(3/23/99)

Good news for those of you who can't make it through the day without a few cups of coffee. A new study says a moderate amount of caffeine is not addictive. News Specialist Shelley Osterloh has more.

The study concludes that caffeine has little effect on your health. It says drinking up to three cups of coffee a day doesn't do anything to the part of the brain that causes addiction.

Steve Schmidt says, "I classify my days as one cup starters. Two cup starters. Three cup starters. I like coffee."

Jessica Clark tells us, "I have at least a couple cups every morning and I drink it also throughout the day."

For Donna Butcher, "I enjoy a cup in the morning, one at lunch and one after school, so it probably is addictive."

But we found that news of the study brought little comfort to some Salt Lake coffee drinkers. Clark says, "I definitely think it is addictive. I drink so much coffee in a day and if I don't have it in the morning, it's all over. I can't function."

Butcher agrees, "If i don't have that cup of coffee I get a headache, after a while in the morning."

But none of our subjects seemed worried that their coffee was hurting them.

Schmidt says, "It's really the only vice I have left, is my coffee."

"I wouldn't say you get addicted to it, you probably do get a tolerance built up to it." says Tom Hilton.

Our coffee drinkers agree with part of the study that says it might be good for you.

After spending two years testing coffee and caffeine on 30 rodents, one researcher found that moderate consumption boosted energy. "I guess, yeah a lot of times probably in the morning, it gets me going and makes me feel good," Hilton says.

According to Schmidt, "It doesn't keep me up at night. I just enjoy the taste of it. I think it's relaxing to some degree to sit and sip a cup of coffee."

One thing to note - the study was partly funded by the French coffee industry.