How many cans of soda do you drink in a day? 1? 2? According to an article by Medical News Today, the average teenager consumes anywhere from 60 milligrams to 800 milligrams of caffeine every single day. Many students use caffeine as a way to stay awake throughout the day as they wake up very early for school. The Mayo Clinic recommends a maximum consumption of 100 milligrams a day. This means that some teenagers are consuming 8 times the recommended and healthy amounts of caffeine nearly every day.
A 12-ounce can of Coke has 34 milligrams of caffeine, a can of Dr. Pepper has 42.6, and a can of Mountain Dew has 54.8. These are just the smallest containers that the drinks come in. A liter of Mountain Dew, such as the one that our school sells in its vending machines and in the cafeteria, has 153 mg of caffeine which in itself exceeds the recommended limit. This can come with some dire effects.
Caffeine typically stays in one’s system for 10 hours so having a cup of coffee in the morning shouldn’t impact you too much but having drinks throughout the day may lead to a lower quality of sleep or even less sleep in general. According to a study by the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, caffeine consumption just a few hours before bed may reduce REM Cycle sleep by about 1.2 hours and may reduce sleep entirely by anywhere from 30 minutes if administered 6 hours before bedtime to over an hour if administered anywhere between 3-0 hours before bed. Suffering from sleep loss may lower a student’s grade due to being less concentrated and focused throughout the day.
There are more effects than just hindered sleep that can come from caffeine such as anxiety, agitation, restlessness, and tremors but these effects come as a result of constant consumption and typically occur when experiencing withdrawals from caffeine.
Remember that cutting out caffeine entirely isn’t the solution. If taken in staggered amounts, it can be beneficial towards a person’s well-being but overconsumption is always a risk and it’s easy to fall back into that situation. A good way to keep track of how much caffeine you take in every day is to limit yourself to drinking only 1 or 2 sodas throughout the day or just 1 coffee in the morning. Finally, if you’re interested in reading more stories that help your student life and/or personal life, check out the other articles on our website.
