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I used to drink four mugs a day but cut back to one after discovering that it was the cause of often feeling lightheaded, similar to how you feel when you've spent too much time in bed when ill.
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I usually drink ~16oz through the morning, most often stopping after lunch. Anything more than that sometimes makes me feel gross. 
As far as too much, I'd reckon the limiting factor is caffeine tolerance. The FDA says anything less than 400mg for healthy adults is acceptable. So, roughly 32oz of the good stuff. ![Java | [Coffee]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/coffee.gif)
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Cp-Coder wrote: Is it even possible to have too much coffee?
Yes, that possible, not say me but my doctor. We grew up with coffee and didn't drink anything else.
Coffee dehydrates the body. So I'd get thirsty and drink more coffee.
Cp-Coder wrote: But lately I find that the good effect starts to wear off after 3 to 4 hours.
Try sleeping more, and you need the effect less 
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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Eddy Vluggen wrote: Coffee dehydrates the body
The net effect of a cup of coffee is still hydration (the diuretic effect is more than outweighed by the fluid you're taking in)
Interestingly, wine and spirits have a diuretic effect but beer, evidently, doesn't.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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You've never heard the expression you drink water but rent beer?
I’ve given up trying to be calm. However, I am open to feeling slightly less agitated.
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 Live it and breath it!
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Chris Maunder wrote: Interestingly, wine and spirits have a diuretic effect but beer, evidently, doesn't.
I have made it a habit to go on my bathroom scale every morning - still surprised how much my body weight jumps up and down. It is not that I gain 1.5 to 2 kg of fat from one day to the other, and loose it over the next day or two; it is the amount of liquids in my body.
There is no doubt: My average body weight the mornings after I enjoyed a sixpack the night before is significantly lower (probably around 1 kg, if I had taken more detail notes) than mornings when I drank only water or tea the previous night. This is in spite of the fact that a sixpack adds three liters of liquid, 3 kg of weight, to my body.
I cannot claim this to be 'scientific' and peer reviewed observations. It may just be a correlation(*), not a cause/effect. But in my case, there is definitely a correlation.
(*) Correlation vs. cause/effect:
- Dad, do you really want to wear those shoes?
- Why not? I like to dress up a little when I go out with my buddies.
- But every time you wear those shoes, you have a headache the next morning...
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It's all that getting up on the tables and dancing after the 6-pack that's burning off the calories. Maybe you're drinking is actually making you fitter.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Quote: Maybe you're drinking is actually making you fitter.
Very true. Repeatedly lifting an elbow takes a lot of effort! 
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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As a person on dialysis (my kidneys don’t work so I hardly pee at all) it is normal to gain 2 to 3 kg between treatments ( dialysis Mon Wed Fri). Liquids are heavy. We loose liquids thru respiration, perspiration and peeing. Day to day weight variations are normal and also strongly influenced but sodium intake. I recall one weight loss program citing “a pound a pickle” due to the high sodium content of a pickle. I find your unscientific observation fascinating. Our bodies are amazing machines.
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Chris Maunder wrote: The net effect of a cup of coffee is still hydration (the diuretic effect is more than outweighed by the fluid you're taking in)
I believe you; but monday the doc said I should drink less coffee, among other things.
I do two liter per day. Been doin so for years.
Bastard Programmer from Hell
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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I'm talking merely about fluids, not caffeine intake. 2L? If it's decent coffee that's a fair bit of caffeine!
cheers
Chris Maunder
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I have participated in a few ultra-marathons lasting in the 50-70 hour range. Leading up to these events, I cut out caffeine completely for at least 1 month leading up to the event. I always feel better and more awake about a week without.
During the event, I use it sparingly to help me get through the night with as little sleep as possible. When used little, it has one heck of an effect.
Then after the race, I go back to my old habits and it quickly stops working and becomes a crutch to stay normal. Think I would lean after as many times as I've completed this cycle. Now to get another cup of coffee!
Hogan
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Quote: Now to get another cup of coffee!
I will join you, friend! Sluuurrrrp!
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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The health effect very much depend on how you brew the coffee. The worst alternative is boiling it the traditional way, with the coffee grounds boiling with the water. Almost as bad is boiling clear water, pull it aside and add the coffee. Espresso should not be enjoyed in large quanta either. The modern style with pods are in the middle between, but the most healthy, by far, is the filter coffee, using a paper filter.
If you make your coffee using a paper filter, you probably can allow yourself another mug for lunch. If you boil the coffee grounds for a few minutes, medicals suggest that you keep the consumption down.
(I knew one lady who seriously claimed that coffee had no taste unless boiled for at least five minutes... In modern times, she is the only one, and certainly only woman, I know to like it that way. Two generations ago, fishermen and lumberjacks used to add more water to the old grounds in the pot, adding grounds when the coffee getting too weak. They didn't clean out the pot until it was so full of grounds that there was no room for water, maybe once a week.)
My experience with both coffee and tea (strong, and in huge amounts) is that your body gradually becomes immune to the stimulating effect of caffeine. For many years, I have had strong coffee (or tea) late at night, and fallen asleep immediately when going to bed. But I discovered that me getting drowsy after a few hours of work rather was due to dehydration. Nowadays, I can drink at least a liter of water through a typical day, and that keeps the drowsiness away.
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Quote: Nowadays, I can drink at least a liter of water through a typical day,
My old Scottish golfing buddy would warn you about undiluted water: I may cause you to rust. He believed water should always be diluted with a good whiskey! 
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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There are three ways to drink whiskey: Without water, with water, and like water.
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I brew my next cup when i'm halfway through the current one. There's plenty of time to not drink coffee when I'm dead.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Yes it's possible to have too much - your body can only tolerate so much caffeine. I think it's around 400mg per day.
Go on a 'detox' - scale back for a few days and re-sensitize yourself to it.
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I drink two cups of strong coffee before I even think about going to the office.
My biggest challenge in the morning is trying to make coffee before I have had coffee. I have on occasion waited patiently for the kettle to boil, having not even filled it up or switched it on.
Nothing succeeds like a budgie without teeth.
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Nowdays I use to drink 3 expresso per day. It is barely enough (I would prefer to drink much more coffee because I like it very much and it keeps me up).
"In testa che avete, Signor di Ceprano?"
-- Rigoletto
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IMHO none. Modulating one's brain activity with substances instead of sheer will sounds compelling at first, but there's the danger of addiction (which caffeine exhibits). Caffeine has shown to increase the number of melatonine receptors (meaning increasing the overall tirendness unless countered with more caffeine), caffeine has shown to lower the amount of grey matter (this effect proven to be reversible though) and consuming something brain-changing and addiction-fueling regularly is IMHO not worth it. I'm not a huge fan of hops tea for falling-asleep-purposes either. Yes, it works, it's got way less side-effects than commercially available pills, but it's still something the brain can get used to (so failing to deal with lack of) when taken regularly.
Now when it comes to recreational substance use (as opposed to goal-oriented substance use), I do love myself a beer or two (or a couple more) every now and then. On the other hand, in Bavaria, Germany, beer is basically a basic food. Not to say I've not seen alcohol addiction second-hand...
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