Too Much Coffee Can Harm Your Health

By Carlos Marquez III
Senior News Reporter

An average of 180­ million Americans drink coffee every morning to begin their day. Coffee can help people wake up in the morning and can help them feel more alert but it can also do a number of other things.

The Texas State Health Center has not observed a severe negative impact on students who drink too much coffee but agrees that students should be aware of the negative side effects that caffeine can contribute to.

The Texas State Health Center’s mission is to provide high­ quality healthcare and health education that meets the needs of the Texas State students. Their goals include making healthcare affordable, promoting healthy lifestyles and supporting the personal and professional development of the Health Center staff. They provide Medical services, Mental Health services, HIV testing and information for Sexual Education, as well as Health Promotions Services to further encourage students to have a healthy lifestyle.

Health promotions assistant director Julie Eckert said that drinking too much coffee can affect both your mood and your sleep pattern.

“Students can experience insomnia,” Eckert said. “[They might experience a] rapid heart rate because caffeine is actually a stimulant; irritability; maybe it might raise their blood pressure a little bit; they may boil a little bit more nervousness but if people are experiencing those kind of side effects then they might think about how much caffeine that they’re actually ingesting and you shouldn’t have more than like 400mg of caffeine, which is like 4 cups of coffee.”

Though too much coffee can harm your health, the correct amount of coffee can help you avoid diseases. That it is important to know the difference between drinking too much coffee and drinking the right amount.

Coffee is full of antioxidants which help reduce cell damage and aging. Coffee can also help prevent Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease and has proven to increase mental attention in the short term.

Coffee can prove to be either detrimental or beneficial to our health, like a lot of other things that we consume, the main difference is learning how much is too much. Students should also be aware of alternatives that may bring the same benefits that coffee brings us, such as getting a good night’s sleep to feel more alert in the morning.