When I get tired my first thought is to drink some coffee.

“Oh, coffee will keep me up!”

Like me, that goes through the minds of several other teenagers that I know. I once heard an adult say, “These teenagers run off of caffeine.” Caffeine is widely known as the “drug” that will keep you up and energized. Caffeine is in things you may not even know. It is in energy drinks, soda, coffee, and even chocolate!

However, have you ever taken the time to actually think about what caffeine does to our bodies? Caffeine is a stimulant, which means once it is consumed it increases activity in your brain and nervous system. If you notice the next time you drink soda you will feel your heart begin to beat a little bit quicker. That is due to the caffeine running through your body, and causing your body to go into overdrive.

Caffeine has a much more harsh effect on teenagers. Teenagers’ bodies are very vulnerable. This means if you begin to drink too much caffeine as a teenager your body can become addicted. If your body becomes addicted to caffeine, you will feel miserable if you don’t drink it at least every day. Due to teenagers’ smaller bodies, our bodies take 2x the impact than adults do when they consume caffeine.

Caffeine can have a much worse effect on teenagers with mental problems, such as anxiety and/or depression. Personally, I have anxiety and once I consume caffeine, I begin to feel jittery and my anxiety becomes heightened to the max. Thus, caffeine takes a much bigger toll on people that struggle with mental problems.

Caffeine is constantly around us. It is in almost everything, and some consume it on a daily in small amounts without realizing it. Small amounts of caffeine do not hurt, although it is the amount that is in energy drinks that affect us as teenagers. Teenagers’ bodies are still developing therefore the caffeine can take a toll on the bodies.