Whether you know it or not, you’ve probably had caffeine at least once in your life.
Perhaps it was through the most commonly known avenues like coffee, tea, and energy drinks. Or, you could have had caffeine in soda, chocolate, or even some snack bars.
Either way, you’ve likely consumed this relatively safe drug. (Yes, caffeine is a drug according to the National Institute of Health.)
So what are its effects and how does it impact students?
Caffeine occurs naturally and is linked to the central nervous system. It is the most commonly used psychoactive stimulant worldwide. Although it is most commonly sourced from coffee beans, it occurs naturally in tea leaves, cacao beans, and some nuts. Once caffeine enters the body, whether orally or injected, it is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream due to its high solubility in water. Meaning, caffeine is able to easily dissolve in water which makes it easy to dissolve into the bloodstream. About 80% of caffeine is absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract and the other 20% is absorbed by the stomach.
Now in the bloodstream, caffeine will be spread across the body with high concentrations of caffeine detected in the brain. With those high concentrations in the brain, caffeine blocks adenosine receptors (adenosine is a sleep-promoting chemical).
Adenosine typically binds to adenosine receptors and causes drowsiness by slowing down nerve cell activity. But when caffeine is introduced, it takes the place of adenosine because our brain’s adenosine receptors think that caffeine is adenosine.
Think of adenosine receptors as a parking lot. Caffeine takes up all of the parking spots so that there is no more room for adenosine therefore blocking the spots it would typically take. Instead of the receptors slowing down, the nerve cells speed up.
The lack of adenosine now causes the human body to be more awake. This is where the idea that caffeine wakes you up comes from. Peak levels of caffeine or adenosine blockage occur approximately one hour after consumption.
So you have caffeine in your body now, keeping you awake, but now this brings forth another question. How much caffeine is too much caffeine?
The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recommends a maximum of 400 milligrams of caffeine in a day. This is approximately the amount in two to three cups of coffee.
Even though the FDA recommendation is 400mg, students who drink less than that will see some side effects of the drug.
The majority of St. George’s students drink less than 100 milligrams of caffeine per day, with only 16.4% (from a sample of 49 high schoolers) drinking 200 or more milligrams of caffeine per day on average.
But why do students experience side effects even though the majority of them drink less than half of the daily recommendation?
16 out of the 49 students who responded to the survey reported that they experienced jitters after consuming caffeine. Having the jitters, especially in association with caffeine consumption, refers to a feeling of nervousness and physical shaking.
Even though every student who responded to the survey said that they drank less than 400 milligrams of caffeine each day, only 18 of them said that they saw improvements in their energy levels for the day.
So why is this?
Perhaps it is because people under 18 are only supposed to drink 100 milligrams of caffeine or less per day according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. They also recommend that people under the age of 12 don’t consume caffeine at all.
This is pretty ironic because over half of the survey respondents said that they started drinking caffeine at 12 or younger. Nine respondents also said that they started drinking caffeine under the age of 9.
So why do people drink caffeine?
To wake themselves up? To be part of a culture where caffeine is a large part of life? Either way, be careful of how much you’re consuming and know when to stop.