Friends, today is truly a day of celebration. Today we honor the beverage that keeps us from falling asleep at the wheel and helps us put on a perky and chipper persona when it’s truly difficult to do so. Today is National Coffee Day and thankfully, a majority of your favorite caffeine jockeys are celebrating. Dunkin Donuts is choosing today to launch a contest that could win you an advertisement and free coffee for a year, Krispy Kreme is offering a free 12 oz. cup of their new House Blend Coffee and Klatch Coffee, located in Southern California, will be offering freebies throughout the day. If you’re weary about drinking a coffee at 7 PM, this is probably the best day to experiment.

If you’ve never heard of National Coffee Day, don’t feel completely out of the loop. While the celebration was discussed in 2005, it only truly gained stride in 2009. Plus, if you’re like me, you’ve been celebrating coffee since the first time you had a cup. Being that coffee intake, on average, is about a third of that of tap water in North America and Europe, I’m sure that most of you probably have a sturdy relationship with it.

But in case you need some more convincing, here are 5 reasons why coffee is great:

1. Caffeine has been associated with being a pretty good antidepressant.  It can elevate your dopamine and seratonin levels, which can truly boost your mood. While serious cases of depression shouldn’t depend on coffee as a sole cure, it’s great if you’re suffering from “the Mondays” or a general case of the blues.

2. Coffee is pretty good for your skin. According to an article from livestrong.com,  caffeine reduces the build-up of blood under your eyes, which help create dark shadows. If you’ve ever heard of the “tea bags over your eyes” way of reducing puffiness, it’s due to the fact that tea contains caffeine.

3. If you think you don’t like coffee, you might be preparing it wrong.  I may have stated that I celebrated my first cup of coffee, but my first sip was pretty terrible. While my Mom was a fan of cream and a tiny bit of sugar, her specific combination – when I was a curious 11-year-old – was just horrendous to me. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized coffee could be made my way. I was also unaware of the amazing creations of hazelnut, mocha, and french vanilla coffee (Or, my personal fall favorite: pumpkin coffee) and feel as if these varieties helped nurture my appreciation of the beverage even more. Especially when I drank it solely for the enjoyment, and not to keep me awake to study for college finals.

4. Coffee is a great social drink. Shows like Friends taught us that your acquaintances don’t necessarily need to be sitting in a bar to have fun. It’s completely reasonable to accompany coffee with a meal, or just a mid-day pick-me-up while you’re catching up with a friend.

5. Because I’m addicted. Coffee is the perfect motivator to start your day. Remember the McDonald’s “Not Without My Coffee” guy commercials? That’s pretty much me. Not only do I need the boost of caffeine, but I like the fact that drinking a cup of coffee is a landmark of my day. That’s the time when I forget all of those weird dreams from last night, have been productive enough to leave the house clean and well dressed, and can truly focus on my tasks for the day. A day without coffee would be a day that’s just incomplete. Sure, it’s been done before, but it’s been difficult. Coffee is a simple, easy joy.

I still haven’t faced the fact that it’s fall and I’m still fully embracing iced coffee as a nice treat for particularly stressful days. Let us know if you celebrated National Coffee Day and your favorite caffeinated beverages!

 Image Credit:  http://www.mundart-zahndesign.de

Karen Belz was born and raised in New Jersey, and is currently living in Lancaster, PA. She gets teased about both locations often, despite never getting a tan or mingling with the Amish. She enjoys writing, sketch comedy shows, and sugar free Red Bull. She has also been told that she can create a killer haiku. You can find her on twitter, at @kittensonvespas
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