Weird Science News: Too much caffeine might make you hallucinate
Hey, you with the latte! New research from Durham University in the UK reveals that people who guzzle too much caffeine might end up with a spooky side effect: They could start hearing strange voices or see ghosts. Read on for the trippy details...
People who drink at least 330 milligrams of caffeine per day were three times as likely to have hallucinations as those who consumed less than 10 milligrams a day, according to the study published in Personality and Individual Differences. That's about the amount of caffeine in seven 8-ounce cups of black tea or 3.5 cups of black coffee.
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When you consume caffeine, your body produces more of the stress hormone cortisol. Researchers suggest that this flood of extra hormones may cause some people to start seeing things that aren't there. Another explanation may be that people under stress are more susceptible to hallucinations, anyway, and the coffee intake is just a coincidence. But coffee fiends shouldn't fret--this news doesn't mean you need to give up your morning joe. "There would be no real reason for me to stop drinking tea," lead researcher Simon Jones told Bloomberg News. "I don't see a reason to change a moderate intake."
Back when I was in college, I had the brilliant idea to chase a red bull with a jumbo coffee (or two) in less than an hour. Instead of staying up all night to write my research paper on Ulysses like I planned, I passed out from exhaustion on a couch in the library, waking up every 15 minutes or so. Every time I popped my head up, I was horribly disoriented and shaky. Now, I usually only have a cup of coffee in the morning and maybe a cup of tea in the afternoon or after dinner.
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Do you drink caffeine? How does it make you feel? How many cups a day of tea, coffee or soda do you average a day? Have you ever had a weird reaction after drinking too much caffeine?
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