It doesn’t matter what time it is because caffeine is being gulped down all around the clock. Studies have shown that about 90 percent of North American adults consume caffeine everyday or 300 tons all around the world, because let’s face it whether you have a research paper due tomorrow or just need a wake up call to your morning, many of us lean towards caffeine to give us that extra energy. In which, according to the FDA, the average caffeine consumer will take up to 200 milligrams daily, or about the equivalent drinking 4 cans of soda. We all know that soda is terrible for our body and health, so have you ever wondered the true effects of caffeine to the body?
What exactly is caffeine? Caffeine is a CNS stimulant drug known as trimethylxanthine or its chemical form, C8H10N4O2. Caffeine can be found naturally in seeds, leaves, and the fruit of various plants. Caffeine today is most commonly found in beverages such as coffee, tea, and soft drinks, making it the most widely consumed psychoactive drug in the world. Anthropologists say caffeine dates back to the Stone Age.
Though the exact origin being the Stone Age is still relatively unproven, there are traces of its discovery leading to Ethiopia. According to a legend, a goat herder named Kaldi observed that his goats have been eating coffee shrubs. Upon the consumption the goats experienced restlessness at night. Which is common today, we see humans unable to get rest if they’ve consumed caffeine within few hours before heading to bed. Now fast-forwarding in time, caffeinated drinks have been modified into various forms other than just coffee. Basically anything you tell children to stay away from has caffeine in it, such as chocolate, ice cream, and most definitely energy dr...
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“Caffeniated vs. Decaf: Which is Better?” Internet Brands, Inc FitDay.com, 18 Dec. 2013. http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/caffeinated-vs-decaf-which-is-better.html#b Jones, Brent. “’Pediatrics’ study dispute energy-drink claims.” Gannett Co. USAToday.com, Inc, 13 February 2013. 18 Dec. 2013. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/medical/pediatrics/2011-02-14-energydrinks14_ST_N.htm Dr. Narula, Shelley. “Positive And Negative Health Effects of Caffeine.” LifeForm. SteadyHealth.com, Inc, Over a year ago. 18 Dec. 2013 http://www.steadyhealth.com/articles/Positive_And_Negative_Health_Effects_Of_Caffeine_a801.html Kelley, Laura. “8 Most Caffeinated Coffee Drinks.” FOX News Network, LLC. FoxNews.com, Inc, 5 November 2013. 18 Dec. 2013.
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/11/05/8-most-caffeinated-coffee-drinks/
Consuming energy drinks such as Red Bull, Monster and the 5- Hour Energy Shot, which contains caffeine and other additives, is dangerous to an individual’s health and in some cases fatal. Manufacturers of energy drinks claim consumption of their products will improve athletic performance, concentration and reaction time, as well increase basal metabolism. However, manufacturers’ of energy drinks add additional energy-enhancing ingredients such as glucose, taurine, guarana and ginseng. Each of those ingredients has numerous adverse side effects, see table 1 on page 8. Yet, energy drink manufacturers are not required to list the amount or type of additive used in their products. According to the Food and Drug administration (FDA), approval of the FDA is required in order to use additives in conventional foods. Dietary supplements, is considered by the FDA as generally recognizes safe by qualified experts therefore not considered a food additive. Unfortunately, the FDA need not approve adding them to conventional foods such as drinks. Consequently, manufacturers of energy drinks are taking advantages of this by labeling their products as “dietary supplements. “ Therefore, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should be in a position to regulate the ingredients added to energy drinks. In addition, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), which regulates both dietary supplements and conventional foods does not require manufacturers of conventional foods to report serious adverse events (FDA, 2012).
By this definition, and after knowing the effects of caffeine upon the human body, I have come to the conclusion that drinking caffeine is a sign of a lack of respect for oneself, and of an unappreciative attitude toward the life that each of us has been blessed with. Furthermore, it shows of either our inability, or unwillingness to learn to think clearly.
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
Tarnopolsky, Mark. (1999) Gender Differences in Metabolism: Practical and nutritional implications; Caffeine. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 155-200
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.
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 and coffee are a daily part of life for most people in modern society. The discovery of the coffee bean is said to have been in Ethiopia, when a sleepy eyed goat herder noticed his goats eating red berries, he then noticed the effect it had on them as they jumped and danced around him. He then tasted the berries and his eyes opened wide, he took them to the local village who also liked it and in particular the monks who used the berries to keep them awake during meditation.
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 has been linked to a number of birth defects – most notably low birth weight, as “pregnant women have slower caffeine metabolism, with 1.5 to 3.5 times longer half-life needed to eliminate caffeine, compared to non-pregnant woman” (Rhee et al. ___ ). Furthermore, because infants’ livers are less developed than those of their mothers’, they are at a much higher risk of caffeine poisoning and related effects (such as low birth weight) – “recently, Greenwood et al found that consuming an increment of 100 mg/day of caffeine was associated with a 7% increase in the risk of LBW” (Rhee et al. 2). Similar reasoning applies to newborns, who still share a link to their mothers through breastfeeding – a method by which a significant amount of caffeine can be
One thing that has been the same for many years. Has always been society 's intake of caffeine even in the early eighteen hundreds caffeine played its role (Gladwell 235). In the American Revolution mainly remember it with the “symbolic rejection” of the people pouring tea into Boston Harbor (233). Boston Harbor is one of the most known conflicts that caffeine has brought into this society. In the Twenty-First Century over ninety percent of Americans have a cup of coffee in the morning (Collingwood). In many studies, caffeine, when it is consumed in the afternoon, will stimulate the brain which will have side effects that are similar to insomnia (@healthline). When anyone doesn’t get the rest that they need, their brain will not react properly to any situations. Caffeine is what drives, crashes, and tear apart this society. Will caffeine run this world or will the world run without the harmful embrace of a
Caffeine is a stimulant that has not been given the attention that some says it deserves. Caffeine is found in many everyday substances. It can be found in coffee, tea or sodas. Caffeine can be found on almost every street corner. There is a coffee place in just about every town. Sodas and coffee are found...
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.
... middle of paper ... ... In American society, coffee, energy drinks, and soda are becoming a very large problem. Our society is becoming engrossed with caffeine and many people are falling ill with its unnoticed negative properties.
Ferdman, A. Roberto. (2015, Feb. 21). It’s official: Americans should drink more coffee. The Washington Post.