Jayden Lovelady is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Titan. All opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of the Daily Titan as a whole.
Since I was 14 years old, it has been easy to sweep caffeine consumption under the rug of timeless cliches. I am a writer by trade — and a full-time student — should it not make sense for my natural habitat to always include a mug and mild stimulant?
Now, at 20, the question begs as the mugs and plastic cups wrapped in Comic Sans have been replaced by cans with higher numbers next to “caffeine content.” Between the hustle culture demanded of the modern student, the social fixation on caffeine and an environment encouraging both, it’s not hard to see that society has become too lenient on casual, constant consumption of caffeine, and Cal State Fullerton is not an innocent bystander.
CSUF’s caffeine accessibility goes beyond helpful boosts available on campus, but instead verges on endorsing harmful over-consumption of caffeine. For campus access to caffeine to be a genuine benefit to students’ wellness, an equivalent education on its use must be implemented.
CSUF’s Community Market, a convenience store in campus housing (where I live), frequently runs deals with Celsius, offering the chance to win a surfboard by buying a half or full-case. In addition, vending machines featuring Celsius are available throughout campus.
Energy drinks are drastically worse than natural alternatives of caffeine. Both the caffeine content and the sugar additives are extremely high in most leading energy drink brands.
On average, an 8 ounce cup of brewed coffee contains around 96 mg of caffeine, green tea averages 29 mg, black tea around 48 and a shot of espresso contains around 63.
8 ounce Redbulls typically contain 114 mg of caffeine, with Rockstars and Monsters containing 160 mg per 16 ounce can. Celsius contains 200 mg of caffeine per 12 ounce can, with Celsius Essentials containing 270 mg per 16 ounce can.
“We have good evidence and growing knowledge of what are healthy amounts of caffeine to get from long-standing natural sources like coffee and tea,” said Michael Li, a lecturer in health science with an expertise in addiction. “What we don’t have is good information on this (energy drinks) which have higher levels (of caffeine) than anything else and is often processed with sugar, all kinds of other additives.”
Energy drinks have not existed long enough to assess their long-term effects. Pairing caffeine with high sugar content adds an extra level of stimulant addiction.
In a National Library of Medicine study, the impacts of natural caffeine sources versus artificial were compared by measuring periodic repolarization dynamics (PRD), a biomarker noting the electric activity in the heart. They found in 16 non-randomized healthy individuals, coffee consumption did not impact PRD, but the energy drink consumption showed an increase.
Having made coffee consumption a consistent habit in my daily life, I have experienced firsthand that tolerance to the natural drives migration to the artificial. A doctor’s visit for a migraine left me hyper-aware of my caffeine overconsumption. While I have cut down significantly, I still find it nearly impossible to kick this habit in an environment that aggressively encourages it.
Portia Jackson Preston, an associate professor of public health, details that this reliance begs a larger question: what pushes students to indulge excessively?
“The question I ask you is if somebody is working all night long, and they know that Celsius is gonna be that comfort for them, does it legitimize us saying that’s what you should have? No,” Jackson-Preston said. “But are we making something available to somebody once, they’re gonna argue that there’s consumer demand for it.”
Unregulated accessibility to caffeine normalizes a harmful habit imposed on students when it becomes a source of comfort in the academic storm.
“One of the things we can learn from the caffeine marketing is the stuff we have learned from if there has been successful health education around healthy drinking,” Li said. “Its not one-to-one, but for example, I think there could be a model of somebody who consumes something that has caffeine in it, it’s a functional drug, right?”
CSUF should invest in an education — or at least disclosure — in caffeine consumption. Demonizing any substance has historically proven ineffective, and caffeine is no different. While the campus can be appreciated for its accessibility and boosting energy, a healthy relationship with caffeine must be established for this to be a benefit.