Effects of Caffeine

Effects of Caffeine

Caffeine has been a hot topic in the medical community as of late. Studies have shown that the effects of caffeine are undoubtedly beneficial to people's health. However, other studies have shown that its effect can have a negative impact on health.

So what is caffeine and where do you find it? According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, it is "a bitter alkaloid C8H10N4O2 found especially in coffee, tea, and kola nuts and used medicinally as a stimulant and diuretic," (Merriam-Webster). It can be found in foods such as chocolate, cappuccino frozen yogurt and mocha cheesecake. Surprisingly enough, it can also be found in beverages such as Sunkist Orange Soda, Mountain Dew and Jolt.

Medically speaking, caffeine is considered a drug. What distinguishes it as a drug is that a habitual user experiences withdrawal symptoms whenever he or she cuts back on the amount typically consumed or decides to quit it cold turkey. In his article, Flora (2004) reports that withdrawal from caffeine can be considered an official disorder and will "likely be included in the next edition of the DSM, or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the bible of psychiatric disorders," (par. 3). Caffeine is such a powerful stimulant that the American Psychiatric Association has "added three related disorders to the list of official diagnoses associated with caffeine: caffeine intoxication, caffeine-related anxiety and caffeine-related sleep disorders," (Mann, par. 4)

Even though caffeine is technically considered to be a drug, it does have some health benefits. For instance, an article from The Cleveland Clinic notes that caffeine "increases alertness, decreases fatigue and improves muscle coordination," (par. 2), and Flora notes that it enhances physical endurance (par. 7).

It is reported that 89% of the American public prefer choose caffeine as their drug of choice (Psychology Today, par. 1). What a wonderful thing caffeine is. At least it is for those who think they cannot start their day off without their usual dose, whether it be in the form of their favorite soft drink or the increasingly popular coffee beverages served up at Starbucks, or the like. Hitti's report claims that almost 90% of American adults consume caffeine on a daily basis (par.4). She also states that 76% of American children do the same (par. 4). For the adults, the number one caffeinated beverage of choice is coffee, whereas the number one beverage of choice for children is a soft drink (Hitti, par. 4). It is no surprise that Starbucks and Coca-Cola are among the top leaders in their field.

For those who believe that their day cannot properly begin without their morning espresso or cola, there is some bad news. They aren't just groggy or irritable because they have not yet started on their daily dose of caffeine, but rather they are combating withdrawal symptoms (Flora, par. 8). "The effect that daily users attribute to caffeine is really reversal of withdrawal symptoms," (Flora, par. 8).

There are some nay-sayers out there who like to rain on everyone's parade, saying that caffeine is no good for you. It is true that caffeine can have a negative impact on a person's health. For instance, it can cause "anxiety, insomnia, panic and even heart problems," (Flora, par. 9). Other adverse effects include tremulousness, stomachache, sweatiness and ringing of the ears (Psychology Today, par. 4). For these effects to actually occur, one would have to only consume 24 ounces of coffee daily (Psychology Today, par. 4). Habitual users who attempt to cut out caffeine from their diet, for whatever reason, will probably experience withdrawal symptoms, such as headache, fatigue, difficulty concentrating on tasks, depression, irritability, muscle pain and flu-like nausea (Flora, par. 2). However, the benefits outweigh the negatives, according to Flora (par. 10).

So how do we know just how much caffeine we ingest on a daily basis? The average consumer will never know exactly how much they take in since food and drink manufacturers