Paola Hegedus/Assistant Graphic Designer
Many students do not realize how much caffeine they consume on a daily basis in keeping up with their busy lifestyle. However, having too much caffeine can have adverse long term effects on their health.
“If I don’t have coffee, I won’t have a good day,” sophomore Bailey Sadowski said.
“I don’t feel like my day is properly started without it,” Sophomore Geoff Thomulka said.
With juggling coursework, a social life, a job and other responsibilities, many students consider sleep a low priority. They believe that the effects of a busy schedule, coupled with a lack of sleep, can be mitigated with a quick cup of coffee. Or two. Or more. Some students, like Sadowski and Thomulka, have their own Keurig machine and make a cup of coffee when they first wake up. Others use Dunkin Donuts to get their fix.
“I see most of the coffee sales between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m., the kids getting it before their first class,” Allen DeMasi, general manager of the Dunkin on campus, said.
However, the coffee shop has customers all day, and it gets busy late at night when students pulling all nighters show up looking for another lift.
“When the library closes the kids come in here,” DeMasi said. “It’s cause, you know, we’re open 24 hours.”
While many students feel excess coffee consumption may be justified because it is necessary to keep up with their work, they should be wary of the effects caffeine can have in the long term if they continue.
Diane Lynch, assistant director of Health Services, said that moderate caffeine consumption is fine but taking in excessive amounts of caffeine can be harmful on many levels. The danger here is that students may not realize they are taking in too much caffeine.
“My personal experience has been that most students don’t seem aware of the potential effects of excessive caffeine intake,” Dr. Lynch said.
Students may think addiction, with its headaches, irritability and possible insomnia, is the only thing to look out for. Symptoms of excess caffeine in the short term might include excessive frequency of urination, anxiety, sleep disturbance, palpitations and gastric irritation among other ailments. These symptoms are so general that a student may not link them to taking in too much caffeine.
According to LiveStrong.com, excessive caffeine can weaken your organs over time. Due to the stimulation of your nervous system from caffeine, the heart can be damaged by forced acceleration and stimulation. Students also could prematurely develop blood pressure issues from spikes in their heart rate. Caffeine use over time may exacerbate a peptic ulcer. Adverse psychological effects can occur from extended excessive caffeine intake as well, including a higher risk for or higher levels of depression and anxiety.
“Caffeine is considered a stimulant,” Priti Shah, a Counseling and Psychological Services staff psychologist, said. “Therefore, sometimes students who drink very high levels of caffeine daily, it can exacerbate anxiety.”
She said students with symptoms of high anxiety and difficulty sleeping should limit their caffeine intake four to six hours before bedtime.
“I used to drink coffee all the time,” junior Allyson Rudd said.
After noticing adverse effects, she switched to tea.
“Now when I have to stay up late to write a paper or something, I’ll just drink a cup of tea instead.”
However, tea leaves have more caffeine than coffee beans and, depending on the brew and type, a cup of tea could contain more caffeine than a cup of coffee, according to TheGuardian.com. Caffeine can be found in a number of different places that students should be aware of in order to combat over-consumption.
Coffee, tea and energy drinks are the obvious sources, but caffeine is also found in common foods such as nuts and cocoa. Similarly, it sometimes is contained in pain relievers, cold medications and diet pills. According to WebMD.com, even decaffeinated coffee is not completely free of caffeine.
While genetic disposition differs, most adults can handle up to 300 milligrams of caffeine, or about three cups, of coffee, a day. A typical person can expel 75 percent of caffeine consumed about eight to ten hours after consumption, according to WebMD.com. It is difficult for healthcare professionals to ascribe such general symptoms to caffeine specifically. Therefore, both CAPS and health services recommends that students who exhibit symptoms should start monitoring their daily habits. Otherwise, a habit can turn into an addiction.
According to an article in Smithsonian magazine, the beginnings of a caffeine addiction can be reversed by cutting out as much caffeine as you can for about seven to 12 days, thereby letting the chemical levels in your brain regress.
Caffeine is okay in small doses but, as Dr. Lynch of Health Services notes, it is not a substitute for sleep.
Emily Balan can be reached at emily.balan@student.shu.edu.
