Learning the signs of too much caffeine and understanding your personal caffeine cutoff can serve as preventive measures. For the days where you don’t get ahead, though, experts share five tips to help manage unwanted symptoms. While there’s no real way to speed up the process, there are a few ways to help manage some of the unwanted side effects: One way to tell if coffee is dehydrating you beyond your pee color? Check your lips. Will Bulsiewicz, M.D., MSCI, gastroenterologist and mbg Collective member, says dry lips are a sign that you may have had one mug too many. Managing this side effect is simple enough: Adequately hydrate by drinking more water, eating hydrating foods, or adding in electrolytes. To avoid drinking too much coffee to start, Bulsiewicz makes his first cup more effective by adding in ashwagandha and maca root. “The ashwagandha itself takes off a little bit of the edge when I’m feeling fatigued, and the maca root is good for energy,” he told mbg. After that, there’s no need for another cup. Not that we’d recommend forgoing sleep every night, but if caffeine is keeping you from a good night’s rest, one study says just 40 minutes of meditation may reduce the need for sleep4, at least temporarily. To break it down, that’s a little more than four cups of cold brew or regular brewed coffee, which both contain about 96 mg per cup. (Here: the caffeine content of popular drinks). For those looking to get ahead of the symptoms, consider microdosing your intake. Those looking to cut back altogether? Be mindful of these possible withdrawal symptoms.
