There are many people out there that are anti-caffeine, but studies have shown that the long-term effects of caffeine on the health have been contradictory and inconclusive at best. Research has shown that a rat that consumed 12 to 14 cups of caffeinated coffee a day risked birth defects, so make sure to keep your coffee away from rats! :)
Caffeine is a strong substance and stimulant, and if you are having adverse effects to drinking caffeine, it would do you good to cut back on your coffee drinking. Another simple option is to drink better quality coffee since pre-ground commercial coffee is often made from Robusta beans, which have more caffeine and are lower quality. As a rule of thumb, darker coffee roasts also have slightly less caffeine than lighter roasts. When you brew your daily coffee, it is recommended to use slightly less coffee with as fine a grind as you can get away with without clogging the filter. When you brew with less coffee, your cup of Joe will have slightly less caffeine with less stimulant effects on your health.
As another suggestion, you may want to substitute some of your regular coffee drinking with decaffeinated coffee. There are many flavorful and delicious choices in decaffeinated coffee for sale, or you could also drink coffee that is low-caffeine. This would mean brewing with half decaffeinated coffee grounds and half caffeinated coffee grounds to reduce the caffeine content in your cup of Joe.
The important thing to keep in mind is that caffeine works as a stimulant to affect the central nervous system, so when you drink it in moderation, you will still have benefits of boosted concentration, energy, and alertness. These factors have proven that caffeine can interfere with sleep, although it is normally expelled from the body within two hours. This means that drinking coffee throughout the day should have a minimal effect on your sleep unless you are highly sensitive to caffeine. Drinking caffeinated coffee has also been proven to boost exercise performance, stamina, and endurance during a workout.
Bear in mind that caffeine is a diuretic, so drinking caffeine will cause an increase in how often you urinate. Because of this, you do need to drink extra water to make up for the fluids that you lose through urine to prevent dehydration.
Caffeine can definitely be addictive, but studies have shown that humans do not seem to develop a tolerance to caffeine, but they can become dependent. Your body will become accustomed to drinking caffeine regularly each day, so you may experience temporary side affects, like headache or fatigue, if you quit caffeine cold turkey. All of the withdrawal symptoms are short-lived and temporary so that they will disappear within a few days, and it is best to slowly cut back on your caffeine consumption to minimize any ill effects. The moral of the story is to enjoy your caffeinated coffee in moderation and pay attention to your body's responses to have the best coffee drinking experience!