By Sean Doherty, Ashley Watts, and Michelle Willson
Student Reporters
Sleep-deprived students tend to reach for something to keep them up on the way to their morning classes. Whether it is from their personal coffee makers, Starbucks on campus, free coffee in Coronado Cafe, McDonald’s or the Vanilla Bean across the street, caffeinated beverages are never far out of reach.
“I have coffee every time I go to the café,” senior biology major Nick Wygle said. “I also use my coffee maker and make cold brew iced coffee in my room.”
The safe level for healthy adults is 400 milligrams (mg) of caffeine a day, Mayoclinic.org said, which is about the amount of caffeine in four cups of brewed coffee or two “energy shot” drinks. Some energy drinks have more caffeine than others. Bang energy drinks have 300 mg per can. So consumers must be aware of their intake throughout the day.
“Most food governing agencies like the FDA do not require that foods containing natural ingredients like coffee or tea label that the product contains caffeine, but any added caffeine does have to be identified on the product’s label,” according to caffeineinformer.com
In a survey conducted on Northwestern students, 31 percent of those who answered the survey said that they have some form of caffeine 3-4 times a day which falls in the safe levels of caffeine for adults.
“I drink caffeine mostly for the taste” Wygle said. “I use to drink it for the energy but it does not really help with that anymore.”
People tend to consume caffeine a lot in their everyday life because it is in everything from soft drinks, coffee, energy drinks, teas and even medicine.
“I get my caffeine fix from coffee, soda and energy drinks,” Wygle said.
Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulate, said A’lora Salazar, a licensed vocational nurse at Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene, Texas. Caffeine makes you feel more awake and gives you a boost of energy.
“The effects of caffeine on the body may begin as early as 15 minutes after ingesting and last up to six hours,” according to uhs.umich.edu.
Students do not have to look far for a place to buy coffee, from the Starbucks on campus to McDonald’s, the donut shop and the Vanilla Bean right across the street.
Teresa Young moved to Alva five years ago and opened the Vanilla Bean in 2016 at the encouragement of some friends. “Alva needed something like that,” Young said.
She actually opened the business in a different location in town until some of Northwestern’s Foundation office offered her a spot across from the university, where the shop is now located. Young admits she was surprised at the success of the coffee shop, and credits the location as a main factor in its success, but that is not the only reason.
“People like caffeine,” she said simply. “You really cannot get specialty coffees anywhere else in Alva.”
The Vanilla Bean offers a wide variety of specialty coffees, as well as breakfast items like pancakes, breakfast sandwiches, and then sandwiches, salads and soup for lunch. The coffee shop takes pride in their customer service and the food items made fresh daily.
The most popular food items include the things not readily available around Alva, such as the quiche, a baked tart with a savory filling and scones, but she cannot pin down her most popular drink. “During the summer, we sell just as much iced coffee as we do regular coffee,” Young said.
Siera Earnest, who has worked at the shop for a year, says a cappuccino is the most popular item. Earnest, who plans to attend Northwestern Oklahoma State University this fall, does not actually drink coffee, preferring the taste of soda and tea.
The coffee shops busiest hours are from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., then again from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., but people come in to buy coffee all day long. Though her clientele might surprise some.
“College students probably make up the least percentage of customers.
They are mostly just regular working people,” Young said. The coffee shop does get a lot of business from teachers and administrators at NWOSU, but the students rarely venture across Oklahoma Boulevard. Young acknowledged that the convenience of having a Starbucks in the NWOSU student center might have something to do with it.
During the summer of 2017, NWOSU remodeled the student center and put in a Starbucks. That has allowed students to access coffee on a regular basis. Irys Pollock, a barista at Starbucks, says the top three drinks sold are caramel macchiatos, white chocolate mochas and frappuccinos.
Not only is the Starbucks conveniently located in the Student Center Ranger Mart on campus but the students are given Ranger Bucks with their meal plans that can only be used either at the Starbucks or Ranger Mart. The amount ranges anywhere from $50 to $150 depending on the meal plan they chose. The Ranger Mart houses all sorts of snacks and drinks including pops and energy drinks.
However, when asked whether non-caffeinated drinks ever out sell caffeinated drinks, “it depends on the day,” Pollock said. “Sometimes they do sometimes they do not.”
Starbucks busiest hours are their happy hours from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and sometimes they are at their busiest the hour and a half after happy hour, says Pollock.
“At Starbucks my favorite drink is an iced cafe mocha,” Wygle said. “But sometimes I prefer the daily coffee.”
Most people focus on the negatives of caffeine but it also has many positives.
Caffeine can be prescribed for medical reasons. Salazar said caffeine is good for asthma because it helps open up your lungs. Caffeine can also helps get rid of migraines. In some cases medical professionals will actually prescribe caffeine to people who have headaches all the time, drinking caffeine will get rid of the headaches by expanding the blood vessels.
“Caffeine is one of the most widely consumed psychoactive substances and it has profound effects on sleep and wake function,” according to “Caffeine: Sleep and daytime sleepiness” by Timothy Roehrs.
Caffeine also helps people who have hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is a condition when your glucose in your bloodstream drops to a low level. People who have this condition are told by a medical professional to drink a caffeinated or carbonated drink to help bring their glucose levels up to the normal amount.
“Heavy caffeine use can cause unpleasant side effects. And caffeine may not be a good choice for people who are highly sensitive to its effects or who take certain medications” according to Mayoclinic.org
Caffeine has many reasons why medical professionals might advise against it like restlessness and shakiness, headaches, dizziness and rapid or abnormal heart rhythm. Salazar said, caffeine can also elevate heart rate and raise blood pressure. Caffeine also has many other side effects including sleep deprivation.
“I stopped drinking Dr. Pepper for five years because I had stomach acidosis and it caused my physical pain,” said junior and elementary education major Laura Reed. “When I was a freshman at Oklahoma State University it became easy to get a Dr. Pepper at lunch because they had serve yourself fountains and I got bored of drinking water and lemonade. It doesn’t hurt to drink Dr. Pepper anymore because I got medicine for it.”
“I stopped drinking coffee because of track,” said freshman and math major Chris Chauncey. “I had gotten to the point where it started to slow down my heart rate.”
Caffeine is popular on campus, 93 percent of students who answered our survey stated that they consume some form of caffeine, whether it be from soft drinks, coffee, teas, etc.
“Studies have shown that caffeine dependence develops at relatively low daily doses and after short periods of regular daily use,” Roehrs said.
Salazar said people get addicted because caffeine is everywhere. It is not regulated by anything.
“Really simple to say if I am tired, I get a cup of coffee instead of getting enough sleep,” Salazar said.
46 percent of students on NWOSU’s campus said they have experienced symptoms of caffeine withdrawal, such as bad headaches, fatigue, irritability or difficulty concentrating.
“I get severe headaches when I do not have caffeine,” Wygle said. “In those cases I either get headache medicine or just caffeinate.”
You experience symptoms of withdrawal because your body is dependent on it; it affects your brain chemicals, Salazar said.
“Your brain is reliant on it and if it is not there it hurts,” she said.
“Those that use caffeine and have tried to quit can attest that caffeine causes some degree of both psychological and physiological addiction,” according to Caffeineinfromer.com
It is normal to walk across campus and see several students with coffee, pop or energy drinks in their hands.
“Caffeine has become a staple on campus because it helps students keep up with their busy schedules,” Wygle said. “It is a way for students to keep up with today’s society.”
The survey showed that most students at Northwestern are in the healthy amount of caffeine zone. Caffeine can have both positive and negative effects. Consumed in moderation it should not have negative effects on your life. Though you can become dependent on it if you are not careful.
“Caffeine is considered the most commonly used psychoactive drug in the world, but if it is used in a normal way it is completely harmless,” according to medicinenet.com
“I stopped drinking Dr. Pepper for five years because I had stomach acidosis and it caused my physical pain,” said junior and elementary education major Laura Reed. “When I was a freshman at Oklahoma State University it became easy to get a Dr. Pepper at lunch because they had serve yourself fountains and I got bored of drinking water and lemonade. It doesn’t hurt to drink Dr. Pepper anymore because I got medicine for it.”
“I stopped drinking coffee because of track,” said freshman and math major Chris Chauncey. “I had gotten to the point where it started to slow down my heart rate.”
Caffeine is popular on campus, 93 percent of students who answered our survey stated that they consume some form of caffeine, whether it be from soft drinks, coffee, teas, ect.
“Studies have shown that caffeine dependence develops at relatively low daily doses and after short periods of regular daily use,” Roehrs said.
Salazar said people get addicted because caffeine is everywhere. It is not regulated by anything.
“Really simple to say if I am tired, I get a cup of coffee instead of getting enough sleep,” Salazar said.
46 percent of students on NWOSU’s campus said they have experienced symptoms of caffeine withdrawal, such as bad headaches, fatigue, irritability or difficulty concentrating.
“I get severe headaches when I do not have caffeine,” Wygle said. “In those cases I either get headache medicine or just caffeinate.”
You experience symptoms of withdrawal because your body is dependent on it; it affects your brain chemicals, Salazar said.
“Your brain is reliant on it and if it is not there it hurts,” she said.
“Those that use caffeine and have tried to quit can attest that caffeine causes some degree of both psychological and physiological addiction,” according to Caffeineinfromer.com
It is normal to walk across campus and see several students with coffee, pop or energy drinks in their hands.
“Caffeine has become a staple on campus because it helps students keep up with their busy schedules,” Wygle said. “It is a way for students to keep up with today’s society.”
The survey showed that most students at Northwestern are in the healthy amount of caffeine zone. Caffeine can have both positive and negative effects. Consumed in moderation it should not have negative effects on your life. Though you can become dependent on it if you are not careful.
“Caffeine is considered the most commonly used psychoactive drug in the world, but if it is used in a normal way it is completely harmless,” according to medicinenet.com