Caffeine
Coffee, tea, soft drinks, and energy drinks are the most widely consumed drugs in the entire world. It’s strange to consider those beverages drugs, so more precisely, caffeine is the most consumed drug in the world. Caffeine can be found in all of those drinks. According to CBS news, “More than 50 percent of Americans drink coffee everyday — three to four cups each, more than 330 million cups a day and counting….When you add in tea and caffeinated soft-drinks, more than 80 percent of Americans get their morning fix.”
Now that we know that caffeine is an immensely popular drug, how exactly does it affect the body? Most people hold misconceptions about how caffeine works, commonly thinking that it simply speeds up the body and central nervous system. As one naturally goes about their day, there brain is constantly active, producing chemicals, and byproducts of chemical reactions in the brain. One byproduct the brain produces is adenosine. Adenosine is what tells your brain that you’re getting sleepy and need to relax. “Caffeine…functions as a supremely talented adenosine impersonator…because of its similarities to adenosine, it’s accepted by your body as the real thing and gets into the receptors” (Life Hacks). Effectively, what is happening is your body is tricked into accepting caffeine as adenosine. When caffeine fills the adenosine receptors, your brain is prevented from getting a feeling of tiredness.
Are there any benefits or risks associated with consuming caffeine? The answer is yes and no, depending on who you talk to. Let’s justify our caffeine usage and start with the potential benefits of caffeine. Medical News Today reported on a study suggesting that “consuming three cups of coffee a day may reduce the risk of liver cancer by 50%, while another study suggests that drinking four cups a day could halve the risk of mouth and throat cancer” (MNT). “A study from the Harvard School of Public Health suggested that drinking between two and four cups of coffee a day may reduce the risk of suicide in adults” (MNT). Furthermore, according to a study published in the journal of nature science “research suggests that a dose of caffeine after a learning session may help to boost long-term memory” (MNT). Now let’s move on to the notions that no avid caffeine consumer/coffee drinker wants to consider: the health risks.
My research has demonstrated that there aren’t really any definite, black and white risks associated with drinking coffee. However, excessive consumption can lead to certain health risks. For example, according to Caffeine Informer “More than 4 cups of coffee linked to early death. A Mayo Clinic partnered study found that men who drank more than four 8 fl.oz. cups of coffee had a 21% increase in all-cause mortality” (Caffeine Informer). Caffeine Informer also cited a study suggesting “Caffeine could reduce fertility in women. A study from The University of Nevada School of Medicine showed that caffeine can reduce a woman’s chances of becoming pregnant by about 27%” (Caffeine Informer). I found many studies suggesting health risks associated with drinking caffeine/coffee excessively. I cited these two because it’s interesting that they are gender discriminate, and one or the other of the studies applies to everyone.
Caffeine is quite an interesting drug, considering how widely it’s consumed and accepted by societies all over the world. With that in mind, it’s worth knowing how caffeine physiologically affects you, and whether or not it’s dangerous.
Sources:
http://lifehacker.com/5585217/what-caffeine-actually-does-to-your-brain
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/271707.php
Although its almost impossible to overdose on caffeine, can caffeine still be considered a drug. We only use it to achieve the effects of it, and sometimes we crave it, so can it be called a drug? There are negative effects if we have too much of it that can last a long time, so why is it so incorporated into our lives?
Very interesting post to an avid coffee drinker like myself. It is claimed in this article that over a billion cups of coffee can be consumed in one day across the world. The article also goes in depth to explain the numerous benefits on the skeletal system, which is not discussed very often in studies with coffee. It is an interesting read and explains how chronic coffee consumption can have intense benefits in autophagy, increasing insulin sensitivity, increasing glucose uptake, regeneration, and even decrease the progression of loss of muscle mass and strength that comes as we age, known as sarcopenia. With everything in life, there is benefits and risks that need to considered.
This post was interesting to me because I am an avid coffee drinker. I’m so reliant on coffee that if I don’t have a cup of coffee in the morning I usually feel tired all day and sometimes even get a headache. This being said, I’m happy to hear that drinking coffee can actually be good for my health. I’ve never heard that the caffeine in coffee can potentially reduce the risk of liver cancer and other health issues, so hearing that only makes me more content with drinking coffee everyday.
I liked the article but I think an interesting thing to do when talking about caffeine or just coffee in general is to compare coffee to other drinks like Red Bull, Monster, or the multiple other energy drinks on the market. By searching “caffeine in ______” you can immediately find how much caffeine makes up any imaginable drink. If you decided to do this you would find that Red Bull and Monster have 15-20 less mg of caffeine per serving than coffee does. An interesting note I think since we so often associate the health risks concerning these energy drinks to their high levels of caffeine. If coffee has more caffeine than these drinks and in addition we have discussed in classed how the effect of sugary drinks are unknown, then does coffee pose the same threat if not more than these new energy drinks?