That Coffee Life

Mornings don’t start for me until I have had at least two cups of coffee. French dark roast with International Delights’ French vanilla creamer is what I care 99% of the time. Coffee has become a food group for me and sometimes, it will be the only thing I consume on a given day. Around Temple’s campus, I have experienced that if you are on your way to class in Anderson and want to stop at Starbucks on Broad Street, you need an hour. The lines in places like Saxby’s on Liacorous Walk and the other Starbucks in the Tech Center stretch out past the doors of the shop. Students around campus during the week are constantly carrying Styrofoam cups of coffee with double even triple shots of espresso. It appears that college students have become dependent on any form of caffeine, especially coffee in order to be awake and take on the day.

Again, I am very dependent on coffee through out every day just to feel alive, but there is a point where coffee is too much coffee.

In an article on the Business Insider, Temple University was ranked as the 7^th highest caffeinated campus.

There are some things to think about if you drink coffee on a daily basis. There are many health risks with the overconsumption of coffee such as dehydration, risk of high cholesterol, insomnia, anxiety symptoms and can contribute to the fluid loss in your body. It may be worth the risk if you stayed up late and have and exam in the morning, but constantly replacing water with coffee can ultimately deplete your health and well-being.

Price is also an issue. If you go to Starbucks on a daily basis, get a grande or venti, you’re averagely spending five to six dollars a day, which can turn into twenty to twenty-five dollars a week. (Unless you’re like me and buy coffee more than once a day, in which case that would double to about forty dollars…)

If you’re feeling tired and don’t want to hurt your stomach with too much creamer and sugar, there are alternative ways to get that pick me up you need in the morning or throughout the day. (And it’s cheaper. Yay!)

Water: the easiest way to feel energized and there are water fountains that can fill up a bottle for free! Your body requires large amounts of water a day to maintain normal function and instead of grabbing that coffee, drink some water to gain a more natural energized feeling.

Green Tea: while green tea does have caffeine in it, it’s a lesser amount than that of coffee, but just enough to get your energy back up. You won’t get any jitters like you could from coffee.

Fruits: Bananas and oranges are known as high-energy foods and they are minimal calories, so you get the healthy food item and energy!

Coffee is a great drink with many different variations and flavors, but should only be drunken as luxury or in small doses. Caffeine gives the body instant energy and then an immediate crash, which leads to another cup of coffee to get the buzz back, only to lead you into a direction of a caffeine addict like myself.