LATE NIGHTS WITH CAFFEINE It's late on a Sunday night School is the next day Alex and a group of his friends are sitting in his family room They're playing the latest video game They drink sodas and energy drinks Everyone is talking and yelling with the game's action Around 9:00 p.m. Alex's mom calls to him Everyone needs to go home After his friends leave he cleans everything up Then he gets ready for bed Alex brushes his teeth and gets into bed But he can't fall asleep He watches the numbers changing on his clock Alex tosses and turns He punches his pillow and tries to relax But his mind Some people do not realize that sodas can contain caffeine 5
Many people rely on a morning cup of coffee to wake them up for the day is whirling Soon it's midnight He's still wide awake How many sodas and energy drinks did he have He can't even remember INSIDE THE BODY Caffeine is a drug It's the most widely used drug in the world Most people think of it as being in coffee But it's 6
also in tea chocolate and energy drinks And it's in unexpected places It may be affecting people in ways they don't know about Alex didn't know how caffeine works inside his body It began with the first sip Alex took of that first energy drink His body started absorbing the caffeine in the drink It traveled through the membranes lining his mouth throat and stomach His liver broke down the caffeine In just 45 minutes 99 percent of the caffeine reached Alex's bloodstream DISCOVERING COFFEE An Ethiopian legend tells how coffee was discovered A goatherder named Kaldi was watching his goats The goats ate red berries from a bush The bush was the coffee shrub The goats became energetic Kaldi tried the fruit He became more energetic too He shared his story with others Coffee became popular The caffeine will stay in his body for four to six hours The caffeine is coursing through 7
