Zachary White

Instructor: Malcolm Campbell

English (1102)
2/13/2014
Can You Drink Your Way to an A? The Potential Academic Effects of Caffeine
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons. T.S. Eliot
When a paper is due and in a matter of hours and you have not even started, when youve
got a big presentation tomorrow that you need to rehearse, or simply you have to get up at the
crack of dawn and you need a little more focus before you get behind the wheel, there is one
substance that students, teachers, and businessmen alike turn to, and that is caffeine. Research
done at the University of New Hampshire showed that 40% of young adults between the ages of
18 and 24 consumed coffee every day (Olsen). This backs up the fact that a campus coffee shop
here at UNCC is the last place you want to get stuck in between classes. Other than fueling all-
nighters, can there be a benefit to drinking caffeine? Numerous professionals and scientific
journals say yes. Across the board, researchers agree that caffeine can cause an increase in mood
and cerebral performance (Smith. Haskell, Kennedy, Wesnes & Scholey). As a fervent consumer
of coffee, I was very intrigued as to how caffeine could, for instance, improve my performance
in an academic setting.
Nearly 80% of the adult populations in the United States ingest caffeine every day, in
amounts equaling nearly 4 cups of coffee (Stromberg). Thats almost 213 million people! If
those tired masses are anything like me, they have been simply knocking back cup after cup in
the hope that they can stay awake through the day. However, if drinking coffee and ingesting
other forms of caffeine has real world practical benefits, it could completely change the
populations views of that mermaid branded little white cup that they make time to pick up every
morning, which is currently that of a mystical substance that is capable of staving off the most
severe cases of sleep deprivation and can focus the mind to razor sharp levels.
Although throughout this exploratory piece, and many of the research articles and
websites cited, coffee is used interchangeably with ingestible caffeine, this is simply because of
coffees mass use and relatability with the common reader. Although much less common for the
most part, there are many other alternative mediums through which one can acquire their daily
dose of the countrys number one psychoactive drug. Exposed by the FDA and reported by USA
Today, there are a growing number of food products with added amounts of caffeine, especially
targeted towards youth, including waffles, jelly beans, gum, nuts, and other foods, enough to
trigger an investigation by the FDA into the matter. Another recent and interesting trend in older
people, aged around 20, is the advent of energy drinks, which in 2000 claimed zero percent of
the US market for caffeinated products, and just 14 years later, has jumped to over ten percent
(Healy).
Scientific studies have shown that the ingestion of caffeine does indeed have positive
effects in certain situations. When a participant was placed in low alertness situations such as
working late at night, early in the morning, or on a sleep deficit, the ingestion of caffeine showed
a measurable increase in the alertness and focus of the subject, observations that easily conform
to societys views of beverages such as coffee. It has also been shown that improvements to
mood and attitude can also be found in participants (Smith). Although not directly related to
performance, a good mood may encourage someone to be more active in an academic setting,
which ultimately could lead to better results. A personal recount of my own high school
experience reveals many a teacher who wouldnt allow coffee in their doors, or any open
beverage for that matter. Taking the information that has been discussed so far into
consideration, it may be wise for teachers to start allowing students to enjoy there morning
coffee in class.
According to Joseph Stromberg from Smithsonian Magazine, caffeines effect on your
mental state is due to its chemical resemblance to another molecule naturally present in our
brain, adenosine. Stromberg states,
Structurally, caffeine closely resembles a molecule thats naturally present in our
brain, called adenosine (which is a byproduct of many cellular processes,
including cellular respiration)so much so, in fact, that caffeine can fit neatly
into our brain cells receptors for adenosine, effectively blocking them off.
Normally, the adenosine produced over time locks into these receptors and
produces a feeling of tiredness (Stromberg).
This action allows other chemicals in the brain such a dopamine, a natural stimulant, to
run wild unhindered. Additionally, the buildup of adenosine flips on your adrenal gland,
pumping adrenaline into your blood stream (Stromberg).
However, caffeines seemingly magical effect doesnt keep its kick for long. Following a
few weeks of your ritualistic morning cup of joe, your brain begins to adapt. Since youre
routinely blocking your adenosine receptors, your brain responds by growing more. Therefore,
the longer you prolong your habit, the more caffeine it takes to reach the desired effect and thats
a little effect weve come to know as tolerance, but can also be what some frequent drinkers
label a caffeine addiction ( Stromberg, DiSalvo). The acknowledgment that caffeine is an
addictive substance has been recognized since 1994. However, only recently, thanks to a
publishment in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, caffeine addiction
has been officially recognized and labeled as a mental disorder (Stromberg). It also has another
major drawback, putting it farther away from the cure-all reputation it has earned in our
society.
That drawback comes in the form of caffeine withdrawal. Not only can caffeine get you
hooked, but if you stop your regular intake, it can have some pretty nasty effects. In most cases,
withdrawal brings out the opposite effects in participants that ingesting caffeine did. Headaches,
decreases in mood, cognitive abilities, and increases in drowsiness and agitation levels are all
common among research subjects (Smith). The chemistry behind caffeines withdrawal
symptoms is still misunderstood, but can be boiled down to a simple principle. After your brain
adjusts to operating a certain way for an extended period, any change can cause side effects. As
explained by Stromberg, Suddenly, without the drug, the altered brain chemistry causes all sorts
of problems, including the dreaded caffeine withdrawal headache. Luckily its only takes about
seven to twelve days to break a caffeine addiction, as the brain naturally reduces the amount of
adenosine receptors, the ones that it created in response to the caffeine in the first place. Once
that happens, youll be completely reset back to your original state.
The research I uncovered on this topic furthered my initial assumptions, that there had to
be more reasons as to why Americans drink coffee so frequently, even if those reasons werent
consciously known to the people themselves. It is obvious that coffee is a double edged sword.
On one hand, it has the power to raise masses from the dead every morning and allows the
hordes of students and businessmen to buckle down on projects and papers alike. However on
the other side, it can become extremely addictive, and cripple even the best of us with a vengeful
fury if they try and turn their back on it. The knowledge I have uncovered for myself throughout
the course of this research has left with a single question, one that will keep me intrigued in this
topic for decades; where does the future of caffeine lead, and how will it continue to affect the
performance of billions worldwide as technology and food continue to forge an ever closer
relationship?


















Works Cited
DiSalvo, David. "What Caffeine Really Does to Your Brain." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 26 July
2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Haskell, Crystal F., David O. Kennedy, Keith A. Wesnes, and Andrew B. Scholey. "Cognitive
and mood improvements of caffeine in habitual consumers and habitual non-consumers
of caffeine." Psychopharmacology 179.4 (2005): 813-825.
Healy, Michelle. "Young people finding new sources of caffeine." USA Today. Gannet, 10 Feb.
2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
Olsen, Nicole. Caffeine Consumption Habits and Perceptions among University of New
Hampshire Students. Durham, New Hampshire: University of New Hampshire Scholars'
Repository, 2013.
Smith, A.. "Effects of caffeine on human behavior." Food and Chemical Toxicology 40.9 (2002):
1243-1255.
Stromberg, Joseph . "This Is How Your Brain Becomes Addicted to Caffeine." Smithsonian
Magazine. The Smithsonian Institution, 9 Aug. 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.