To students, coffee, energy drinks and sodas have one thing in common: they can all keep one awake during long nights of studying. However, the common denominator, caffeine, can adversely affect the body.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, 80 percent of adults consume caffeine daily. College students, like Seventeen Magazine Freshman 15 blogger Brittany Reno, abuse caffeinated beverages to study – especially for finals.
“This might be the third all-nighter I pull in a row,” Reno said in a blog. “I still have yet to get sleepy, though, because I have been consuming about seven energy drinks every 24 hours.”
While the caffeine itself is no different between coffee and energy drinks, registered dietician and Coordinator of Nutrition Services at the University of Maryland Jane Jakubczak said the “vessel of delivery is different.”
According to Jakubczak, the hot temperature of coffee forces students to sip the beverage slowly, which delivers caffeine to the body at a gradual rate.
“The biggest concern with energy drinks versus coffee is that energy drinks can be consumed a lot faster,” Jakubczak said.
Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulator. When it is delivered into the body at a faster speed, it quickly affects heart rate, blood pressure and the overall speed at which the body works, according to Dr. Thomas Castonguay, professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Maryland.
“It hyper stimulates the body to increased speeds, and it’s really not healthy,” Castonguay said.
In addition to increasing the speed of body processes, consuming more than the recommendation of less than 300 milligrams of caffeine per day can prevent students from being able to fall asleep.
For you die-hard Starbucks addicts, a tall latte has about 75 milligrams of caffeine, a grande latte and a venti latte both have about 150 milligrams of caffeine and a grande Pike Place roast has about 330 milligrams of caffeine.
“Sleeping is as essential as food,” Jakubczak said. “Our bodies really need to regenerate, rebuild and recover.”
She added that in a study done on mice, the mice died after a couple of days without sleep in the same way that they would die after a couple of days without food.
Jakubczak said she recommends students who are trying to cut down on their caffeine intake do so slowly and gradually. She said there are some horrific withdrawal symptoms associated with weaning oneself off of caffeine, including vomiting and painful headaches.
According to Castonguay, consuming caffeine, like the kind in coffee, in moderation is absolutely fine. The problem, he said, is when students start to rely on caffeine for energy every single day.
“There’s one 100 percent foolproof way to get energy instead of drinking coffee, and it’s food,” Castonguay said.
He said in order for students to keep their energy levels up all day, they need to be consuming nutritious foods every three to four hours.
Jakubczak said, though, that many students do not take the time out of their day to refuel with food. She said several students go through their whole school day without eating one bite of food.
“It’s important to look at what causes the excessive tiredness,” she said.
bottom photo credit: Think Progress