Rylie Lipke ‘27, Student Life Editor
Whether you have to get up early or go do something really late, caffeine is what most people gravitate towards during these times to help get them through different parts of their day where energy is lacking. Yes, caffeine helps you stay awake and it may taste good, but there are more solutions than just a quick energy boost.
Most teenagers constantly drink caffeine in the mornings, like energy drinks or an iced coffee, to last them through a school day or gym sesh. Not only do some teenagers heavily rely on caffeine, but about 90 percent of adults are reliant on it as well. Instead of energy drinks, adults usually stick to coffee to help them get through a long work day. Caffeine can help you stay awake during times you need to, but it also has some negatives like it could cause someones heart to start beating too fast, and cause an irregular heart rate.
One of the most common forms of caffeine that teenagers and adults have taken a liking to is coffee. Even though they believe they need it, and think that they cannot wakwe up early each day without it, there are many bad things about it. Usually, in a cup of coffee there is about 80-100 milligrams of caffeine and about 6.3 grams of sugar in it as well. We all know that too much sugar is bad for people to consume on a daily basis, but nobody talks that much about caffeine. If you drink multiple cups of coffee a day, that is putting at least 150-200 grams of caffeine into your body a day. This can be very dangerous, because too much caffeine a day can make your heart beat too quickly, and could potentially cause it to stop.
Another form of caffeine that many people rely on is energy drinks. There are many brands of energy drinks, and some are way worse for you than others like monster energy. Some people use it for working out, doing things late at night and needing to stay up, and others may need it just to stay awake in the morning. Even though coffee is bad for you if you drink more than 3 cups of straight black coffee, energy drinks are even worse. There is about 36 grams of sugar in an energy drink, and 80-150 grams of caffeine.
Even though caffeine can be really bad for you if you have too much of it, there are still some good coping habits. For example, it may be hard to wake up so early in the morning for school, but when you have some caffeine in you, it allows you to be more awake and more motivated to do tasks throughout your day. Freshman Alexa Modreski said, “Caffeine is one of the only reasons that I can survive and make it through my day.” Modreski is involved in a sport that takes a tremendous amount of time of getting up early and practicing, so caffeine has been able to help her stay focused, and be less tired during those long practicing times.
Regardless of all of the negative effects that caffeine can bring, most people will still be reliant on it, and will highly depend on it to get through the day. There are some other options to get away from caffeine like getting better sleep and different types of medications, however, not everyone will follow through with it.
Lyon Life 