The Best (and Worst) Facts about Coffee
By Rachel Benson, Launch Academy Tutor Extraordinaire, Professional Writer, and Tulsa’s Premiere English Tutor
Everyone loves that good ol’ cup of joe in the morning, that divine elixir sent from the gods. But does your body love it as much as your taste buds? Let’s take a look at the good and the bad effects of coffee and find out!
THE GOOD:
- Coffee is amazing! Whether it’s iced or hot, black or white, caramel or raspberry vanilla, coffee tastes great and is the number one drink for those ice-bitten mornings, or any time of the year. It’s a delight to the taste buds and a delight to the soul.
- Coffee has caffeine, which let’s face it, is the only reason we can wake up in the morning. It helps jumpstart the brain and get your synapses cracking for school, your job, and life itself. You can be more productive because you’re more awake, and it helps prevent you from sleeping if you have a long project to work on.
- Coffee has TONS of antioxidants. According to nutrex-hawaii.com, these antioxidants help your immune system, eyes, skin, and heart, as well as other parts of your body. They essentially help prevent you from getting sick, which helps you to keep on going. For more info on antioxidants, check out http://www.nutrex-hawaii.com/benefits-of-antioxidants.
THE BAD:
- Coffee is an addiction. Remember when you had that thought that maybe you should cut back on your coffee intake for a while? And the terrible, debilitating pain that came with it? That’s caffeine withdrawal, and boy is it a killer. Caffeine withdrawals can result in headaches, migraines, irritability, and even heart palpitations. (Look at This Link for more lists.) It can become an addiction, and it’s one that’s hard to break.
- Coffee can mess up your sleep, making you feel anxious and nervous during the day and unbelievably frustrated at night. Caffeine is great to wake you up, but not so great for going to bed. Try to avoid drinking it at night and eat dark chocolate or apples for late-night studying. They have less caffeine but still enough of a jolt to keep you going until you can sleep.
- Coffee is bad for your teeth. Wanna keep those pearly whites? Then avoid coffee if you can. Coffee is well-known for staining your teeth, making you never want to smile again in your life. If you don’t want to fight the brown stain, cut back on your coffee and keep those white teeth shining!
- Coffee is expensive. The last time I went to a coffee house, I paid $5.25 for a medium macchiato. If you buy a cup five times a week, that costs over $100 a month and $1,200 a year, enough to buy a sweet computer or go on a huge shopping spree at the mall. You can spend money on whatever you’d like obviously, but it does make you wonder whether you’d rather have $1,200 or not at the end of the year.
So to sum up, coffee tastes awesome and is really good at waking you up with caffeine and providing you with antioxidants for the day. Unfortunately, it can cause you to go through withdrawals, make you not sleep, stain your teeth, and is expensive as all get out. If you’re interested in finding out more, check out http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/coffee/ and whether this delicious pick-me-up is worth it to you or not, always remember to choose wisely, be prudent, and always, always remember that all things good are best in moderation.
Stay strong!
-Rachel Benson
