By Tanner Mielke
Soon after the morning sun breaks through the horizon, tired PPCC students slowly begin to file inside. Many of these morning students look forward to getting their hands on a magical potion to shake them from their groggy state; the magical potion known as coffee.
Throughout the college numerous students can be seen carrying a steaming cup of coffee. Whether they’re not a morning person or just didn’t get enough sleep varies. One thing they have in common is the demand for coffee. “It keeps me alert. If I don’t have my coffee, I’m a walking zombie, very unhappy basically” said Daniel Stroehle, a coffee loving student at PPCC. It is easy to see that a lot of students love their coffee. Olivia Retana, who works at the coffee stand, says that night is the busiest time when the stand makes around $300 to $400 in coffee sales.
Coffee is put to good use when trying to snap out of the tired feeling students face, but how healthy is it? Because of the large amounts of caffeine in coffee, it can easily become addicting.
The American Beverage Association shows that a 12 ounce can of soda can range from 22 to 55 milligrams of caffeine, where as, the American Dietetic Association shows that in a mere 8 ounce cup of coffee there can be up to 135 milligrams of caffeine. According to different medical websites, such as mayoclinic.com, 200 mg. to 300 mg. of caffeine a day is not harmful. However, if a person was to exceed 500 mg. a day, they could experience irritability, nervousness, anxiety, insomnia, headaches and diarrhea.
When students were asked if they think they are addicted to coffee most of them replied no. Daniel on the other hand said, “Oh yeah I do, I have a headache if I don’t have coffee. When I try to stop, I can get the shakes.”
Coffee is no longer the only drink to give you a kick start. Energy drinks like Amp, Full Throttle, and Spike are the new rising stars. Some people prefer energy drinks to coffee like Mattew Roland, “I don’t like the taste of coffee, especially the after taste”. Some could argue that energy drinks don’t have the best taste either but Matthew says, “You just have to pick the right one”.
Much like coffee though, energy drinks can be a caffeine fiend as well. While most energy drinks do have less caffeine, others are not so innocent. Spike has 300 mg. of caffeine in its small 8.4 ounce can.
In the end coffee does what it’s supposed to to give you the extra jump in your step you need. There are healthier alternatives like tea, but it doesn’t have nearly as much power. For now, and some years to come, coffee will remain a morning, or night, favorite among many.
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