Tis’ the Season to Start Cramming

It’s that time of year again – midnight studying, endless coffees, and energy drinks to keep us awake during the most stressful time of the season! When preparing for finals, choose organic coffee and energy drinks to avoid harmful pesticides and preservatives.

Energy drinks contain sodium benzonate, a widely used preservative, that can combine with vitamin C to result in a carcinogen called benzene. Equally concerning is their packaging. Energy drinks are sold primarily in cans lined with BPA, which can leach into the product and enter your system. To prevent this, choose products packaged in glass. Iced coffees and teas with caffeine can also be purchased in glass bottles. If choosing the hot stuff, drink out of cardboard and avoid the #6 plastic top to avoid potential styrene leaching.

So keep up the hard work; just be sure to make healthy choices along the way! For finals week, let’s try to keep our grades up and chemical exposure down.