Scotsman.com News - International - One coffee a day can make you an addict

AS LITTLE as one cup of coffee a day can result in caffeine addiction, according to new research.

While the United States sitcom Friends has served to popularise coffee shops like never before, with consumers following the lead of Jennifer Aniston et al with their regular meetings in the Central Perk, it has emerged that the drink is far more addictive than was previously thought.

Scientists who conducted the study are predicting that more and more people will exhibit "withdrawal" symptoms if they do not receive their morning fix.

Roland Griffiths, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the American University in Washington, who led a review of 170 years of caffeine studies, said: "Caffeine is the world’s most commonly used stimulant, and it’s cheap and readily available."

As a result of the research, Prof Griffiths is now pressing for caffeine addiction to be included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, widely considered the bible of mental disorders.

He said: "The latest research demonstrates that when people don’t get their usual dose they can suffer a range of withdrawal symptoms, including headache, fatigue and difficulty concentrating. They may even feel like they have the flu, with nausea and muscle pain."

Prof Griffiths and his colleagues looked at 57 experimental studies and nine surveys to validate what any coffee drinker could have told them - that missing a morning cup can cause grumpiness, lethargy and severe headaches. Experiments showed that 50 per cent of people got headaches when their coffee was taken away, and 13 per cent were sick enough to lose time at work.

The average daily intake of caffeine in the UK is about 280 milligrams per person per day, equivalent to one to two cups of coffee, or three to five cans of soft drink.

Confirmation of caffeine’s potency will be good news for leading coffee shop outlets, including Starbucks, Caffe Nero, Costa and Pret a Manger, which largely control a market worth more than £400 million.

The latest research by Mintel, a consumer information company, predicts that the branded coffee-shop market will see a growth of more than £150 million in the next three years, taking the total spend to £573 million by 2007.

As one analyst put it: "Barring a major coffee health scare, or collapse in consumer spending, there is no way the sector is going to run out of steam."

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