Today at work one of my co-workers was not himself. He was really angry and talking rapidly about bills, his wife, and his job. As I told him to take a deep breath and try to relax, I noticed that he had already consumed two large cups of coffee. It got me thinking; is coffee making us crazy? So I looked into it. Next to petroleum, coffee is the worlds second most traded commodity. Americans drink on average 3.1 cups of coffee per day (Coffeeresearch.org). It seems unanimous. People love coffee. Someone once told me they have their best ideas right after a cup. But could a dark side exist to the wonderful world of java? It is undeniable that coffee has many desirable effects. But very serious negative effects such as anxiety, addiction, and stomach ailments have been tied to coffee consumption.
One adverse effect of coffee drinking is anxiety. The active ingredient in coffee is caffeine. Caffeine is the world’s most widely consumed psychoactive drug (Hockenbury 161). Caffeine is a stimulant and when consumed in the form of coffee has almost instant effects on the central nervous system (“Caffeine”). This effect is very desirable to people for instead of spending hours waking up in the morning you can just have a cup and your brain is up and running. The down side to this is that the stimulant effects last only a couple of hours before what is known as a crash. Crashing is how caffeine causes anxiety. The caffeine begins to wear off and you are left in a tired aggravated state. A caffeine crash can be compared to the kind of sugar crashes that you see in kids. After eating copious amounts of candy or sweats they’ll have a burst of energy, but once the sugar wears off they’re likely to have a tantrum or fall asleep. The crash that occurs from drinking coffee happens because after the caffeine dissipates in your system, the body almost immediately begins to withdraw. Could this be the reason for my co-workers excessive grief?
Coffee is also addictive. As it turns out, when you are nursing a heavy coffee drinking habit you are always in withdrawal from the caffeine. This was basis for what is known as the withdrawal reversal hypothesis (Best). While a definitive study has yet to be done on this theory, it states that you are only feeling positive effects from drinking coffee because you are meeting your need for caffeine intake, thus warding off withdrawal. Cocaine addicts experience the same thing when they need a fix. If you are a regular coffee drinker and you’ve ever gone without it, you might remember feeling lethargic. What you were experiencing was a symptom of withdrawal. Other symptoms include headaches, depression, and difficulty concentrating. The process of detoxifying from caffeine can last up to 9 days. Recent research is even suggesting that caffeine withdrawal be defined as a serious psychiatric disorder (Kirchheimer). Nothing new for caffeine considering; caffeine intoxication, caffeine-induced anxiety disorder, caffeine-induced sleep disorder, and caffeine-related disorder not otherwise specified (NOS), are all official psychiatric disorders recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (“Caffeine”).
Another undesirable effect of coffee drinking is the toll it can take on your stomach. I’m sure most people have experienced the line to the bathroom at 10am at the office. Caffeine is a diuretic, meaning that it causes people to have to urinate as well as have unscheduled bowel movements. I’m sure we all could agree that that is no fun at all. Heavy coffee drinking has also been proven to contribute to the development of a stomach condition known as gastritis. Gastritis is an inflammation of the stomach lining. In serious cases gastritis can lead to ulcers (“Caffeine”). Coffee causes gastritis through increasing the secretion of gastric acid and pepsin in the stomach. One interesting thing to note is that decaffeinated coffee still has this effect on the stomach due to another, yet unknown component of coffee. Even those who drink decaf to avoid the negative effects of coffee are still taking a significant toll on their digestive system (Best).
Coffee can be good in many ways. It keeps people alert while doing repeditive work. It certainly is useful when you have to be awake early in the morning. And coffee is probably not making us crazy. But I believe the negative effects far outweigh the positive ones. Anxiety, Addiction, and Stomach ailments are a big price to pay for a little “pick me up”. So if, like my co-worker, you’ve been feeling a little anxious lately or if you can’t seem to shake that aggravated stomach, perhaps switching to a more lightly caffeinated beverage such as tea would be a good idea.
Works cited:
Best, Ben. “Is Caffeine a Health Hazard?”. 2 Oct. 2008. <http://www.benbest.com/health/caffeine.html>.
“Caffeine “. Wikipedia. 2 Oct. 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine>.
“Coffee Consumption Statistics in United States”. Coffee Research Institute. 2 Oct. 2008 <http://www.coffeeresearch.org/market/usa.htm>.
Hockenbury, Sandra, Don. Discovering Psychology Fourth Edition. New York, New York: Worth Publishers, 2007.
Kirchheimer, Sid. “Caffeine Withdrawal is Real”. CBS News. 9 Oct.2008
<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/30/health/webmd/main646620.shtml>.
Tags: Caffeine, Coffee, Health Science
