You wake up in the morning with your alarm blaring. You head to the kitchen and make yourself a cup of coffee to start the day. But, by ten you feel the need for another lift so you drink another cup.
Many would likely write this behavior off as normal and probably even harmless. One could say that drinking coffee has become a glorified representation of the common American.
“Coffee definitely starts my day,” said Lana Pritchett, sophomore at the University of Oregon. “I always tell people not to talk to me until after I’ve had my coffee because I won’t be awake enough to pay attention.”
Coffee falls into the habitual actions of everyday lives. Drinking a cup a day or a few cups in the morning becomes more than a simple stimulation process but also a ritualistic process that positively contributes to outcome of one’s day.
Daily coffee intake is commonplace for the average adult in the United States. But is the action of drinking coffee beneficial to the population’s overall health or not?
Coffee contains a natural stimulant called caffeine that allows the consumer to feel revitalized or more aware after having a cup. This occurs because caffeine naturally blocks the chemical known as adenosine.
Adenosine is the chemical in the brain that causes drowsiness and loss of awareness; by inhibiting this chemical, caffeine instigates the release of hormones that influence the adrenal gland to create adrenaline. This effect is the main reason why coffee is so widely consumed by the common population.
Other reasons that the habit is so accepted is that there are many benefits that come along with drinking coffee: there are studies that claim drinking coffee daily can decrease the risk of depression, type II diabetes, as well as increase the health of your immune system and increase overall longevity. These are all great reasons to not only enjoy but utilize caffeine and coffee as a tool for your health.
But with every great product there tends to be some sort of catch. In this case, caffeine is also considered a psychoactive drug due to its addictive nature.
Much of the time, caffeine addiction is merely a looming threat that never truly takes hold. But other times it can latch onto a victim and grow uncontrollably. Kailiuli, a former Insomnia Coffee Co. Barista, tells the story of a customer she once encountered while on the job.
“He started out getting four [espresso] shots then over the course of about three months he upped it to seven [espresso] shots. He told us it was because he was working a lot and that caffeine simply didn’t affect him the same way it did other people.”
Over time a tolerance can be built for any substance, causing the need for either a higher dosage or a more frequent number of doses in a day. This is a strong indication of a building addiction as an individual is exhibiting a direct need for the effect of a substance.
The lack of caffeine can bring about negative side effects, such as tremors, irritability or anxiety and altered sleeping patterns. These effects are similar to withdrawal symptoms that an addict suffers through when trying to quit a substance, which depicts the negative denotation of an addiction to caffeine.
Much of the adult population in America drinks caffeine daily. Not only that, but coffee is the second leading beverage of choice across the world and the first most popular beverage for caffeine intake. These statistics are concerning considering they represent a widely accepted use of this stimulant. Although caffeine shows strong similarities to many psychoactive stimulants, caffeine is only considered a mild stimulant because of the swift recovery phase one endures (around 12 days).
Due to this short recovery time, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition has yet to include caffeine use disorder — or the addiction to caffeine — under substance-related and addictive disorders. The DSM-5 does, however, recognize that caffeine deprivation does cause withdrawal-like symptoms.
“I think that there might be a reason to be concerned about coffee intake,” said Pritchett, “but coffee for me is mostly a way to build community and friendships.”
Kailiuli would agree, claiming that working as a barista allowed her to make more connections and become more involved in her community. It would seem the negative effects are highly overlooked in society, but they should not be ignored.