What is the Impact of Different Caffeine Pouch Doses?

Caffeine pouches (or energy pouches) are a fairly new trend in the smokefree segment, and they’re gaining traction as a way to avoid nicotine while enjoying a similar flavour and experience. But for anyone considering using multiple pouches per day or combining them with other caffeine products, it’s smart to figure out exactly how caffeine doses work.

In this article, we’ll run through the typical caffeine contents of energy pouches and compare them to the quantities found in other caffeine products and the upper limit per day.

Caffeine Pouches: A Primer

There’s a fair bit of confusion about what caffeine pouches are (and what they aren’t), so let’s take a few moments to get on the same page.

Caffeine pouches (such as Wakey pouches or Scooper pouches) are an alternative to nicotine pouches. They boast the same format and similar flavours, but none of the nicotine.

Caffeine vs Nicotine-Free Pouches

However, they differ from some other types of nicotine-free pouches because they replace the nicotine with caffeine. Meanwhile, options like VELO Breezy Mango Zero simply contain various flavourings.

While caffeine and nicotine are different substances, they both provide an energising effect, which means the two products provide a somewhat similar experience.

This can make caffeine pouches popular among those trying to transition away from nicotine who are finding it tough to move away from the “buzz.”

Caffeine vs Coffee Pouches

Caffeine pouches are a completely different product from coffee pouches, which contain the coffee flavour without the caffeine itself.

Most caffeine pouches boast sweet, fruity, or minty flavours rather than a coffee-based taste profile. But never say never!

How Much Caffeine Per Day?

To figure out how many caffeine pouches it’s safe to consume, let’s start by looking at the upper limit of caffeine consumption.

As a general guideline, 400mg of caffeine is the upper limit. But everyone is different — some people are particularly sensitive to caffeine, and certain groups should limit their caffeine further.

For instance, pregnant women should keep caffeine under 200mg per day.

Dosage for Caffeine Pouches

Now that we have a basic idea of what to expect from caffeine doses themselves, let’s turn back to energy pouches.

Scooper energy pouches such as Scooper Energy Fresh Mint contain 80mg of caffeine per pouch. That means that, if someone consumed 100% of their caffeine from the pouches, they could probably consume five pouches per day without experiencing any problems.

WAKEY pouches like WAKEY Cosmic Cola are less strong, with a caffeine dose of 50mg per pouch. This would mean that a non-caffeine consumer could consume as many as eight pouches per day.

But remember, this is assuming somebody only gets caffeine from pouches. As we’ll soon see, this is very unlikely.

Typical Caffeine Doses in Other Products

To start to pull together a more accurate picture of how much caffeine to consume, it’s crucial to know the amount that comes from other sources.

Spoiler: it might be more than you think!

Coffee

When most people think “caffeine,” they think coffee. But exactly how much does a typical drink contain?

In Starbucks UK products, the doses are as follows:

• Single espresso: 44.6mg
• Caffe americano tall: 89.1mg
• Cappuccino grande: 89.1mg
• Caffe latte venti: 133.7mg

Bear in mind these are approximate values since baristas aren’t robots.

For those who make instant coffee at home, the caffeine contents are likely to be much lower. A mug of instant coffee will likely contain around 30mg, though it varies depending on the brand and how generous a serving the coffee maker places on their spoon.

Even “decaf” products contain small amounts of caffeine. A decaffeinated caffe latte grande from Starbucks still contains around 3.6mg of caffeine.

Other Beverages

Coffee isn’t the only beverage that contains caffeine. Some other popular caffeinated drinks include:

• Black tea — roughly 45 mg of caffeine per 200ml
• Green tea — roughly 35 mg of caffeine per 200ml
• Yerba mate — roughly 80mg of caffeine per 150ml
• Energy drinks — roughly 80mg of caffeine per 250ml
• CocaCola — roughly 35 mg of caffeine per 200ml

Clearly, anyone who regularly drinks one or more of these caffeinated drinks could go a long way toward their final caffeine limit without a single caffeine pouch.

Chocolate

Then there’s chocolate.

The caffeine content in chocolate varies widely depending on the concentration of cocoa — while 100 grams of 100% cocoa chocolate contains 240 mg of caffeine, most people can’t handle the bitterness.

In milk chocolate, the same quantity provides around 45 mg of caffeine. That’s a lot less, but considerable for any major chocolate fans.

Other Products

There may be small traces of caffeine in the following products:

• Chocolate-flavoured foods and drinks (including hot chocolate)
• Food that contains coffee (including tiramisu)
• Caffeinated chewing gum
• Guarana
• Cold and flu remedies

Other Tips for Caffeine Pouches

Now for some final words. Based on the analysis above, it might seem tempting to try and calculate the exact amount of caffeine

But since there’s so much variation of how much caffeine any given product contains and most people aren’t weighing out their food or drink, it’s practically impossible to be accurate.

Err on the side of caution when working out how many pouches to consume. It’s best to start off slow, so anyone new to caffeine pouches should begin with one pouch per day.

Also, listen to your body. Someone might be 100% sure they’re using less than the upper limit of caffeine and still feel negative effects.

Some common side effects of excess caffeine consumption to look out for include:

• Higher blood pressure
• Increased urination
• Restlessness
• Irregular heartbeat
• Difficulty sleeping
• Anxiety

Pulling it All Together

In summary:

• The average person can consume around 400mg of caffeine per day
• Caffeine pouches generally contain 50-80mg of caffeine
• Other products like coffee, tea, and chocolate contain significant amounts of caffeine
• It’s best to make conservative estimates about caffeine consumption and build up slowly