Mandel
Caffeine
What’s the bean with caffeine?
Everyone enjoys a nice hot cup of coffee. 100 million American citizens on average drink one cup of coffee a
day. Could this be the reason Americans life expectancy is so short? Is coffee actually bad for you?
What are some misconceptions
about coffee?
coffee drinkers abuse the caffeine there can be long
or short-term problems. This is important
information so frequent coffee drinkers understand
that consuming coffee is not unhealthy, and there is
no need to cut it out of your diet, but drink
responsibly.
Regular coffee consumption is actually
proven to have some health benefits such as
improving endurance while playing sports. It
also can increase a person’s vigilance and
Why is caffeine so addictive?
attention. Pregnant women do not need to
Caffeine is addictive, but not like a drug
stop drinking coffee. Many people are
addiction. This is because it is not even close to
concerned that the caffeine in coffee is
as bad for you as drugs are, and it is easier to
affecting pregnant women in negative ways.
stop drinking coffee then doing drugs. If a
Health officials recommend that pregnant
frequent coffee drinker stops consuming
women limit their caffeine consumption but
not by much, considering it has
caffeine for a while, they may
News Article
no negative effects besides the
start to have withdrawal
occasional tired feeling when
symptoms. The body can
the caffeine wears off (which
develop cravings and
dehydrate!
can happen to anyone).
dependence for the caffeine
ResearchersCoffee
at the doesn’t
University
of
Another common
but it is not right to categorize
Birmingham School of Sport and Exercise
misconception about coffee is
it as an “addiction”. Some may
Sciences studied the effects of moderate
that it is dehydrating, it is not.
argue that caffeine is a drug
Coffee drinking adds to our
because of what it does to the
coffee consumption and consumption of
daily fluid absorption, therefore
central nervous system. Once
equal amounts of water on 50 male
there is no loss of fluid, leading
caffeine enters the
participants. The subjects’ body mass and
to no dehydration. Caffeine is
bloodstream, it spreads all
not addictive. This is the most
over the body within minutes.
total body water, blood and urine were
common misconception of
According to Marion Howard
analyzed. No link between moderate coffee
them all. Coffee is a stimulant,
of Serendip,
and research studies suggest
Caffeine is a mild stimulant on
consumption and dehydration were found
that if you drink it
the central nervous system.
(Daily Dish).
conservatively, there will be no
Once there is caffeine in the
physical dependency on it.
blood it only takes a few
Lastly, decaf coffee is no
moments until it is spread all
healthier than regular coffee. There are some circumstances
over the body. Not much is released which means
in which specific people are advised to switch to decaf
most of the caffeine stays in the body. Most effects are
because they may be sensitive to caffeine, such as pregnant
short term. After about 30 minutes of ingesting the
women. Some people, if consuming caffeine later in the
caffeine it reaches its peak levels. There are long term
evening, have trouble sleeping (Coffee and Health). It is
effects that are not well understood like carcinogenic
advised to drink coffee earlier in the day, and drink decaf at
properties and contributions to heart disease (Is
night. Besides this, there is no other reason decaffeinated
Caffeine Addictive). This shows that there may be
coffee is “healthier” than regular.
some short-term effects as well as long term, but it
depends on the specific person.
Is coffee bad for you?
Recommendations?
Researchers from Harvard University came to the conclusion
Drink coffee and enjoy your life, but do so in moderation.
that coffee is not bad for you in any way. They followed a
The Salt by NPR recommends six-eight ounces a day of
group of men and women age 18-40 to find out if their diet
coffee, which is about one normal sized cup. If you do this,
and lifestyle (and coffee intake) was a leading them to a
there will be no negative effects. Beware of too much coffee
shorter life. There is no relationship between the coffee and
the increased risk of death of these people. In general, coffee
intake at a young age, “ heavy coffee drinkers had a greater
should not have to many severe effects as long as it is drank
than two-fold increased mortality risk. A cup was defined as
moderately. Just the same as someone may abuse a drug, if
eight ounces of coffee.” (How many Cups).
Coffee does not dehydrate!
Allie Mandel Chemistry “Should I eat that?” Project
Mandel 2
Works Cited
"Ask the Expert: Coffee and Health." The Nutrition Source. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/coffee/>.
Godoy, Maria. "How Many Cups Of Coffee Per Day Are Too Many?" NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 19 Mar.
2014.<http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/08/17/212710767/how-many-cups-of-coffee-perday-is-too>.
Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee. "Coffee and Health." N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.coffeeandhealth.org/assets/Fact_or_Fiction.pdf >.
"Is Caffeine Addictive?" Is Caffeine Addictive? Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
<http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro99/web3/Howard.html>.