WASHINGTON – Waking up with coffee or sipping soda throughout the day are just a few of the ways people get their caffeine fix.
First, the good news: Doctors at Mayo Clinic say 300 milligrams of caffeine a day is OK for most people.
Now, the bad news: Besides causing insomnia, headaches or anxiety … caffeine is prevalent in a variety of products that consumers may not know about.
The May issue of ShopSmart lists examples of caffeine counts in various products.
- Dark chocolate: With 37.5 mg per one bar, it contains about twice the caffeine of milk chocolate, which has 36 mg per 3 bars.
- Black tea: One cup has 55 mg, which is more than Diet Coke, 46.5 mg. Diet Coke, in turn, has more caffeine than does Diet Pepsi, which has 35 mg.
- Regular Coke: At 34 mg, this soda has the least amount of caffeine when it comes to cola.
- Espresso: Two ounces has 127 mg, about the same as one Extra Strength Excedrin, 130 mg.
- Regular coffee: One cup has 95 mg of caffeine. That’s more than in a RockStar energy drink, 80 mg, and Red Bull, 76 mg. ShopSmart notes energy drinks can also contain ingredients that act as stimulants such as guarana and taurine.
- Dunkin Donuts drip coffee: A 20 oz cup has 244 mg, compared with a Venti Starbucks bold drip, which has 415 mg.
WTOP’s Kristi King contributed to this report. Follow Kristi and WTOP on Twitter.
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