Step aside, motor vehicles. Coffee has made its way into what drives Americans on a daily basis. According to the Specialty Coffee Association of America, Americans drink more than 300 million cups of coffee every day.The Java City Union Station at Sacramento State sells approximately 1,100 to 1,200 cups of coffee every day, said barista Dominic Morabe. What most don’t know is the process in which coffee is made.According to the National Coffee Association of U.S.A., Inc., there are 10 steps to bringing coffee from the seed to the cup. These steps include planting, harvesting the coffee cherries, processing the cherries, drying the beans, milling the beans, exporting the beans, tasting the coffee, roasting the coffee, grinding the coffee and brewing the coffee. So what is it, exactly, in coffee that makes people crave it?Kalyn Coppedge, health educator at the Student Health Connection said it’s the caffeine. Unlike soft drinks that have caffeine added to it, coffee naturally contains caffeine, according to Cobblestone Coffee Roastery. Cobblestone Coffee Roastery’s website describes caffeine as a “mild stimulant to the central nervous system. Caffeine promotes wakefulness by interfering with adenosine, a chemical in the body that acts as something of a natural sleep-promoting drug. In additions to its wakeful properties, caffeine has been shown to enhance mood and increase alertness.” Research from the Mayo Clinic shows that drinking coffee also has its positive side effects. In moderate amounts, daily consumption of coffee can lower the risk of colon cancer by 25 percent, gallstones by 45 percent, cirrhosis of the liver by 80 percent, Parkinson’s Disease by 50 to 80 percent and may even reduce the incidence of asthma by 25 percent. However, coffee still has its negative effects. Coppedge said coffee can disrupt normal sleeping habits, increase blood pressure and promote dehydration. Coffee can even cause kidney stones, in some long-term cases. The Coffee Science Information Centre states that coffee can be a part of a healthy balanced diet and that there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that a moderate amount of coffee is bad for you.Coppedge agrees. “Coffee is perfectly fine in moderation,” she said. The problem is that “people don’t drink just black coffee anymore. People (add to their coffee and), the calories add up but they still don’t get full.”The Cobblestone Coffee Roastery states that coffee has “virtually no calories or fats, no carbohydrates, no sodium, no cholesterol.”Manager of Java City Union Station Ashley Brown said it’s not the coffee that’s bad for you. It’s what people add to the coffee that isn’t healthy. “It’s the chocolate people want to add, or the whipped cream they want on top, or the milk they want in it,” she said. Although there is no limit on how much coffee a person can drink, Brown said that consumption should be, “no more than 7 shots of espresso at a time.”Morabe said, “I know this guy that has about twelve shots of espresso a day. Five shots in the morning, 5 in the middle of the day and 2 at night.” Brown advises coffee drinkers to be responsible with consumption. “You could really make yourself sick if you have too much (coffee),” she said. For those who are looking for an alternative to drinking the average cup of Joe but still want that same amount of energy, Coppedge suggests getting, “a good, consistent (amount of) sleep and eating a healthy breakfast.”

Princess Garnace can be reached at [email protected].