Chelsie Martinez

Professor Jerri A. Harwell

ENGL 2010-067 (Position/Proposal)
15 April 2016
Addicted to Life
While some people enjoy being early birds and having the sun shine upon their face
ready to take on the day, others are like me and need an hour to even adjust getting out of bed
and start the day with a large cup of coffee. When it comes to getting our dose of energy for the
day, we all typically rely on something to spark that fire inside of us. What is it that people seem
to be unable to live without? Everyone has a different kind of drink or food they rely on to get
them up and energized. But despite whatever we use to get us started up, it comes down to one
substance that affects it all; caffeine.
Caffeine is known as one of the most popular and consumed drugs in the world. Coffee is
one of the worlds most popular drinks. It is known for containing 95- 200 mg of caffeine per
cup as reviewed by science manager Roger Cook at the ISIC. Caffeine can be found in almost
everything we consume today. As people debate on whether or not it is beneficial to you or not,
there are many benefits many people do not know about. According to e-importz.com, an
estimated amount of 400 million cups of coffee are consumed daily. This places the United States
in the leading role of the most coffee drinkers in the world according to the statistics from the
website. This is not surprising since the United States has coffee provided almost everywhere
you go and that drinking coffee is now considered a socially acceptable by many. Deane Alban
reports in her article Caffeine Addiction and the Benefits of Quitting that caffeine has
particular benefits. She states it has been shown that it increases acetylcholine which is
responsible for learning and the memory which enhances these by the consumption of caffeine.

Reviews show that it can also reduce the risk of mental and physical problems such as diabetes,
depression, heart disease, Parkinsons disease, and Alzheimers disease. In Peter Whoriskeys
article Benefits of Coffee Are Complicated, Case by Case, he has also found that caffeine
reduces the risks of strokes and even accidents.
Whoriskey states how researchers have
examined people with coffee habits over the
past thirteen years and they have found that
people who drink six cups of coffee per day
were less likely to die over whatever particular
cause by ten percent and a twelve percent chance of being less likely to die from heart disease.
He also states how consuming larger amounts of coffee results in healthier people. Since
caffeine is broken down by the enzyme CYP1A2 produced in the liver, this can affect those who
consume caffeine depending on if they process it slowly or quickly. Studies have shown that
those who process caffeine quickly tend to have lower risks in particular affects on the body vs.
those who process it more slowly; which can then lead to higher risks of heart attacks and blood
pressure. As caffeine can not only reduce serious health concerns, such as improving heart
health, it can also help improve ones alertness. The ISIC did a presentation of a report at The
European Association for Cardiovascular Prevent and Rehabilitation annual meeting and had
studies of proof that caffeine is beneficial. One such study, published in the American Journal of
Epidemiology, found that drinking three to five cups of coffee each day could reduce the risk of
dying from cardiovascular disease by up to twenty-one percent (Your Body on Caffeine: When
Enough is Enough, page 2).

Though caffeine has many benefits, other studies

have shown the negative effects of caffeine as well. Since
it takes one to two hours to reach the highest
bloodstream, blood pressure increases when caffeine hits
the system. People who have diabetes have to be cautious
and get a physicians review on how much they can
consume, if any, in regards to avoiding high blood
pressure and causing further damage. In research, it has
been shown that coffee is beneficial to some people, but
can be harmful to others. With higher doses of coffee, separate studies have shown higher risks
of heart attacks and hypertension. To those who are of the age fifty-five and younger, they will
have a fifty percent higher risk of death if they drink more than four cups a day. Since caffeine
blocks a natural sleeping pill substance in our system known as adenosine, that is what keeps us
awake and unable to fall asleep at night or in general. The majority of us use it as a wakepromoting therapeutic as said in National Geographics article Caffeine: Its the worlds most
popular psychoactive drug. Harvard Medical Schools neuroscientist and sleep expert Charles
Czeisler quotes Without adequate sleepthe human body will not function at its best,
physically, mentally, or emotionally. As a society, we are tremendously sleep deprived (Caffeine:
Its the worlds most popular psychoactive drug, page 2). Since so many people depend on
caffeine daily it starts to become the acceptable drug for us. This goes to show how effective
caffeine is and how much we rely on it daily. In a result to this all, it is considered an addictive
substance. It starts to affect you in more ways than you expect causing certain issues like GERD,
heartburn, heart palpitations, cravings for more caffeine, and temporary boosts of energy along

with much more. Because caffeine does not provide real energy, it is not even considered a direct
stimulant. After researching all of these studies on the effects of caffeine on humans, we can see
there are many advantages yet many disadvantages to consuming it.
As we have gotten more in depth to the pros and cons of caffeine, what happens if one
decides to quit consuming it or does not consume it at all? Because caffeine is the psychoactive
drug that is affective to the central nervous system, certain withdrawal symptoms can hit such as
getting headaches, poor concentration, irritability, reduced motivation, and more sleepiness. As
someone who has had personal concerns with addiction to caffeine, years ago I researched
different signs and symptoms to determine whether I was addicted or not. After reading article
after article, I had come to the conscious agreement that I was dependent on coffee and caffeine.
Since I was addicted, I wanted to experiment what it was like to have no coffee for a week and
the first three days felt like death. Research has discovered that withdrawal symptoms can take
up from twelve hours to one day and lasting up to two weeks. Most symptoms include irritability,
sleepiness, nausea, muscle aches/twitching, headaches, reduced motivation, and flu like
symptoms. As one to experience all of this myself, I had to suffer through each one of these to
really test the theory. It is important that those who quit caffeine or do not consume much at all
drink lots of fresh water and eat well in order to reduce worsening those symptoms. Since this is
a highly addictive drug without the intention of getting addicted in the first place, it is important
that people know how much they consume daily to avoid going overboard with caffeine. Once
you start it can be hard to stop because you want more of it. It is simply called balance.
With caffeine having benefits in its ways and harmful in other ways, moderation is key to
a successful experience with caffeine. The greatest benefit was found in moderation itself.
Depending on the amount of consumption of coffee, MCI (mild cognitive impairment) was noted

as a reduced risk for those who drank coffee rather than those who do not. Researches have
found that with drinking coffee, when it is consumed in moderation, the bad effects are weighed
out by the good effects. It is proven to lower risks of heart disease ranging from three to five
cups a day. Since it has the benefit of making you more productive, this can enhance many tasks
throughout your day such as maintaining focus and working at your job or studying for your
classes. Caffeine has been proven to be best effective when taken in limited amounts and
moderation. With knowing how to manage your caffeine intake, it is very beneficial to everyone.
As a coffee lover, I have grown to like caffeine. From being a low intake caffeine drinker
to hitting extreme intakes of caffeine after I started drinking coffee, I have come to find my
limits on what works and what does not. After reading these particular studies it is clear on the
benefits and disadvantages of caffeine. If you take too much of anything, it is not good for you. It
can cause serious health issues or worsening ones you already have. If you drank five sodas a
day instead of five cups of coffee, I am sure statistics would rate that just as bad if not worse than
coffee. Since everything today can come in moderation, it is a great way to help people maintain
good health but enjoy something they love to drink or eat. Because I love coffee so much but
hate being addicted to caffeine and completely depend on it, I have learned that I do not have to
give up something I enjoy. Knowing how much coffee I can have per day without pushing my
limits is something that works for me and would work for everyone else. Being able to see the
benefits on top of just drinking coffee makes me want to continue drinking it because of the risks
and diseases it can reduce. Since I have experimented personally the negative side effects of
withdrawals and addiction, I have found that the moderation of caffeine intake makes me feel
much better and energized in my day. Coffee may not be for everybody, but caffeine is in a
majority of the things that we eat and drink. Knowing how much caffeine you consume a day is

something that everyone should be aware and look out for so they can make sure that they have
control over that moderation and beat the addiction itself. If more people were disciplined
enough to take these steps, we would have less people addicted to the drug and more health
benefits come out of caffeine. In order for good change to happen, we need to be the change to
show this is possible.

Works Cited:
Reid, T.R. "Caffeine @ National Geographic Magazine." Caffeine @ National Geographic
Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
Whoriskey, Peter. "Benefits of Coffee Are Complicated, Case by Case." Washington Post. 25
Nov. 2015: A.3. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
Alban, Deane. "Caffeine Addiction and the Benefits of Quitting." Be Brain Fit. N.p., 16 June
2015. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
Costa, Samantha. "Your Body on Caffeine: When Enough Is Enough." U.S. News & World
Report. N.p., 7 Jan. 2016. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.