Month: March 2014

Do you remember when you were a little kid and coffee was the mysterious elixir that adults lived on? I don’t know about other people, but when I was young, my mom would disapprove whenever I had my eyes on something coffee-related (ice capps were permitted, though; those things are still fantastic). That’s why I didn’t have coffee on a regular basis until I started UofT, and to be honest I miss the good old naive days when I just had infinite amounts of energy from within. But does it really have to be like this? Will the university student ever stop being a caffeine addict?

First of all, coffee may not be such a bad thing after all. It has been proven that coffee contains antioxidants that help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, type 2 diabetes, and is even good for heart health. Of course, the main benefit is that caffeine is a stimulant that makes you feel more alert by binding to adenosine receptors in the brain. Recently it has been shown that coffee beats soda as the drink of choice for students.

However, coffee has about 5 times the amount of caffeine than soda, and adding milk and sugar (about 3.5 teaspoons for me, no joke) is bound to be detrimental for your health. Since it takes about 6 hours for caffeine to leave the system, drinking it later on in the day severely interferes with sleep. And If you don’t get enough sleep, you wake up tired and have to consume more caffeine.

Also, habitually drinking coffee results in a new standard for “alertness”, where depriving yourself of coffee produces more adenosine receptors that result in withdrawal symptoms such as headaches. And so the circle of despair continues.

Then how do we beat the coffee addiction?

1. You don’t have to quit cold turkey. Having coffee twice a week, or when you’re out with a friend on a Thursday afternoon is perfectly fine. Taking the time to really enjoy coffee as a pleasure is much better than being dependent on it. 
2. Tea is a magical thing. It still has caffeine but releases it in manageable increments. Getting something really flavorful like “Banana Spice” or “Mango Madness” can really hit the spot.
3. If you must have coffee everyday because you absolutely cannot deviate from your normal routine, try decaf. It may taste horrible, but you can’t get everything you want in life.

To be completely honest, the only reason why I lean more towards the anti-coffee side is because I think that we should stop relying on external resources to fix internal problems. In first year I was always the disheveled, jittery girl who showed up to every midterm saying, “I had 6 cups of coffee last night”.

If I had not procrastinated (which is another topic on its own) and studied during my hours of optimal energy, I wouldn’t have been in that mess! Even waking up earlier and not having to rush out the door gives you a sense of control and focus which can then be translated into energy, that has originated out of you.

So the lesson is what you thought: Have coffee in moderation. Embrace coffee because it’s a beautiful thing. Check out a cool coffee place down the street, experiment with different brews. But keep in mind that you don’t really need it, and cutting down a little bit can help you feel liberated!

Who knows, you might even get to enjoy whiter teeth and a few extra bucks!