How many coffees can you drink per day: how to regulate yourself

Understanding how many coffees you can drink per day is only seemingly simple: it depends on the total caffeine you consume (not just the number of cups), your metabolism, personal sensitivity, and some specific conditions. Below you’ll find a practical way to orient yourself, based on guidance from authoritative health institutions and sources, without demonizing coffee or relying on false beliefs.

How many coffees per day according to guidelines

For most healthy adults, many institutions converge on a reference point: up to 400 mg of caffeine per day is generally considered safe. This is the amount reported, for example, by the European Food Safety Authority in its guidance on caffeine use.
The question therefore needs to be reframed: “how many coffees should you drink per day” becomes: how much caffeine is in your cup and how many other sources of caffeine (or theine) are you consuming (tea, cola, energy drinks, chocolate, supplements)? For coffee lovers who worry about their caffeine intake, choosing quality decaffeinated coffee is an option well worth considering.

Espresso, moka, filter: why the number of coffees can be misleading

This is where the most common misunderstanding arises: an espresso is “small”, so it seems light. In reality, caffeine depends on several factors such as dose, yield in the cup, and recipe. As an indicative value, the Mayo Clinic reports about 63 mg for 1 shot of espresso (30 ml).
Compared with a cup of brewed coffee (filter/Americano), which can contain on average 96 mg in 237 ml. These figures come from educational tables based on clinical data.
A concrete way to think about it is this:

• 1 espresso (~30 ml): ~63 mg of caffeine
• 1 filter/Americano coffee (~237 ml): ~96 mg of caffeine

From these values, you can deduce that “4 coffees per day” does not correspond to a generic amount of caffeine; you must take into account the type of coffee.

How many coffees per day during pregnancy and in other specific cases

When it comes to coffee during pregnancy and breastfeeding, the threshold changes: EFSA indicates that up to 200 mg of caffeine per day, from all sources, does not raise safety concerns for the fetus.
The UK NHS is aligned with this, recommending no more than 200 mg/day during pregnancy.
Even outside pregnancy, there are situations where it’s advisable to consume caffeine with caution and often to consult a healthcare professional:

• recurrent insomnia,
• anxiety/palpitations,
• poorly controlled blood pressure,
• medications sensitive to caffeine.

Common mistakes when calculating how many coffees to drink per day

• The first mistake is counting cups and ignoring everything else: cappuccinos, cold brew, “strong” teas, energy drinks, and even some supplements can significantly increase the amount of caffeine consumed.
• The second mistake is thinking there’s a “one-size-fits-all” threshold. It’s well known that there is wide variability in sensitivity to caffeine’s effects and in how quickly it’s eliminated by the body.
• The third mistake is not considering intake quality: three coffees spaced out and always after eating (for many people) have a different impact compared to closely timed “double espresso + energy drink”.

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