Shadowing Practice: The Dirty Business Behind Caffeine - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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- 20th of October, 1909, Eastridge, Tennessee, right at the border to Georgia.
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A team of FBI agents is positioned along a road.
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Their mission is to intercept a truck carrying dangerous goods.
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When it crosses the border, they stop the suspicious truck Without hesitation, they confiscate the entire load.
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60 barrels of Coca -Cola syrup the contents were adulterated with an addictive and harmful substance: caffeine.
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100 years later, the world looks pretty different.
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Starbucks, Monster, Mountain Dew, and Pills.
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At least 80 % of the world's population regularly consumes caffeine.
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You probably have some in your blood right now.
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Maybe you can't fall asleep and that's why you're watching this video.
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Monster energy!
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Put it in your body and ask questions later.
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One scientist calls our caffeine consumption one of the longest, largest unsupervised drug studies ever conducted on the human race.
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Although caffeine is one of the most studied substances in the world, there are always new findings.
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However, some companies realized very early on how much power this white powder entails.
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and they have repeatedly played down its effects.
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Caffeine is a global billion dollar business.
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How has a drug that is taken for granted today managed to conquer the whole world?
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And what dangers does it bring?
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The world's most widely used mood -altering drug.
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Is the coffee alright?
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Uh -uh.
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Nothing like a Coke.
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A cup of coffee is part of the study routine for many.
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Often, it's the sole motivator to keep on reading and learning.
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The platform Brilliant makes the studying so exciting that you might even be able to skip one of the coffees before.
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Brilliant gives you the skills that can be applied to everything, literally, all the way from basic logic to artificial intelligence.
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It does so in an engaging and playful way.
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You can customize the content and work through the exercises and problems at your own pace.
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Take a quick quiz when you sign up, and you'll get content matching your skill level and interests.
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We can highly recommend the new Brilliant course, How Technology Works.
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There are a lot of technologies surrounding us that we take for granted, but how does wireless communication, GPS, and computer memory actually work?
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To try everything Brilliant has to offer, free, for a full 30 days, visit brilliant .org slash fern or click on the link in the description.
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The first 200 of you will get 20 % off of Brilliant's annual premium subscription.
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Start developing new skills today.
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Caffeine is weird.
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Plants use caffeine to protect themselves from predators.
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It is found in coffee beans, cacao beans, and tea leaves.
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In its pure form it is a white powder, tastes bitter, and a bit soapy.
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A sixteenth of a teaspoon will properly wake you up in the morning.
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A quarter of a teaspoon will make your heart race, cause sweating, and anxiety.
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a tablespoon would kill you.
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However, moderate coffee consumption can even be healthy.
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It lowers the risk of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, dementia, and likely even depression.
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People love caffeine and have consumed it for several centuries.
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Europe in the Middle Ages.
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Monsters are still monsters.
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We have a hearty beer soup for breakfast, a glass of beer for lunch, and of course beer for dinner.
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Everyone drinks beer.
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Always.
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Not necessarily because of the alcohol, it contained little anyways, but because it tastes better than water.
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The average British drinks 3 liters a day, including children.
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In the 16th century a hot black drink from the Middle East amazes Europeans.
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It looks different than beer, it tastes different than beer, and it has a different effect than beer.
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Coffee drinkers are soon seen as productive and bourgeois, whereas beer drinkers are considered lazy and comfortable.
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In 1700, there were already 3 ,000 coffee houses in London.
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Trade, literature, science, and philosophy flourished there.
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Some historians even claim that the Age of Enlightenment and industrialization would not have been possible without coffee.
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Meanwhile, coffee is an extremely controversial topic at the time.
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Charles II, believes that his people could plan his coup while hooked on coffee.
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He therefore bans all coffee houses.
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The public outcry is so great that he revokes the ban just a few days later.
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Frederick the Great bans coffee roasters, to combat the flourishing black market, the Prussian king hires 400 so -called "coffee sniffers" to track down illegal coffee roasters.
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The ban is lifted immediately after his death, No caffeine ban in history was successful in the long run.
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The world's largest beverage manufacturer of today also made sure of this.
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Coca -Cola was invented by a pharmacist called John Pemberton.
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It was initially advertised as a medicine.
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It's said to cure headaches, hysteria, and melancholy.
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But above all, Coca -Cola does one thing: It wakes you up because it contains cocaine and caffeine.
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Coca -Cola soon has to remove the cocaine, but it still contains caffeine, plenty of it.
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At the beginning of the 20th century, the drink has as much caffeine as today's energy drinks.
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Caffeine has been the enemy of one man from the very beginning, Harvey Washington Wiley.
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He's the head of the Bureau of Chemistry, the predecessor of the powerful Food and Drug Administration.
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"He cannot believe that children as young as four are drinking cola." In his opinion, the substance is just as addictive as opium.
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He declares war on Coca -Cola and orders the FBI to confiscate a shipment of the evil drink.
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A spectacular court case develops that will pave the way for caffeinated drinks forever the entire United States is watching.
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The soon to be most powerful government in the world against the soon to be largest beverage manufacturer in the world.
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Coca -Cola.
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Wiley and his office call more than 20 witnesses, including doctors, scientists, and regular coke drinkers.
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In their closing statement, They confidently say: Caffeine is a dangerous drug that could be even regarded as poisonous.
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Coca -Cola quickly commissions the study itself, as there are virtually no caffeine studies on humans at the time, They hire a young psychologist, give him a lot of money,
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and have him carry out a number of experiments in just a few weeks.
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The young scientist delivers exonerating results.
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His conclusion in court: Caffeine is harmless.
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Even better, caffeine has a physical and mental performance enhancing effect.
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Jackpot.
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Coca -Cola wins.
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Later, however, there is an out -of -court settlement and Coca -Cola reduces its caffeine content.
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But what remains in the public eye is that Coca -Cola won,
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and caffeine is a wonder drug with no side effects and so begins a century of unrestrained caffeine consumption.
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In the USA, black filter coffee and caffeinated soft drinks initially take off.
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Then, in the 90s, Starbucks overtakes the drip coffee.
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The recipe for success?
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A roast that makes the coffee taste less bitter.
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Sugar, cream, and very large portions with a matching amount of caffeine.
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And just when people thought there couldn't be any more caffeine and sugar in a drink, energy drinks entered the scene.
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In 1987, the first Red Bull can is launched on the market.
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Ten years later, there are countless suppliers who outdo each other with larger cans and even more caffeine.
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In some cases there are even 700ml cans.
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Before you realize it, it's 2024 and caffeine is everywhere, an industry worth hundreds of billions.
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It's been a hundred years since Coca -Cola's court case, and in the meantime, it became evident that the wonder drug may have a few side effects after all.
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First of all, caffeine is not a dangerous evil drug.
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It does not ruin lives or destroy families.
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Although there are cases of caffeine poisoning, emergency room visits and even deaths, These are extremely rare.
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According to experts, adults can safely drink a caffeine equivalent of four cups of coffee or two monster energy drinks every day.
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As a teenager, about half as much or even just a quarter.
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That's only considering the caffeine.
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Monster energy is of course super unhealthy, we wouldn't recommend drinking one monster a day.
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Some people are particularly sensitive to caffeine.
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Their heart might start to race or they break out in a sweat after just one cup of coffee.
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This is genetically determined.
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Others can still seem to sleep like a baby after a double espresso for dessert.
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The dosage one can take is individual.
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But even with harmless amounts of caffeine, There are hidden dangers.
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In one experiment, scientists gave test subjects a soft drink with a new flavor.
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One with caffeine, one without.
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They didn't know which was which.
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The one with caffeine was the clear favorite.
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Although the caffeine level in Coca -Cola is so low, it still has a noticeable effect.
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You know, at a lower level, caffeine just sort of makes you feel good.
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It gives you a little bit of a boost.
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And even this small boost makes us choose the caffeinated soft drink more frequently.
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You might not even notice that subtle boost, but you will be more likely to pick up
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that product again than say an uncaffeinated product that didn't make you feel good.
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This is Murray Carpenter, journalist and author of the book "Caffeinated".
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Our body likes caffeine so much that it unconsciously favors almost anything with added caffeine.
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In one experiment, Participants even loved caffeinated yogurt over decaf yogurt.
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Caffeine can definitely be physically addictive, according to Dr. Roland Griffiths one of the leading researchers in the field.
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The drug that more people in the world are dependent on is caffeine.
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But it's the world's most widely used mood -altering drug,
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and it turns out that it does produce physical and psychological dependence.
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According to Griffiths, the mild addiction develops even with small daily doses, a small cup of coffee every day.
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This little addiction pays off for the industry.
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Eight of the ten most popular soft drinks in the US have added caffeine.
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Caffeine unconsciously leads people to consume more sugar, and sugar is quite unhealthy.
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Coca -Cola claims that they need caffeine for the flavor of their coke.
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In fact, bitter substances can round off the flavor.
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But you could also use many other bitter substances for this.
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Perhaps one that is not addictive, even in small quantities.
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Scientific blind tastings have also shown that the vast majority of people cannot taste caffeine and Coca -Cola.
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Nonetheless, the beverage conglomerate sticks to the taste argument.
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I think when Coca -Cola has said that, I would have to say it's disingenuous because Coca -Cola scientists know full well,
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everything that we know about caffeine.
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Energy drinks have just as much sugar as coke, but roughly three times as much caffeine.
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For most adults, this is not a problem if they don't overdo it.
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In Europe however, two out of three teenagers and even one in five children consume energy drinks.
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In the US, one in three teenagers consumes energy drinks.
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Minors tolerate caffeine much worse than adults and are much more sensitive.
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Studies show that too much energy drink can have harmful side effects for young people.
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Then there were adverse effects of young, healthy, young, young, young people.
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Like Herzrasen, anxiety, nervousness.
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and also changes in the EKG.
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There is evidence that long -term energy during consumption can lead to cardiovascular problems among children and adolescents.
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Unfortunately, however, there are still no conclusive studies on this.
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Consumer advocates and pediatrician associations are demanding stricter rules.
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such as a complete ban on advertising energy drinks to teenagers and children.
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These dangers of caffeinated drinks have not been taken seriously for a long time.
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thanks in part to the multi -million dollar lobbying efforts of soft drink and energy drink companies.
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One of the most important lobby groups is the American Beverage Association, which was founded in 1919.
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Behind it are Coca -Cola, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper and many others.
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They fund scientists who confirm their views on caffeine and sugar, For example, the group argues against stricter regulation of energy drinks for children and teenagers.
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Lobbying, a slight addiction, and above all, the awakening performance enhancing effect.
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All of this contributed to the massive success of caffeine.
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Why should we question a miracle drug that allows us to become more productive within a few minutes?
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Caffeine is perfect for the hyper -fast, performance -oriented times we live in.
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But it's also a time in which it's become increasingly difficult for many people to calm down and relax.
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It's easy to forget, but physical and mental rest and recovery are extremely important for our well -being.
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And caffeine actively opposes it, to some extent.
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Caffeine blocks the absorption of the neurotransmitter adenosine.
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Adenosine tells us that we are tired.
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On caffeine, we do not receive this message.
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The body wants to rest, but we feel awake.
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For quite some time, actually.
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About 5 hours after a cup of coffee, half of the caffeine we consumed is still in our body.
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After 12 hours, a quarter of the dose is still in our system.
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latte at 2 p .m., you'll still have an equivalent of half a can of Red Bull in your system at 2 a .m.
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Caffeine makes you fall asleep later and wakes you up earlier.
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it also destroys your deep sleep, the sleep phase that is most important for recovery and restoration for the next day.
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We wake up tired in the morning even though we have slept for a solid 7 -8 hours.
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And what helps against tiredness in the morning?
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"Ah shit, here we go again." Coffee is often the solution to the problem it has created.
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People drink coffee in the morning to compensate for their coffee -induced sleep deficit.
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"You can get into a sort of vicious cycle with caffeine for sure." Temporary coffee withdrawal is easy for most people.
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But there are still withdrawal symptoms.
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These include headaches, tiredness, mood swings, and concentration difficulties.
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They can occur after just 12 hours and last for 5 -7 days.
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A few years ago, caffeine withdrawal was included as a mental disorder, and the diagnostic management of caffeine was included in the hospital of American Psychiatrists.
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Several studies suggest that people with a high caffeine consumption are more prone to long -term fatigue.
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For the same wakening effect, they need to consume more and more caffeine.
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Experts recommend: Eliminating caffeine, say six or seven hours before bedtime seems to be a very good habit.
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Caffeine transformed a society of heavy drinkers into a society of wakeful, clear -thinking, productive coffee drinkers.
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Large international corporations use the addictive effect to make liquid sugar even more attractive.
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They disguise, play down, and lobby.
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They also accept the risk of potentially damaging the health of children and young people.
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Today, caffeine is the drug of our time, without any excessive side effects.
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But the subtle undertone of caffeine is always: you don't need to rest when you're tired, just have a coffee.
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But it's more important than ever to listen to the signs
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of fatigue of your own body from time to time and relax.
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Who Is This Video For?
This video is perfect for intermediate to advanced English learners aiming to boost their listening comprehension and expand vocabulary related to science, history, and business. It’s ideal for those preparing for IELTS speaking practice or anyone wanting to learn English with YouTube content that blends storytelling with informative topics. The mix of narrative and factual language helps build fluency in both casual and formal contexts, making it a great fit for learners who want to practice shadowspeak (or shadow speak)—a technique where you repeat phrases aloud to mimic pronunciation and rhythm.
Words & Idioms Worth Stealing
Here are standout expressions from the video, useful for everyday and academic English:
- Adulterated with: Contaminated or mixed with a harmful substance (e.g., "The syrup was adulterated with caffeine").
- Played down: Minimized or made less important (e.g., "Companies played down caffeine’s effects").
- Take for granted: To assume something is always true or available (e.g., "We take caffeine’s presence for granted").
- Unsupervised drug study: A situation where a substance is tested without formal oversight (a vivid phrase for discussions about science or health).
These phrases add depth to your speech, especially in IELTS speaking practice where varied vocabulary is key.
How to Get the Accent Right
The speaker’s tone is calm and conversational, with clear enunciation—great for shadowing practice. Focus on two key areas:
- Stress in multi-syllabic words: Words like "cardiovascular" (car-di-o-VAS-cu-lar) and "dementia" (de-MEN-sha) have stress on specific syllables. Use a shadowing app to repeat these, ensuring you emphasize the correct beats.
- Linking sounds: The speaker often links words, e.g., "a team of FBI agents" becomes "a team uhv FBI agents." Practice this to sound more natural. For shadowspeak, pause the video after short phrases and repeat, matching the rhythm.
Why focus on these? They’re critical for IELTS speaking practice, where pronunciation and fluency are scored. Learning English with YouTube videos like this, paired with a shadowing app, helps you master real-world speech patterns, not just textbook English.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.