If you’re like me, caffeine plays a daily role in your life. I drink caffeine on a daily basis, right now strictly in tea. I usually have a coffee every single day but I decided to give up my love and addiction for coffee for lent… sad face.
I never realized my addiction to caffeine until the start of lent. Boy oh boy did I have the biggest, throbbing, eye-pinching, light sensitive migraines I have ever had. I was in withdrawal— MAJOR withdrawal. It took my body about a week and a half before the symptoms of withdrawal were completely absent.
The thing is I didn’t drink this much coffee in high school, let alone my first semester here at SXU. I must have not realized the fast pace I was increasing my coffee intake after my first semester. The harder my courses go, the less I slept, the more tired I was, and the more coffee I drank. It got to the point that I was drinking coffee daily, maybe twice or three times a day.
I felt that as long as I had my coffee I could manage getting through the day. Now caffeine does come in other forms besides coffee, including tea, soda, and energy drinks. Believe it or not, caffeine does have it’s benefits. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), caffeine reduces the risk of Parkinson’s disease, liver disease, gallstones and diabetes.
Now don’t let these benefits convince you to drink ten cups of coffee a day, caffeine is only beneficial in moderation and is recommended and limited to only two to three cups of coffee a week.
Caffeine can also be harmful if you are not cautious about the amount of caffeine you are consuming. Even though caffeine gives you a burst of energy, it is only momentary and the crash eventually follows.
When interviewing students on campus, Jocelyn Camacho mentioned that she “loved the taste and the energy it would give me.” Alternatively, she also mentioned that coffee was also part of what she gave up her lent and she has come to realize that she never really needed the coffee, and now she is going to reduce her coffee intake dramatically even after lent.
Excessive caffeine consumption can also cause gastritis, increases the risk of miscarriage, and dehydrates the body. SAMHSA states that it takes almost six hours for your body to eliminate only half the caffeine in every cup of coffee. This is surprising to me, I never really considered or thought about the effects caffeine had on my body besides the energy and I didn’t consider the consequences of over-consuming caffeine.
Many people don’t think that excessive caffeine consumption is a serious issue. That is not the case, the result of overconsumption of caffeine can be life-threatening and deadly. According to SAMHSA “the number of emergency department visits involving energy drinks doubled from 10,068 in 2007 to 20,783 in 2011.” The distribution of emergency department visits in 2007 and 2011 among age groups can be seen in the table.
Notice that the highest number of emergency department visits due to energy drinks is the highest among individuals aged 18-25. This just shows how lightly we think about the consequences of caffeine on our body. Caffeine is also an addiction according to many doctors and physicians.
When your body is used to the presence of caffeine in the body and then it stops all together you will get signs of withdrawal. This is not fun and I am telling you from personal experience.
I love my caffeine as much as the next person but moderating the amount of caffeine consumed is something that is important to my health.
As college students we are constantly stressed out and tired and thus turn to caffeine to help get us through the day. I am not implying that we should cut out caffeine completely, but acknowledge that caffeine can affect our bodies and health drastically.
Susy Macias
Senior Viewpoints Editor
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