Coffee is incredibly loved by people across the globe, as many crave the numerous different forms it can come in. It can be served as a hot drink, a cold drink, ice cream, ice cubes, smoothies, and so on. You name it, and coffee has likely been made into it.  

However, even with the usage of coffee being incredibly high, there’s a distinct lack of knowledge regarding the fact of it being harmful to an individual’s body or not. Thus, this article will research and provide these answers.  

In short, no, coffee is not horrible for you at all. But there are, however, numerous factors that could affect this answer, such as the amount of creamer used, the amount of actual mg of caffeine used, and if there are underlying health issues.  

To begin, an appropriate “dosage” for the average sized adult is around 400 mg of caffeine, which equates to around 3-5 cups of coffee a day, depending on how strong the brew is (Dietary Guidelines for Americans).  

If an average sized individual drinks more than the recommended milligrams, then they may experience complications even if caffeine is not inherently harmful to the body.  

In a quick disclaimer, the average sized male living in America stands around 5’9 and weigh about 197.9 pounds, while the average sized woman living in America is about 5’4 and weighs around 170.6 pounds, which reflects what the information mentioned above has been based around (Healthline).  

Moving on, in an overall study, coffee has been found to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart issues, depression, and so on, in moderated doses (Harvard).  

Thus, if you are careful with the amount of caffeine you intake, then you should be perfectly fine. However, if there are underlying issues or you are pregnant, you should be cautious towards your consumption of it (Harvard). 

For high school students, caffeine consumption has been found to be an issue, especially due to how early many are waking up. Many students, including myself, rely on caffeinated beverages or powders to get through the day, which can potentially cause numerous health issues. 

If the students become too reliant, it could cause a student to consume more than they should, which can cause the jitters, a struggle to breathe, locked muscles, dizziness, diarrhea, nausea, and an extreme distraction to life around them (Mount Sinai).  

So, students at Dakota, please be careful with caffeinated beverages, as they can harm you in more ways than one.