Are you someone who reaches for caffeine the second you’re out of bed?
Is it your lifeline for functioning like a human being day in, day out?
While caffeine offers many benefits for physical and mental performance, if it’s the first thing you’re consuming before water and food, it could lead to some unwelcome side effects.
Dizziness is a common side effect of caffeine consumption on an empty stomach, and in high doses.
People metabolize and react to coffee differently, which can lead to these dizzy spells or even nausea.
And it’s all down to caffeine sensitivity.
If you're a 'death before decaf' person, but you’re not keen on seeing stars every time you pound back a cup of joe, there are simple tweaks you can make to reduce the more unwanted side effects of coffee.
This article gives you an overview of why caffeine can sometimes cause dizziness, other effects you may experience, and our best tips to avoid them.
Key Takeaways
- For some, caffeine means increased alertness, focus and energy levels. For others, too much caffeine can have negative side effects.
- Anything over 400mg (3-4 cups) per day, is considered a high amount of caffeine.
- In some cases, if caffeine is high or caffeine tolerance levels are low, this can result in dizziness.
- The reason for this dizziness is thought to be down to the effect caffeine has on adenosine receptors.
- Adenosine normally promotes relaxation and dilates blood vessels. Caffeine blocks these receptors, which may lead to increased brain activity and narrowed blood vessels.
- Studies indicate caffeine reduces cerebral blood flow. Caffeine may also exacerbate symptoms of high blood pressure and lead to dizziness.
- Keeping track of your intake can be difficult. Low dose caffeine supplements such as Performance Lab® Caffeine 2™ can be used to provide an easy and accurate way to track the amount of caffeine you consume. It's stacked with other nutrients such as L-theanine and L-tyrosine to balance out the side effects of caffeine.
- L-theanine, L-tyrosine ashwagandha, and maca are all-natural compounds that can take the edge off excessive caffeine consumption by balancing out brain chemicals.
Side Effects of Caffeine Intake
For some people, even moderate caffeine intake can produce some nasty side effects.
For others it takes a bit more...
The further we go past the recommended daily amount, the closer we get to caffeine overdose territory. And the more nasty side effects tend to be.
Caffeine overdose happens when you consume excessive amounts above the recommended daily intake level.
Excessive caffeine intake can lead to a state similar to intoxication, called caffeinism.
If you’ve ever been in a meeting and found your foot tapping, your thoughts racing, or a strong urge to get your words out–and then they just keep coming, you may be experiencing caffeinism.
It’s characterized by restlessness, agitation, excitement, rambling thoughts or speech, and of course, insomnia(1).
It has deleterious effects on the central nervous system. Which results in a variety of unpleasant symptoms ranging from depression and irritability to insomnia and loss of appetite.
Some of the most common symptoms of excessive caffeine intake include:
- Dizziness
- Increased thirst
- Diarrhea
- Insomnia
- Headaches
- Irritability
Energy drinks, which are notoriously high in caffeine, can exacerbate all of these symptoms, including dizziness.
Any sudden rapid increase in caffeine consumption, especially if you’re including an energy drink along with coffee, can intensify these symptoms.
In more severe cases, symptoms of a caffeine overdose present as:
- Difficulty breathing
- Vomiting
- Convulsion
- Confusion
- Hallucination
- Chest pain
- Rapid heartbeat
- Uncontrollable muscle movements
Does Too Much Caffeine Cause Dizziness?
Caffeine is a stimulant that acts on the central nervous system to upregulate brain activity. This upregulating of brain activity shows itself as an increase in alertness, and enhanced cognitive function.
Its role as an adenosine antagonist is the mechanism behind many of its profound mental and anti-fatigue effects. By blocking adenosine receptors, caffeine helps to increase alertness, reduce fatigue and thereby enhances overall brain activity.
Regarding performance, some research suggests that caffeine can also trigger the release of certain catecholamines, specifically epinephrine, that directly and indirectly improve exercise performance by inducing secondary metabolic changes(2, 3).
How Much Caffeine is Too Much Caffeine?
It’s recommended we have no more than 400mg of caffeine a day. Which (depending on your preferred blend) equates to roughly 3-4 cups of coffee.
And it’s not all bad. In moderate doses, caffeine can improve(4):
- Alertness
- Attention and focus
- Concentration
- Energy levels
- Cognitive function
- Reaction time
- Productivity
- Fatigue perceptions
- Mood
However, many of these benefits are based on how your body reacts to caffeine.
Because caffeine metabolism differs between individuals.
Some people can experience adverse reactions to low doses of caffeine, while others experience minimal, if any, reactions to high amounts of caffeine.
In either situation, caffeine is a neurostimulant that causes cerebral vasoconstriction by antagonizing adenosine receptors(5).
Adenosine normally promotes relaxation and dilates blood vessels. So when caffeine blocks these receptors, it leads to increased brain activity and narrowed blood vessels.
And although chronic caffeine use leads to adaptation of the vascular adenosine receptor system likely to compensate for the vasoconstrictive effects, reduced blood flow to the brain may be why some people feel dizzy after consuming caffeine.
A 2009 study looking at the effects of caffeine intake on cerebral blood flow found that caffeine reduced CBF by an average of 27% for people consuming high and moderate amounts(5).
However, those who consumed high amounts of caffeine showed a trend toward reduced cerebral blood flow compared to low and moderate consumers.
They concluded that while the cerebrovascular adenosine system can compensate for high caffeine intake, its ability to do so is minimal.
On the other hand, part of the dizziness response to caffeine could be because of caffeine’s effect on stimulating the nervous system, which increases heart rate, blood pressure, and the adrenal glands’ release of cortisol and adrenaline. Caffeine can exacerbate symptoms of high blood pressure, leading to dizziness.
An influx of hormones can mimic the stress response, resulting in unpleasant side effects like dizziness, nausea, anxiety, and jitters.
Our Best 4 Tips To Avoid Caffeine Dizziness
1. Stay hydrated
Hydration is essential regardless of whether you’re consuming caffeine, but drinking enough water alongside caffeine can help slow down caffeine metabolism and eliminate some unwanted side effects.
It can also help counteract caffeine’s diuretic and dehydrating effects, which can exacerbate its effects.
One way to tell if you’re dehydrated is by looking at the color of your urine, but you can also look at the color of your lips. Dry lips signify that you may have gone a bit overboard with caffeine.
Long story short, counteract the effects of caffeine through proper hydration by drinking more water, consuming hydrating (water-rich) foods, and adding in electrolytes.
2. Eat before you have caffeine
For some people, caffeine-induced dizziness only hits when they’re knocking back caffeine on an empty stomach. If this applies to you, consider having a small meal before you down your coffee or pre-workout.
Having foods in your stomach can increase the absorption time, so you don’t have a flood of caffeine entering your bloodstream all at once.
What kind of foods are we talking about? Complex carbohydrates high in fiber are great to help slow caffeine absorption time. Think whole grains, beans and legumes, and root vegetables.
3. Lower your dose
If you find your current dose of caffeine is causing you to feel dizzy, take it down a notch. Experiencing side effects from caffeine is generally a sign that your body isn’t metabolizing it properly or you’re consuming too much. In either case, lowering your dose can reduce some adverse effects.
If you still want the same stimulation level without the downsides, consider something like Performance Lab® Caffeine 2™, which contains low-dose caffeine packed with boosters and balancers like L-theanine, L-tyrosine, and B vitamins for performance-tuned stimulation with fewer side effects.
These nutrients restore what caffeine depletes. So you still get the attention, focus and energy benefits of caffeine, but without the negative side effects.
Shop Performance Lab® Caffeine 2™
4. Stack caffeine with balancers to aid caffeine metabolism
If you take a higher dose of caffeine, you may want to consider adding supplements that can help to even out the stimulatory effects of caffeine.
Things like L-theanine, L-tyrosine, ashwagandha, and maca are all-natural compounds that can take the edge off excessive caffeine consumption by balancing out brain chemicals, supporting relaxed energy, and reducing anxiety.
- Winston, A. P., Hardwick, E., & Jaberi, N. Neuropsychiatric effects of caffeine. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment. 2005:11(6), 432-439.
- Graham TE. Caffeine and exercise: metabolism, endurance and performance. Sports Med. 2001;31(11):785-807.
- Anderson DE, Hickey MS. Effects of caffeine on the metabolic and catecholamine responses to exercise in 5 and 28 degrees C. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1994;26(4):453-458.
- Lara B, Ruiz-Moreno C, Salinero JJ, Del Coso J. Time course of tolerance to the performance benefits of caffeine. PLoS One. 2019;14(1):e0210275.
- Addicott MA, Yang LL, Peiffer AM, et al. The effect of daily caffeine use on cerebral blood flow: How much caffeine can we tolerate?. Hum Brain Mapp. 2009;30(10):3102-3114.
