A study of 100 US children, 12-18 years old shows that 73% have more than 100mg of caffeine everyday (Is Your Teen). That is the equivalent of four cups of coffee or two energy drinks. Though there is no official amount doctors say is safe, most agree that children and teenagers should have less than 100mg. Caffeine can be a naturally occurring substance, but it can also be artificially made and put into products that people would never suspect of having caffeine. With an increased drive for students to complete large amounts of work each night and for athletes to perform better, in a world that is full of bright advertising and coffee house socials it is important for teens and parents to know the true effects of caffeine. Caffeine has numerous effects on teens that negatively impacts their academics, their sleep, and their health.
A large part of academic success is the ability to think, but caffeine inhibits that ability. Caffeine causes problems in learning by preventing the replay of memories (Persad). All homework and exams test a student’s ability to recall the information that was taught in class. This means that memories need to be replayed to successfully pass those challenges. Also, A caffeine-induced stimulation can reduce a person’s ability to complete complex tasks because these tasks sufficiently stimulate the brain, and the addition of caffeine can cause excessive stimulation, lowering overall cognitive performance (Miao). The goal of schools is to stimulate teenagers’ brains so that they are challenged and learn from the experiences. When teenagers use caffeine they no longer focus and learn from those experiences. In addition, Research from the Pusan National University in Korea showed that long term use of caff...
... middle of paper ...
...deeb). In order to create the wakeful feeling caffeine releases hormones that increase the heart rate, when done for a long time the heart could wear itself out. In long term use a teenager using caffeine is guaranteeing themselves poor health.
Caffeine has a number of effects on teens that negatively impact their academics, their sleep, and their health. With teens having to pass classes to get jobs or a higher education they cannot afford to lose their ability to think, lose their attention in class, or have bad behavior. Teenagers are still developing so they have to get enough consistent sleep and reach the deep stages of sleep. It is also important for adolescents to take care of their health so that they can have good nutrition, good physical health, and live a long life. Unfortunately caffeine is a drug that could ruin all of these important factors for teens.
Caffeine raises your blood pressure when you drink/eat it, raising your blood pressure in general is not a good thing but imagine drinking and/or eating caffeine daily, and your blood pressure constantly rising. Another negative aspect is that caffeine can have a disruptive effect on your sleep. The most obvious effect of the caffeine is that it can make it hard for you to fall asleep. It can help you stay awake during the day but can also make you stay awake during the night when you are trying to fall asleep. You can also have withdraws from caffeine, going back to the story “Java Man” the author Malcolm Gladwell considered it a drug and remember you can get addicted to drugs (you can really get addicted to anything). There are plenty more negative ways caffeine can disrupt your lifestyle but you know what they say for every negative thing you can say there can be some
Caffeine is produced by plants as an insecticide. It is a drug that acts as a stimulant in humans and causes a raised heart rate, and is used to give more energy in drinks such as tea and coffee, add flavour to drinks such as coke, and in weight-loss foods. A raised heart rate increases the risk of cardiovascular disease as it makes the heart work faster which can wear it out. High levels of caffeine have been linked to increased stress and insomnia, which is also linked to heart disease as it raises blood pressure.
Caffeine is a mild stimulant that occurs naturally in at least 63 plant species. Caffeine can be found in the leaves, stems, seeds, and roots of these various plants. Caffeine is part of the methylxanthine family. It consists of a xanthine molecule with three methyl groups attached to it. Caffeine can be found in many products like sodas, tea, and coffee, but it also occurs in several other products such as prescription medications, diuretics, and pain relievers. Caffeine’s widespread use and popularity have caused many people to view the substance as an addictive drug. Thus making caffeine the most inexpensive and readily available drug known to man. Then on the other hand there are people who view caffeine as a helpful stimulant that increases the individual’s concentration and awareness as well as many other physical traits. The important thing to remember is that caffeine’s affects vary based on the person, the amount ingested, the frequency of consumption, and individual metabolism. (http://www.pp.okstate.edu/ehs/kopykit/caffeine.html)
Several people rely on caffeine to wake them up or give them a boost of energy when they feel down. Acting as a stimulant, caffeine not only improves concentration and focus, but also stops fatigue (Staff 1). Considered the most commonly used psychoactive drug in the world, approximately 90 percent of adults consume it daily (“MedicineNet.com” 1). But do caffeine buyers really stop to evaluate the possinle harmful effects on their body? Health scares similar to this are not recent. In fact, they have been going on for over 100 years. In 1911, the US Government sued the Coca-Cola company for making their drinks hazardous to other’s health (Lovett 2). Although the Coca-Cola company won, it proves that people worry about what they put into their bodies, even if it does help them stay up to finish their homework. Not everybody will experience the same effects from caffeine. Some people seem more sensitive to caffeine than others (Staff 1). While some will express unwanted effects after only one cup of coffee or tea, others will not notice these same effects until after maybe four or five cups. Although caffeine does include benefits, many downfalls exemplify the stimulant as well. Drinking even small amounts of caffeine daily develops harmful effects on most people’s body and health.
Caffeine also increases dopamine levels in the same way that amphetamines do (heroine, and cocaine also manipulate dopamine levels by slowing down the rate of dopamine reuptake). Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that, in certain parts of the brain, activates the pleasure center. Caffeine’s effects are obviously much lower than heroin’s, but it is the same mechanism. The long term problem with caffeine is the effect it has on sleep. The half life of caffeine in your body is about 6 hours. That means that if you have a big cup of coffee with 200 mg of caffeine in it at 3:00pm, by 9:00pm about 100 mg of that caffeine is still in your system. You will still be able to fall asleep but your body is going to miss out on the benefits of deep sleep. The next day you are probably going to feel worse, so to make yourself feel better, you will need caffeine as soon as you get up and out of bed. This cycle can start to continue day after day. This is why 90% of Americans consume caffeine everyday. Once you get in the cycle, you have to keep taking the drug (home.howstuffworks.com).
Although individuals try to stop using caffeine, some cannot because it has a strong hold on them and some people can stop. The people that doesn’t stop may fit the clinical definition of caffeine addiction. “In this study, 94% of participants experienced withdrawal when they attempted to stop using caffeine, and 94% continued to use caffeine even though they knew that they might be harming their health with their use.” Women stop taking in caffeine during their pregnancies. Studies suggest, caffeine can be harmful to a growing baby. Most individuals with mental illnesses might be asked to stop taking caffeine. (Caffeine Addiction). All races of women consume 200 milligrams of caffeine daily. They drink coffee, black tea, green tea, and soda. About 89 percent of United States women ages 18 to 34 consume two cups of coffee a day. Even though caffeine affects men more strongly than women, caffeine changes women's estrogen levels; it has different effects in Asian, white, and black women. Studies showed that the effect differ between men and women based on the caffeine intake they consume. Men consume 7 milligrams of caffeine a day. Other men consume 85 to 170 milligrams of caffeine a day. Thirtynine percent does not drink caffeine at all.
Caffeine is the most popular and most widely used stimulant in the world. In Canada, the average person drinks 2.6 cups of coffee a day; that is equivalent to 949 cups of coffee a year. (Van Houtte) Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant that improves ones attention, focus, and fatigue. When caffeine is ingested it causes your neurons to move at a faster rate, increasing alertness. (Fit Day) Caffeine also binds to the neural receptors, which blocks the adenosine, which prolongs tiredness. Caffeine is a white odorless powder that is most commonly found in coffee, tea, energy drinks, and pops. Caffeine can also be considered and ergogenic aid. Ergogenic aids are external influences that enhance/ improves ones strength, endurance, reaction time and speed of recovery. (Healthline) The three theories that make caffeine an ergogenic aid during exercise is the effect it has on the central nervous system, skeletal muscles, and metabolic changes. (Sheila G. Dean) Caffeine also has a positive effect on an individual’s health, some positive effects include: reduces risk of developing liver cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s. (Chawala) Caffeine has been proven to have positive effects on an athlete’s performance, and ones overall health.
This scenario is very common in the lives of most college students. For most students, caffeine dependency has become more important than sleep. Caffeine seems to be the boost that students need before tests. “Unfortunately, I have no data associating sales trends to midterms and finals, but I think it's safe to assume that sales of caffeinated beverages increase around exam times," claims Buzz Hofford, the general manager of Bon Appetite, a restaurant in the University of Seattle. Since students rely heavily on caffeine, they need to know if caffeine does actually kindle their memory. I believe that caffeine does stimulate the memory process and help boost alertness when used in moderation because of the different types of research that supports caffeine stimulation.
As mentioned earlier, relying on caffeine to wake you up and keep you that way reduces your body’s ability to do that itself. The problem, one might argue, is not necessarily the coffee, but the school giving the student so much work that they have to stay up late enough to rely on coffee to keep themselves awake, or the teen’s lack of self-regulation staying up late doing pointless activities such as playing video games. And that one would have a point, except that we aren’t here to argue for educational reform or about “darn kids” and their video games. Those things are the source of the problem, but caffeine is a symptom that perpetuates itself and many other problematic symptoms. Even without school or video games, the problems associated with caffeine still
Mednick, S. C., Cai, D. J., Kanady, J., Drummond, S. P. A. (2008). Comparing the benefits of caffeine, naps and placebo on verbal, motor and perceptual memory. Behavioral Brain Research, 193(1), 79-86
As the vast majority of Americans are addicted to caffeine, studies show that the effects during post-consumption, can be positive or negative depending on the amount and frequency of caffeine intake. As the demand for caffeine has increased, the caffeine industry has increased its amount of marketing and establishments to help aid this demand. Caffeine addiction can lead to serious health detriments and physiological detriments. It is evident that the primary reason for consumption of caffeinated beverages is due to positive effects, such as alertness. The media has an abundance of marketing to continue to illustrate this main effect. The media fails to project the negative effects of excessive caffeine intake. This literature review will illustrate how excessive caffeine consumption can be detrimental to one’s life, and how problematic caffeine use derives from conditioning by the caffeine industries.
Coffee is the first thing that people associate with instant energy on a groggy morning. “In the U.S., coffee is king of beverages” (Reinke) Research has been done that has named coffee as an addiction to the people who consume large quantities of it. Coffee was named the top source of antioxidants. This is partly because of the amount consumed each day. Some of the antioxidants that coffee has are quinines and chlorogenic acid. It also contains trigonelline, an antibacterial compound. This is where coffee acquires its delicious aroma. Now let’s step back for a minute and just think about how much caffeine people consume. In an 8oz cup of coffee it has about 85 milligrams of caffeine. This is about double the amount that tea contains. Studies have shown that caffeine stimulates the brain and nervous system. This is where you get that energized feeling. After about the third cup, knees start to bounce, pens are clicking and people start running laps around the office. Caffeine can become addicting if you drink too much. Coffee can become that addictive habit people are unable to shake.
Preview: The potential effects are related to the main ingredient in coffee – caffeine. Caffeine is a drug that stimulates the central nervous system that increases alertness and energy, but it is also very addictive.
Millions of Americans begin each day by consuming the most widely used drug in the United States: Caffeine. Over 90% of United States adults consume caffeinated food or beverages on a daily basis and over 50% take more than the recommended amount. Our innocent daily ritual can turn into an addiction for some because many do not realize that caffeine is even a drug let alone the effects it can have on their bodies. Its use it becoming more and more prominent in our society. It’s not uncommon to walk outside and see a Starbucks or coffee shop on each corner. Innovative foods are coming out infused with coffee, and energy drinks are being pushed at every angle. Caffeine to many is a necessity to wake up in the morning and for others to stay up all night. This is dangerous because people are not only becoming more and more dependent on coffee drinks and energy drinks but they are beginning to ingest more of it each day and are now mixing it with other drugs that can be life threatening. Proper knowledge is important when taking any drug including one that the FDA considers to be a safe multi-purpose food substance and education is the key.
As side from that, excess caffeine can also overstimulate the central nervous system, disrupting sleeping patterns. High amounts of caffeine produce negative effect on sleep onset and quality. However, there are large individual differences in the effects of caffeine on sleep. Many people consume coffee during the evening and have no problems falling asleep, while others find that the mild stimulation of caffeine consumed shortly before a bed time delays the time to fall asleep.