A Daily Dose of Caffeine Addiction

I firmly believe that my statement about caffeine being a psychologically addicting substance based on researchers’ reports about how caffeine does to our brains is factual. Of course, there is no surprise that there are other alternative opinions about what caffeine is based on their hypothesis.

An article in “National Library of Medicine,” during the era of COVID-19 by researchers, Mohammad Aghamohammadi, and his team proposed an idea of vitamins B1, B3, B6, and caffeine as key ingredients for a drug design to fight the pandemic. Scientists in the article believed they could use caffeine as part of a chemical reaction where the effects could help our respiratory system by helping our muscles relax to improve our breathing. I approved the science and logic behind Aghamohammadi’s hypothesis of using caffeine to counter the pandemic. Still, if that were the case then that would mean that we would take twice the amount of caffeine than usual since certain foods that we eat have already provided for us.

Tea and soda are the most common food products for children to obtain and consume based on the article Trends in “Caffeine Intake Among US Children and Adolescents,” which proves that caffeine intake builds up slowly to become part of our immune system. Amy M Branum, one of the researchers of the article, claims that approximately 73% of children consumed caffeine on a given day which is a significant increase from 63% of kids ages 2 to 5 years old to 75% among the older age group. Our preferences for tea and soda will indeed change as we grow, but that’s when coffee and energy drinks will come into our lives where we cannot escape caffeine itself.

We already know how COVID-19 affects a person’s body by saying that it has similar effects to the flu, but it goes further past beyond the limits to the point that the disease has become severe. It is not ideal for Aghamohammadis team to double the amount of caffeine in our immune system if we already have caffeine in us from our early childhood. The government would need to find a way to get rid of Covid-19, however, the method of adding caffeine into a vaccine wouldn’t benefit us entirely because the negative side effects will affect our minds and bodies.

People were skeptical and scared when the government announced the release of the vaccine because the effects were either minor or severe. It’s a fact that adding more caffeine to the vaccine would mean that we would be overdosing ourselves to where we would likely get the chance to get a headache.

Another hypothesis suggests that caffeine is a physical drug that enhances our bodies, especially among athletes in sports. Researchers from the article “Caffeine-containing energy drinks Improve Physical Performance in Female Soccer Players” on the website of Springer Nature Link, claimed that consuming caffeine can help improve peak performance in sports games. Respectfully, our brains are the main controls of our bodies than the other way around. I acknowledge that caffeine can boost physical since it acts like a stimulant, but the problem with their argument is that they only talk about the benefits that caffeine can provide for female athletes instead of the negative side effects that come after it.

The reason is that they admitted that their report findings aren’t complete because they only gathered information about short-term effects rather than long-term effects. Athletes who use caffeine before their competition match will eventually lose their momentum and focus as time goes on during a late game. There will be a sudden change in an athlete’s mental health because of caffeine where minor pains such as headaches will hinder their physical performance in sports games.

To further support my argument about caffeine being a psychologically addicting substance is back to caffeine that can mimic as an antidepressant drug. In the article “Caffeine-induced Augmentation of Antidepressant Therapy,” by Pravin Popatrao Kale and his team in Science Direct, caffeine can take in form of a psychomotor stimulant which means a drug that can react towards the central nervous system. Depression is a huge problem that can’t be eliminated since over the past few years, there has been an increasing number of prescriptions for antidepressants. Caffeine can “lift” a person’s mood up drastically for those who seek the spark they need to get through their day. The psychological effect plays a key role when it comes to controlling our behaviors where the effects can trigger the dopaminergic system that causes us to feel “happy”,

Even though drinking coffee can “lift” our spirits and soothe our anxiety, we would soon feel the urge to grab another cup of coffee to feel euphoric again since the effects are not long-lasting. There are other methods of reducing depression such as medications, but we would rather lean towards caffeinated food products since they look visually pleasing than pills. Drinking caffeinated products while being depressed is not the only reason why a person would drink it in the first place. I’ve encountered people who drink caffeinated products for different reasons such as the joy of feeling the taste of coffee even though they are not depressed. Another case that I encountered was when I went to a local coffee bean shop where I saw a slogan that said, “Caffeine is not a drug, it is a vitamin,” which is a huge bold claim to define what caffeine is.

I firmly believe that obtaining caffeine is a byproduct of a psychological drug addiction that makes us feel alive or happy. I’m continuously drinking coffee every day because of the “spark” that caffeine gives me to start my day, regardless of the negative side effects. As long as we look after ourselves by calculating the dosage amount, we eat or drink that involves caffeine then we would be able to decrease our chances of suffering the side effects. Caffeine may not be described as addictive, but the effects that come from it can be described as a psychological addiction.

Reference

Lara, B., Gonzalez-Millán, C., Salinero, J.J. et al. Caffeine-containing energy drink improves physical performance in female soccer players. Amino Acids 46, 1385–1392 (2014). https://doi-org.ezproxy.rowan.edu/10.1007/s00726-014-1709-z

Pravin Popatrao Kale 1, et al. “Caffeine-Induced Augmentation of Antidepressant Therapy.” Journal of Experimental & Clinical Medicine, Elsevier, 23 Oct. 2010, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878331710000124?casa_token=qIgsBPashCoAAAAA%3A5k38trTBGFJNWMtu3cRM9FNUX4WMRkjXvxebK_vq3xteqM2FJPMQqg4YVh-1Wf7XEPUWrSHEm6c.

Trends in Caffeine Intake among Us Children And …, publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/133/3/386/32320/Trends-in-Caffeine-Intake-Among-US-Children-and. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.