These energy-boosting herbs help keep you awake without the coffee jitters

If you’re like most adults, you can’t start your day without a cup of coffee. Or two, or five.

But drinking too much coffee can be bad for your health, so you might want to slow down. While coffee gives you an energy boost, this effect is only temporary, making you crave another cup so you can finish working even if you’re already tired.

Coffee contains caffeine, which is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant. This means that caffeine temporarily energizes you. But if you have too much coffee, the constant stimulation that the CNS goes through may cause a shaky and jittery sensation. This jittery sensation signifies that your nervous system and adrenals, or the glands that regulate stress hormones, are reacting negatively to the excess stimulation. Too much coffee can then cause burnout when your adrenals have had enough.