own consumption to one 200 mg pill every
morning—well under 400 mg a day (the equivalent of four or so 8 oz cups of coffee),
the maximum recommended amount for a healthy adult. While bottles of 100 mg
caffeine pills are available, it’s rare to see smaller doses.

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 Swallow Pills Easier with the "Pop-Bottle" and "Lean-Forward" Methods
If you're one of the many people that have a hard time swallowing pills, these
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Stick to Pills, not the Powder

In response to the 2014 deaths of 18-year-old Logan Stiner and 24-year-old James
Wade Sweatt due to excessive caffeine ingestion, the FDA banned some pure caffeine
products this April. This comes less than three years after the FDA issued warning
letters to some caffeine powder producers in 2015. “It should be as illegal as heroin,”
the mother of Stiner told NBC of caffeine powder in an interview following his death.

In a press release, the FDA made clear that it sees adulterated and poorly labeled bulk
powder products as the main products posing health risks. At one point in the release,
the FDA very specifically calls out the issue of caffeine packaged “with tiny
measuring scoops” purporting to constitute a single dose because, when the caffeine
is shared among “multiple people living separately,” some consumers are deprived of
“the benefit of the measuring scoop.”

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A quick search on Amazon reveals the unclearly worded, immediately effective

impact of the FDA’s ban: powdered caffeine not pre-packaged into individually dosed
pills and tablets has been virtually illegalized, relegated to eBay and other second
hand retailers in terms of online purchasability.

One favorite fact thrown around in headlines is that a “teaspoon” of pure caffeine
powder can be fatal. This is true, but more importantly it elucidates that most people
are so unfamiliar with proper caffeine dosage that they are literally eyeballing the
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quantity they consume, or using kitchen utensils to measure it out. The difference
between a deadly amount of powder and the amount in most cups of coffee is not
visibly that different—a properly calibrated scale is necessary for any level of
precision. Bottom line: powdered caffeine is increasingly difficult to come by, and
requires extra tools and precision to consume in safe doses, so for both convenience
and safety’s sake, you’re much better off sticking to taking it in pill form.

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You’ll be saving money—and the environment

The reason I prefer pills to coffee is simple, if sacrilegious: I don’t like the taste of
coffee. Also, I enjoy the hyperawareness verging on mania which comes from taking a
full dose at once. This is obviously not for everyone, and when I have taken too much
caffeine, and breached the 400 mg recommendation, I’ve become predictably frantic
and fidgety, had heart palpitations, experienced clammy palms and heightened
anxiety. Being addicted to caffeine pills and disliking coffee is also quite
unintentionally antisocial. In liquid form, the drug constitutes one of humanity’s
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most unifying routine experiences. The way I take it, I’m usually dry swallowing a
small white pill in silence.

If we as a society learned anything

from original recipe Four Loko, it is
that humanity blindly trusts widely
distributed branded cans, even
when they contain more or less
literal poison.

There are some bonuses to caffeine pills, though, for those who prefer them,
including price and environmental impact. My caffeine addiction costs under $50
annually, while the average American worker spent $1,100 a year on coffee in 2012,
according to one report at the time. Additionally, while I recycle two or three plastic
bottles a year, there is much waste involved in the coffee industry, with K-Cups and
other single-use coffee pods frequently slammed and banned for being un-recyclable.
The vast majority of coffee cups are still disposable and bad for the environment, as
well. Another plus: caffeine pills have no calories (although the label on my bottle
does list gelatin, rice and flour as additional ingredients) and don’t present an
opportunity to serve as a vessel for creamer and other sugary sweeteners. And by all
accounts, caffeine pills are better for you and less dangerous than energy drinks,
which often combine large doses of caffeine with lots of sugar and are sometimes ill-
advisedly mixed with alcohol. If we as a society learned anything from original recipe
Four Loko, it is that humanity blindly trusts widely distributed branded cans, even
when they contain more or less literal poison. The safety of combining caffeine and
taurine, an ingredient which energy drinks often contain in large doses, is still in
question. The consumption of energy drinks by minors is not: it’s bad, and yet there
are no age restrictions when it comes to purchasing energy drinks (in this country).

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 Bad Coffee Will Make You a Happier Person
Bad coffee is the best coffee. Or less cryptically: The lower you can set your
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There’s no evidence that quitting is a much different experience for consumers of

caffeine in its liquid versus its pill form, although the sterilized experience of popping
your daily cup of joe means there isn’t much routine and no sugar to miss. Tolerance
build-up, too, is more or less the same: the chemical of caffeine is no more addictive
as a powder than it is as a drink – to achieve the same effect, you’ll always need more
and more, no matter the form you’re ingesting caffeine in.

My caffeine addiction costs under

$50 annually, while the average
American worker spent $1,100 a
year on coffee in 2012

Looking to switch? Firstly, know that everyone will think you are a monster. The
social stigma is easily the most difficult part. Finding the pills is easy: most chain
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stores with a pharmacy section (Target, Walmart, Rite Aid) carry them, as do some
local pharmacies, and they are of course available online, which is unfortunately the
best place to buy if you are picky about which brand you prefer. As with most things
in life, if you buy in bulk, it’s cheaper. When consuming, do be very be mindful of the
400 mg a day recommendation—two to four pills per day, depending on the brand
and dosage. Surpassing it is quite uncomfortable for many, and you’ll feel more
jittery and anxious than awake. Despite being much more similar to caffeine powder
than coffee, pre-packaged caffeine pills are not very dangerous unless you are a
literal child or take a handful at once.

The undesirability of caffeine pills and the appeal of coffee are difficult to argue
against. One has a reputation for being a study drug to fuel all-nighters, the other for
being a vital pleasure of adult life. While the environmental, cost and calorie impacts
of society switching its preference to caffeine pills would be very real, if you’re
making the leap, be prepared for the fact that you’ll likely be making it alone.

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1 sporadicreviews (//kinja.com/sporadicreviews) Hannah Frishberg

10/18/18 10:47am (https://lifehacker.com/1829838688)
(//kinja.com/sporadicreviews)

I don’t like coffee. Caffeine pills upset my stomach (I can’t even take Excedrin). Five
hour energy started upsetting my stomach as well, even though I used it rarely. I
don't like hot tea.

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I’m stuck with sodas or iced tea, though I'm trying to cut all three from my diet:

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