As the end of the semester draws near there is an almost tangible stress in the air. Students are burdened with projects, presentations and papers and have limited time to complete them. With the increased workload, oftentimes it seems there are not enough hours in the day. Late nights or even all-nighters become more common. Enter the college student’s best friend: caffeine.
At Elizabethtown College, 93.4 percent of students consume at least one caffeinated beverage per week. The most popular caffeinated drinks are coffee, tea and soda—the three of which make up 89 percent of the consumed beverages.
Caffeine is a controversial subject. According to an anonymous survey conducted by the Etownian, some students at Etown believe caffeine is beneficial, helps students focus and allows them to do the work during stressful times.
Other students believe that caffeine causes addiction, disrupted sleep schedules and has negative health impacts. In this case, neither group of students is wrong.
Caffeine has benefits and drawbacks, largely related to the amount being consumed.
As one student said, “caffeine helps college students stay sane during crazy periods of school such as finals week. Although some people drink more than they should, I think drinking a normal/healthy amount of caffeine can help college students stay on task and present.”
According to the survey, the caffeine intake of Etown students is most influenced by schoolwork, mood and sleep schedule. Two of these three leading factors connect to finals week.
Of the surveyed students, 61.5 percent felt that the amount of work for classes affects their caffeine intake, and 54.9 percent thought that their sleep schedules were what directed their caffeine consumption.
The general idea students get during finals week is that if they stay up late to do more studying, they will know more for their exam. It is widely accepted that caffeine wakes people up, so it is a useful tool when staying up late to study.
This is only partially true when it comes to studying, however, due to the scientific nature of caffeine.
Associate professor of chemistry Dr. Thomas Hagan explained some of the science behind caffeine’s effects on the human body. Adenosine receptors in the brain bind the molecule adenosine. This binding is what causes people to be tired.
However, caffeine molecules are similar to adenosine in structure, so when people consume caffeine, the adenosine receptors bind the caffeine molecules instead. The receptors are blocked from binding adenosine and therefore cannot bring on fatigue.
“[Caffeine] reverses the effect of adenosine and keeps you from taking a nap,” Hagan said.
For this reason, caffeine can be beneficial in preventing a person from feeling the tiredness of a late night. Unfortunately, there are other effects. While caffeine can reverse the feeling of tiredness, it cannot help with the storage of memories the same way a good night of sleep can.
According to Hagan, when a person does not get sufficient sleep, it limits their ability to form memories because memories are consolidated while a person is asleep. A person forms memories during waking hours, but they are solidified in a person’s memory while asleep.
For college students, this means that getting a limited amount of sleep may be alright in small doses, but after a certain amount of time, sleep deprivation can negatively impact memory.
Of the students surveyed, 42.9 percent feel that their caffeine consumption increases during finals, 39.6 percent feel their consumption does not increase, and 17.6 percent are unsure.
