Caffeine is highly addictive and causes many long-term threats to one’s health, but that doesn’t stop many students from tipping back the cup.

According to the Freedomyou Addiction Center Web site, “Quitting coffee can cause withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, sleepiness, irritability and the acidic nature of coffee can lead to stomach ulcers.”

The site, at www.quick-weight-loss-4u.us, also states that both coffee and tea have no nutritional value.

“I didn’t know that caffeine was addictive, but I can definitely see that,” said freshman psychology major Erin Cloherty. “I drink it because it tastes good and wakes me up for my 9 a.m. class.”

While it helps to wake up a person in the morning, it may be eating away at the lining of the stomach and creating other health hazards.

Caffienated drinks and medications contain tannin, a substance used for tanning leather.

Caffeine also can cause an irregular heartbeat and hypertension and can contribute to heart disease and hypoglycemia.

“I hardly ever drink anything that I know has caffeine in it,” said freshman nursing major Katie Brennan.”I only have a cup of coffee maybe once a week.”

In reality, people consume more caffeine than they probably realize.

According to the Freedomyou Addiction Center, caffeine also is found in cold remedies, diet pills, alertness pills, chocolate and painkillers.

Most of over-the-counter painkillers, such as Excedrin and Midol, contain as much as 65 mg of caffeine. Caffeine slows down the healing process by “slowing down the elimination of mucus, and it destroys Vitamin C,” according ot the Freedomyou Addiction Center.

Alertness pills aren’t as popular as soda and coffee. A majority of students do use drinks that contain large amounts of caffeine to keep themselves awake for those late-night study sessions.

“I usually drink up to two 20 oz. bottles of Mountain Dew in a two-hour period if I am trying to stay awake,” said Kyle Fletcher, a freshman history education major. “Otherwise, I don’t drink much at all.”

Despite the harmful effects of caffeine on the body, most students said they would continue to drink coffee and soda and take headache medicine.

“I didn’t know about a lot of the side effects but I probably won’t stop,” Fletcher said.