By Sydney Fairbanks / Jambar Contributor
As midterms approach, some Youngstown State University students rely on caffeine to get through their tests via coffee, tea, energy drinks, pre-workout and other alternatives.
Zara Rowlands, a professor of health professions, taught a research methods course for junior and senior students where they looked into YSU students’ caffeine intake. She said some of the interviewed students reported that caffeine decreased their pain perception.
“If [the students] were feeling headachy – and there is research to back this up, that people who have migraines, if they drink caffeinated beverages, it actually improves the blood flow and it can actually down regulate that pain of migraines,” Rowlands said.
She also found that students drink more caffeine when studying, to improve their cognitive function.
“It helped them be more able to study for longer periods of time. It kept them alert and that kept them more receptive for studying,” Rowlands said.
Athletes’ reaction times tend to improve after caffeine intake. Student athletes reported responding better in situations where they had to act quickly, such as tracking the ball.
However, research findings also showed that many students are not aware how much caffeine is too much.
According to the Mayo Clinic’s website, adults should not exceed 400 milligrams of caffeine per day. That’s roughly the amount of caffeine in four cups of brewed coffee, 10 cans of [soda] or two energy drinks.
One student, Connor Murphy, said he drinks somewhere between 200 to 1,000 milligrams of caffeine almost every day and reports no known adverse side effects. He drinks mainly energy drinks and pre-workout powder to reach this amount.
“If I drink a lot of caffeine in a row, I will feel my heart start to pound faster,” Murphy said. “But I’ve always had anxiety, I don’t think it’s really heightened… It doesn’t affect my sleep, I sleep eight hours every night.”
Murphy said while his intake doesn’t increase around exam times, he does believe he has started drinking more caffeine since starting college.
“In college you’re paying to be here, you’re trying to be locked into school. So I feel like my caffeine intake has increased just because I’m trying to be more alert and more focused,” Murphy said.
Some of the benefits of caffeine include it acting as a performance enhancer to give people a boost to get through the day.
“We have a biorhythm in the body that you get used to and this is why you get sleepy at a certain time of the night. And I think for a lot of people, especially people who don’t eat properly, they need that boost to get them through the afternoon,” Rowlands said.
The negative side effects of drinking too much caffeine can include caffeine dependency and fertility issues in women.
Rowlands said some of the healthier ways students can gain energy without drinking caffeine include eating healthy on a regular basis, which will also avoid negative side effects.
“Some of these intermittent fasting patterns are really 18 hours without eating anything, so then your energy levels and your nutrient levels in the body are going to drop,” Rowlands said. “Your body runs on energy and nutrients, and if you don’t give your body this energy and nutrients, you’re not going to function.”
Other methods to help energy levels are proper hydration, exercise and good sleeping patterns.