Caffeine Produces Classic Signs of Addiction

I’m not going to split hairs about whether people are truly addicted or just dependent on the drug. Studies show conclusively that caffeine produces classic signs of addiction, including withdrawal, dependence, inability to quit and tolerance.

Tolerance is an important factor. To understand it, simply ask yourself if your intake of caffeine has increased over the years. You may have started out in high school or college with a small cup in the morning, or a can of cola in the afternoon. And the caffeine –induced stress was experienced as increased alertness, physiologically identical to a near miss by a city bus.

[Of course, you didn’t make that connection because caffeine consumption is a social thing.]

But rather quickly, your body adapted to the stress and in order to get the same effect, you had to drink larger and more frequent doses. I don’t think it is cynical to suggest that food and beverage manufacturers rely on this effect to increase sales. Why else do they refuse to disclose the amount of caffeine in their products?