Early mornings, between classes, and late night study sessions; what is found in all of these moments? Lattes, americanos, mochas, and more. At the heart of all these drinks lies one, very prominent ingredient: coffee. In many cases, coffee is what keeps students running. Yet, as comforting as it is to sip on a cup of coffee, especially with the colder weather catching up, I can’t help but wonder: is coffee a friend or a foe?
For many people and myself, drinking that cup of coffee in the morning can turn us from zombies to productive humans. It helps fuel late nights and make the endless amount of assignments and essays a tad bit more manageable. According to Katie McCallum in her article with Houston Methodist, caffeine blocks the chemical in our brain, adenosine, the one that tells our brains “hey, it’s time to get some sleep!” Hence the rush of energy we get after the first few sips. Personally, I’ve found that coffee tends to give me enough focus and clarity to sit down and work when my brain refuses to co-operate.
Another factor as to why so many people drink coffee is the comforting aspect. I know I’ve always loved waking up on one of those rainy October mornings to the smell of coffee. The aroma wafting through my house, the warmth from the mug in my hands, and the first taste that makes everything seem so much better. Coffee tends to make those comforting connections and gentle memories, because of the chemical reaction in our brains with dopamine. In an article by The Aviary it is explained that dopamine causes a reaction of pleasure and when a person drinks coffee, it triggers that reaction regardless of the circumstance.
And yet, as comforting as coffee is, it always has a cost. It seems like common knowledge that drinking too much coffee causes that gut-filling anxiety, or a mimic of it. Suddenly your hands are trembling and you can hear your heart thundering in your ears, before a headache or worse, a migraine sets in. Not to mention the effect it has on our sleep when you’ve had a cup too late, I know personally there’s been days where I’ll have a cup in the evening and then I can’t sleep until well past midnight.
Though that’s not the case for everyone. When I asked a friend with ADHD how coffee affects her, she expressed that she simply drinks coffee for the taste. She expressed feeling immune to coffee in our conversation. For some people with ADHD it helps them focus and calm down and for those who don’t live with the condition, it may seem impossible to stop thinking and their mind starts racing. It’s hard to label coffee as simply “good” or “bad” when it all depends on the person and how they react to it.
It’s certainly a strange balance between comfort and chaos. We reach for coffee to help us feel alive and in control, yet at the same time, it can control us instead. The dependency, or addiction as some would refer to it, builds slowly over time, first it’s one cup in the morning, then another in the afternoon, and following that habit makes you realize your day doesn’t really start without that cup or two of coffee. Even when stuck in that habit the idea of giving up coffee is almost unthinkable, it’s like taking candy from a child, stealing a moment of joy.
So, for the end of my thoughts, I don’t believe coffee is exclusively a friend or merely a foe, no, maybe it’s both, or perhaps neither. Maybe it’s something that keeps us going through the days when they’re full of stress and blurring together, but it also reminds us that too much of something typically thought of as good can tip into harm or addiction. The trick to having a healthy relationship, I believe, is learning to respect and live with it. We can enjoy the comfort, the energy and the habit of having a cup but remembering to not let it run our lives.
Ultimately, that cup of coffee on the table at your study session, on the counter before school, and during your class can be what you make it. Whether it’s a friend, a foe, or both. Coffee is something that will always be there in the world, it’s a strong smell and familiar taste, and it’s up to us how much we consume of it.
