COFFEE CONSUMPTION WITH THE

TEXAS A&M QATAR COMMUNITY

Dana AbouHassanain

1. Introduction

One, two, three cups of coffee. Numbers we hear everyday that do not startle us. A common
thing that can be seen everywhere around the world in many ways, whether freshly brewed or
brewed overnight, hot or poured on ice, with or without sugar. There is no denying that coffee
is everywhere around us. We drink it to have energy to get through the day however do we
realize the danger we are putting our bodies in. The research question is ‘To what extent are
coffee consumers concerned about their habit’. This study aimed to study coffee consumers and
their attitude towards their habit. It is to see if coffee consumers are concerned about their
habit as well as if they are taking any steps towards cutting off coffee.

The reason this topic was picked is due to the fact that coffee is underlying between us and so
many do not realize the grave danger and irreversible consequences of coffee. Common side
effects of coffee can be divided into two categories: immediate side effects and delayed side
effects. Immediate side effects include anxiety and digestive issues. As for delayed side effects,
they include addiction and muscle breakdown (Spritzler).

2. Methods
2.1 Survey

The survey was the main focus of the study, since it is the best way to reach the biggest number
of people it was distributed to the Texas A&M Qatar community through email and texts, with
voluntary anonymous participation. The survey was made up of 12 simple questions, multiple
choice and text entry, revolving around coffee which takes around one to two minutes to
continue. With 91 responses received, the study was concluded.

2.2 Interview

One interview was done with a student studying at Texas A&M Qatar university upon signed a
informed consent form. The student was asked 9 questions in total about his coffee drinking
habit. A lot of information was received during this short interview. The initial plan was to
interview at least one student and one staff or faculty member however due to time this was not
achieved.

2.3 Secondary Research

A research paper on the Relationship between Caffeine Consumption Status and Happiness
Levels of Students in the Faculty of Sports Sciences by Büşra Erul was read and considered while
preforming this study. This study was made in Artvin Çoruh University, Turkey. Although Büşra’s
study has a different intention and is looking for different results than this study, reading this
research paper was helpful for sure. (Erul)

3. Results

Out of 91 responses, mostly from male students, it has been concluded that the community is
somewhat aware of the side effects of coffee however not many think the level they are drinking
coffee at is bad, many of the responses think they have it under control. Below are the questions
of the survey with bar charts (filtered based on staff, faculty or student) of the answers:

3.1 Survey questions and results

Q1. Which one applies to you?

Most of the responses came from male students standing at 48% of the students, and female
students after that. Responses from the faculty are only a small number.

Q2. What’s your gender?

Response displayed above along with question 1. Most of the students and faculty who
responded to the survey are male, meanwhile most of the staff are female.

Q3. Do you drink coffee?

The percentages of people who answered yes is higher than the people who answered no in all
three staff, faculty and students.
Q4. How often do you drink coffee?

73 of 91 which would be 49% drink coffee on a daily basis. While a good amount choose other
and wrote in the text box provided that they have about 1-2 cups of coffee every month.
Q5. How many cups of coffee do you drink per day?

Thankfully only a small amount said they drink 3 or more cups of coffee per day. Students are
mainly the ones who drink coffee 1-2 per day.

Q6. To what extent do you agree with the following statement: I realized my habit of drinking
coffee is bad for me.

Only a small number of people think that their habit is bad for them while 66% of the responses
believe their habit is not affecting their health.
Q7. Do you know that a daily high dose of caffeine can cause high blood pressure?

A decent number of people are aware of the most common side effect of high doses of caffeine
which is high blood pressure.

Q8. Are there any side effects of coffee that you know about? (if yes, please specify)

Mostly students are aware of some side effects of coffee but also a decent number of staff and
faculty. The common answers provided in the text box are high heartbeat rate, jitters, insomnia,
and iron deficiency.
Q9. Do you think you can cut coffee from your life?

A big number of the responses believe they can cut off their habit easily

Q10. How do you think you will cut off coffee?

Some of the answers include gradually drinking less, replacing with an healthy alternative, and
not having coffee with breakfast.

Q11. Has there been any situation in your life that made you want to cut off coffee?

Many people did not have a situation that made them want to cut off coffee but some do
(answers stated in the next question).
Q12. If you answered yes tot the previous question, please share the situation.

Many different situations were provided, here’s an example: I got severe stomach aches one day
and when I went to the ER the doctor advised me to not drink coffee and if I do to not drink it on
an empty stomach.

3.2 Interview

Although only one person was interviewed, helpful information has been retrieved. It is evident
that the interviewee has his coffee drinking habit under control. He says he does not drink more
than 2 cups in a day and that he only drinks it during the academic semester because it helps
him stay awake. The number of cups he drinks in a week goes up a lot during exams because of
stress and less sleep. The interviewee plans on not drinking any coffee during the winter break
to prevent his body from getting used or addicted to coffee.

4. Discussion

It turned out that people are more aware about the consequences of coffee than I thought they
would be. However, it shows through the survey that most people do not care enough to cut off
coffee from their lives. It seems similar to smoking, of course smoking is a lot more dangerous,
but they are both dangerous yet normalized and seen everywhere.

In my opinion, people usually drink coffee because it helps energize them therefore, they
should find a healthier alternative that helps them stay energized instead of constantly relying
on coffee and endangering themselves. Another reason someone could drink coffee is because
of the good taste which can be easily helped since it could be replaced with anything else that
tastes good.

Overall, this study does not aim to forbid coffee, but it hopes to at least lessen the damage of
coffee. Instead of drinking coffee every day, why not get a good night’s sleep? Or only drink
coffee whenever its urgent and cannot be helped.