By this point, we all know that caffeine is addictive. But studies have shown that 83.2% of teenagers consume caffeinated beverages regularly anyways, gearing them to the path of addiction. I decided to test this, so I asked some of our students how much coffee they drink on average. Seven students said they didn’t drink any, ten said they had two to three cups, and two outliers said they had up to five. Nobody said one. Still, only 22% of the students considered themselves addicted. Check yourself! 

Doesn’t something seem off there? How can someone rely on two cups of coffee daily and still consider themselves addiction-free? According to Michigan Health, teens should not consume more than 100 mg. of caffeine daily, and adults should be limited to 300. That’s not great- a grandi espresso at Starbucks contains 150 mg. Two cups are already too much–imagine drinking three or more!

Actually, it’s not a straight addiction that’s the problem. It’s a dependency, and dependency turns to addiction when a fix stops being enough to get the right effect. If we drink coffee and energy drinks to this level, then we’ll all be caffeinated zombies in our twenties, groaning around in front of the Keurig.

We need to cut down our energy drinks, as difficult as it sounds. Withdrawal may happen, but it’s better than the dependency we’ve built up! I know – it’s early and we’re tired, this is too much work for us. But isn’t it better to grow and adjust and limit our caffeine intake than not being able to function without it?