Around 400 million cups of coffee are consumed each day in the US, but how does it affect its drinkers?

High school students from all over have the urge to drink coffee every morning because it contains caffeine, which some people seem to believe is much needed to be able to operate throughout the entire school day. And not only does that apply to the students, but to most of the teachers as well. They drink it to ensure they don’t fall asleep during their classes or just to get that wanted buzz from the caffeine.

“I drink it for the buzz, and it helps me stay awake. Which I really need,” said sophomore Mackenzie Bedell.

If it’s not coffee that being consumed, it’s tea or other caffeinated beverages such as energy drinks. According to AARP.com, 90% of all people consume some sort of caffeine each and every day. It’s hard to imagine, but AARP.com also states that around 83% of adults can’t even imagine their lives without at least one cup of coffee every day.

“Besides coffee, I also drink the nectar of the gods: Mountain Dew,” said social studies teacher Eli Youngthunder.

However, what some people may not realize, is that there are so many different effects that drinking coffee may give you. Some good effects include the possible reduction of diseases such as Dementia,  Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, a lowered risk of having a stroke, possible protection against many different types of cancer and even a slightly increased life span.

“I’ve also heard that it’s good for your colon,” said junior Katie Kitzman.

But are those good enough reasons to continue drinking coffee? There are so many negative effect to drinking coffee as well. Some examples include increased anxiety, increased blood pressure, headaches, depression, and even possible overdose. No that wasn’t a typo–you really can overdose from too much coffee. According to www.verywellmind.com, in 2005 alone there were 3,103 reported deaths by coffee. Deaths by any other caffeinated beverages were over 4,000 that year.

“Wow, dying by coffee, what a way to go,” said sophomore student Taylor Skar.

So while on one hand, drinking around three cups of coffee can decrease people’s suicide rate by 45%, drinking too much coffee can cause you to overdose and possibly die. Drinking coffee has its ups and downs, but the truth is that if you research something hard enough, you will almost always find that something can have different effects on you.

“If you focus on anything hard enough, you will always find some sort of negative effect. And if you have anything constantly, you can easily become addicted to it,” said social studies teacher Michael Shepard.

Coffee. Most people feel that they need it, that they can’t imagine life without it, but drinking it isn’t exactly the healthiest thing for them, but it’s also not the worst thing either. And they don’t even know it. So for those who drink coffee everyday, or even just every so often, keep in mind that coffee may taste good, and it may help keep you awake, but it can cause many negative effects as well, but it also has those few positive effects, too.

“Coffee may have it’s negative and positive effects, but it’s up to the person to decide if they want to continue drinking coffee,” said junior Brett Jansen.

So, to all of the high school students and staff, do you really think that drinking that little bit of coffee each day is worth it?

“You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy coffee, and that’s pretty close,” said Bedell.