That's right, even though decaf coffee has far less caffeine in it than regular coffee, it has some--enough to give you a caffeine punch. It's also enough caffeine to cause physical dependence, reports Reuters of a study from the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville.
"The concentration of caffeine in these brewed decaf coffees does have physiological and behavioral effects on a person," lead study author Dr. Bruce A. Goldberger told Reuters.
His team tested the caffeine content of 10 different brands of decaf coffee. Only Folger's Instant had no caffeine, while the rest contained between 8.6 milligrams to 13.9 milligrams per 16-ounce cup.
In addition, the team tested six samples of decaf espresso and six samples of decaf coffee from Starbucks. Again, they found a wide variation in caffeine content with the decaf espresso shots containing 3 milligrams to 15.8 milligrams of caffeine and the Starbucks decaf ranging from 12 milligrams to 13.4 milligrams of caffeine, reports Reuters.
For comparison, how much caffeine is in regular coffee? Goldberger said an earlier study he conducted found caffeinated specialty coffees contain an average of 188 milligrams per cup. Obviously, decaf is a small fraction of this, but if people think they are drinking something that is caffeine-free, they may be surprised.
And it's enough caffeine to cause harm for those who have kidney disease, anxiety or are taking certain types of medication. "For people who need or want to abstain from caffeine, they should also abstain from decaf coffee," Goldberger told Reuters.
The study results were reported in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology.
--From the Editors at Netscape
