Coffee Statistics, Coffee Prices, Caffeine Use

We use it as a 'pick me up', to help lose weight, and to keep hunger at bay. We take it black, with sugar, straight, or with cream. Coffee today is accessible anywhere and at anytime in the world. Global consumption of coffee has been estimated at 120,000 tons per year. Many people have become depended on it, once they stop withdrawal happens.

Coffee dates back to the 13th century, and its main ingredient, the chemical caffeine, dates even further back, possibly to the stone age. Early humans found that chewing the seed, bark, or leaf of certain plants eased fatigue, stimulated awareness, and brighten one's mood. The first documented use of caffeine in a beverage was around the 15th century when Sufis of Yemen used coffee to stay awake during prayers. By the 16th century there were coffee houses in Istanbul, Cairo and Mecca. Europe soon followed in the 17th century when it opened the doors to coffee shops.

In 1819, Friedrich Ferdinand Runge, a German chemist, synthesized pure coffee for the first time and identified the chemical caffeine. Today, most of the coffee consumed in North America and Europe comes from Latin America, especially from Central America, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil. Caffeine is also found in chocolate, tea, soft drinks, and some pain relievers.

Caffeine is characterized as a drug because it acts on the central nervous system as a stimulant. Found in many plant species, it acts as a natural pesticide, paralyzing and killing insects feeding on the plants. Common sources of caffeine are coffee, tea, and coca beans. The effects of caffeine on the human body and mind are well documented and understood. Caffeine is known as a psychoactive substance. Caffeine is also legal, unregulated and rarely identified as a drug, but it is.

In North America, 90% of adults consume caffeine daily. The national Coffee Association and the Specialty Coffee Association of America annual surveys concerning coffee consumption found that 50% of Americans over the age of 18, that is, roughly around 150 million people, drink coffee every day. Caffeine speeds up the metabolism, it also increases the break down of fat, freeing fatty acids which are used in energy production during exercise. According to the National coffee drink survey, 54% of the population drinks coffee everyday, with the average cup size being 9 oz.

Overuse, which is very common, often leads to caffeinism. Dorland's Medical Dictionary for Health Consumer defines caffeinism as a condition resulting from the intake of excessive amount of caffeine. Characteristics include caffeine sensitivity, diuresis and bone loss just to name a few. Caffeine sensitivity is when a person develops less sensitivity to caffeine, and needs larger doses in order to have the same desired results. Diuretic in nature, caffeine causes a person to urinate more and also cause the body to lose calcium, that may lead to bone loss over time. Other side effects include nervousness, headaches, increased and irregular heart rate, anxiety, irritability, elevated blood pressure, increased cholesterol, tremors, diarrhea, insomnia, depression and dizziness.

Latest Coffee Statistics

Drug Name: Caffeine, Coffee

Description: drug description

Number of Uses: 130

Total Economic Cost in 2010: $742.85

Caffeine, Coffee prices (based on stats up to today)

• $3.50 - 150mg - coffee
• $2.00 - 40mg - coffee
• $7.99 - 20,000mg - other
• $12.50 - 100,000mg - other
• $1.55 - 55mg - soft drink
• $2.50 - 80mg - energy drink
• $2.00 - 1cups - coffee
• $3.99 - 10 OZ - coffee

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