Effects Of Caffeine On The Human Body Essay - 2053 Words

Ever since I can remember I have been addicted to caffeine. It started out with drinking diet coke which was my mother’s drink of choice, and then slowly as time went on it turned into Coca-Cola. I have experienced the harsh withdrawals that come with caffeine like the headaches, irritability, and those lovely morning shakes telling me that I need caffeine. The headaches and the shakes finally got so bad to the point where I needed coke in the morning just to function. At that point I realized that caffeine was probably not very good for me. After learning in my Chemistry 130 class that caffeine was classified under heterocyclic amines and was an alkaloid, the same classification that heroin is under, I finally took it upon myself to really get serious and give up caffeine. What I really was interested in however was how does caffeine affect the human body? Do the positive uses of caffeine outweigh the negatives or is caffeine something we shouldn’t be allowing into ou r bodies? To determine the answers to these questions we need to first familiarize ourselves with what caffeine is and then compare the positives and negatives of caffeine in order to draw a conclusion. So, what exactly is caffeine, where does it come from, where can we find it and how much should we be consuming? C8H10N4O2, otherwise known as Caffeine, comes from the family of heterocyclic amine compounds known as alkaloids. Alkaloids come from the end production of nitrogen metabolism in plants like cacao,Show MoreRelated The Effects of Caffeine on the Human Body Essay1325 Words   |  6 PagesCaffeine has many negative effects on humans, such as increased heart rate (Lane, J.D., 2002), depression (Goldstein, 2008), and addiction to this â€Å"drug.† You may be asking yourself, â€Å"What is caffeine?† Well, caffeine is actually a stimulant (Barone, Roberts, 2008) that is found in beverages such as tea, coffee, and soft drinks. 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The foods that contain caffeine include coffee, tea, cocoa, carbonated beverages and energy drinks.2 Caffeine is a stimulant that’s used daily to keep people awake and active throughout their busy days. But does this use do more good than harm, or more harm than good? The molecular formula for caffeine is C8H10N4O2 and it is chemically classified in the xanthine group.1 It was first discovered and isolated by FriedrichRead MoreThe Secrets of Caffeine1665 Words   |  7 Pagesaren’t aware that caffeine can act as a stimulant to the central nervous system. So once someone consumes a caffeinated beverage they may begin to notice a slight change in the way their body begins to feel. Caffeine can be found in many different places such as energy drinks, coffee, candy and also in other common beverages and over the counter medications. 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