20 Signs You Might Be Drinking Too Much Coffee

A study at the University of Western Australia in laboratory mice that aimed to show how coffee intake is beneficial to cardiovascular function ended up demonstrating that excessive caffeine consumption — the equivalent of five or six cups of coffee per day — may be linked to metabolic syndrome, which is a combination of high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess belly fat, and high cholesterol levels. More specifically, the polyphenols, which are chemicals naturally found in plants, in the coffee made the mice retain fat in the cells. The authors do say that it is still OK to drink coffee in moderate amounts.

Doctors are not sure exactly why, but research has shown that excessive coffee drinking, which means high consumption of caffeine, may lower insulin sensitivity, which can lead to excessively high blood sugar level because the body cells don’t absorb as much glucose. (This can also be a sign you might have diabetes.) This is also why coffee may be a problem for diabetics as caffeine makes it harder to control blood sugar levels. (Insulin is the hormone that helps the body turn sugar into energy.)

Drinking too much coffee can cause nausea, according to the FDA. Caffeine increases the production of stomach acid, which may lead to nausea, in addition to stomach pain and acid reflux. Those who try to reduce or stop caffeine consumption may also feel nausea. Caffeine is a mental stimulant, a drug that can be addictive when consumed excessively over a long period of time, and nausea is not an uncommon symptom of withdrawal from caffeine, according to WebMD. The body struggles with the sudden change of not getting the amount of caffeine it is accustomed to.

Drinking too much coffee every day can sometimes cause hypokalaemia, a low level of potassium in your bloodstream, according to research conducted in Shinohara Hospital, Japan. Potassium is an electrolyte that carries signals to the nerves and muscles in the body. Common symptoms of low potassium levels are weakness and fatigue.

While hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating, is not a very common sign of drinking too much coffee, it is possible among people who have higher sensitivity to caffeine. After all, caffeine is a stimulant. It triggers the nervous system and speeds up thermogenesis, the process of producing heat. The internal body temperature exceeds its set point, causing people to sweat.