Consumed by caffeine

When senior Jacob Jamili needed more than one energy drink to make it though the morning, he knew he had to cut back.

“I couldn’t stay awake during my morning classes without a Red Bull,” he said. “And after a while it wasn’t working as well.”

Jamili would also drink beverages with caffeine to stay awake to study late at night. But he eventually found he was not getting enough sleep. Soon Jamili said he would occasionally develop headaches when he needed more caffeine.

Though caffeine is the most widely used drug in the world, it is not very strong and does not usually lead to any serious long term problems, said George Rebec, a professor for the Program in Neuroscience at IU. Caffeine does, however, have a profound effect on the brain.

Rebec said that caffeine blocks adenosine receptors, preventing them from detecting the real adenosine, a chemical which usually promotes drowsiness. Those who use caffeine are artificially making their brain “stay awake,” he said.

Bobbie Saccone, a registered dietician from the IU Health Center, said caffeine has a stimulating effect on the body. Increased heart rate, higher blood pressure, sleep disturbances, anxiety, digestive system disturbances and an irregular heartbeat can be caused by the overuse of caffeine. These effects usually go away once a person ceases consuming the drug.

Caffeine, though commonly used to keep a person awake, does not actually give the body “energy.” A calorie is a unit of energy that comes from food or beverages and is what fuels the body, not caffeine, Saccone said.

“I recommend just getting more sleep,” Saccone said.

Caffeine can be found in a wide variety of food and beverages. Most common in sodas and energy drinks, caffeine is also found in chocolate and over-the-counter pills, Saccone said.

She added that the amount of caffeine in a beverage can vary greatly. The average cup of coffee has 75 milligrams of caffeine. But coffee shops usually sell cups that are 16 to 20 ounces and contain as much as three times more caffeine than coffee made at home.

Stopping the use of caffeine is possible and does not usually cause too many problems. While there is no standard treatment, stopping intake suddenly may cause headaches.

“There have not been too many reports of people having problems with decreasing caffeine use,” said Saccone. “But you should decrease consumption slowly.”
Worried students who drink coffee to stay awake occasionally should not be alarmed, Rebec said.

“One cup of coffee a day is probably not so bad.”