For centuries Coffee has been enjoyed by people worldwide. Coffee plants are now curated in over 70 countries worldwide in the modern-day ranging across the Americas, Southeast Asia, India, and Africa. It’s one of the most popular beverages and enjoyed by millions of people worldwide. So, there must be some reasons as to why it’s enjoyed by so much.
Should I Drink Coffee?
That’s the question that is most important to someone considering whether to start drinking it or not. There has been much research into the effects that Coffee has. Whether positive or negative there are many factors to consider when looking into the impact of Coffee.
One of the biggest positives of Coffee which most people already know its the effect it can have on your alertness and concentration, Drink an Espresso in the morning and its sure to perk you up. Why else would you spend so much on Starbucks each week? But apart from just making you more alert or giving you that extra few hours to get that project done.
Coffee has deeper effects on the body though. There have been numerous studies that have linked the moderate consumption of Coffee with a lower risk of multiple major diseases. Use of Coffee has been shown to lower the risk of heart failure or stroke. With the most substantial risk reduction when 3 or 4 cups are drunk a day.
Top 5 Health Benefits Of Coffee According To Science
1) Coffee Lowers Risk Of Disease
Coffee has also been shown to lower the risk of diseases in the elderly dramatically. Research suggests that Alzheimer’s, Type 2 Diabetes and Parkinsons are the diseases that even just a couple of cups of Coffee a day can help keep the doctor away.
Let’s take a further look at how Coffee affects these diseases.
✔ Parkinsons
The Journal of Alzheimer’s found in 2010 that people who drink two to three cups of Coffee a day are a quarter less likely to get Parkinson’s that those who don’t drink Coffee
✔ Alzheimer’s
In another study, drinking Coffee in the middle was linked to around a 65% drop in the chance of getting Alzheimers or Dementia in later life.
✔ Type 2 Diabetes
The Harvard School of Public Health has shown that people who increased the amount of Coffee they drank by more than one cup a day over a four year period, had an 11 % lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who made no changes to their coffee intake.
✔ Your Liver Loves Coffee
Liver disease has been growing in the Western World. Primarily due to excess alcohol, calorie, and fat intake. Studies have shown that coffee drinkers have a 25-30 percent less chance of developing liver disease than non-coffee drinkers.
2) Coffee Can Aid Weightloss
There is much debate around the effect of Coffee on weight loss, but the most potent of all the impact of Coffee on weight loss is that it can act as an appetite suppressant. There’s a reason that if you drink a morning coffee, you may not feel hungry for a while afterward.
Coffee contains compounds known as chlorogenic acids. These acids have been found to control hunger and suppress appetite. Chlorogenic is also found in apples, pears, and artichokes and similar effects have been noted.
Another area where Coffee can affect weight loss is the relationship between Caffeine and metabolism. In short, Caffeine can speed up your metabolism which increases the rate as to which you can burn calories. You may know some people who use Coffee as a pre-workout before they head to the gym, now you’ll know why. Not only does Caffeine increase alertness but also speeding up your metabolism can help with the rate in which you burn calories.
3) Coffee Helps Your Heart
According to a Japanese Study involving more than 76,000 participants men who drank one to two cups of Coffee a day reduced their chances of cardiovascular disease by up to 38 %. In a study conducted in the US, researchers determined that for every 8-ounce cup of coffee participants consumed the risk of heart failure, stroke, and coronary heart disease was reduced by 7%, 8% and 5%, respectively, compared to those who did not drink Coffee.
Of course, just drinking Coffee alone isn’t enough to ignore other factors surrounding the health of the heart, so be sure to enjoy Coffee as part of a healthy, active lifestyle.
4) Coffee Can Reduce Your Risk Of Getting Cancer
Coffee contains many proactive compounds, and there have been any studies conducted which have linked coffee consumption with lowering your risk of getting cancer. Early studies had linked coffee consumption with a higher risk of cancer, but since then more extensive and more in-depth studies have suggested that this isn’t the case.
These findings correlate to numerous types of cancer. Coffee has been linked to reducing numerous types of breast cancer. One study highlighted that Coffee is linked to reducing the chances of postmenopausal breast cancer. Further research has pointed to coffee consumption reduced the risk of estrogen-receptor-negative breast cancer by 57 percent.
Studies have also shown coffee consumption to be linked with lowering the chances of getting prostate and liver cancer. A 2005 study showed that men and women who consumed Coffee daily or almost daily had a lower risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) compared to those who didn’t drink Coffee.
5) Coffee Can Help With Depression
A longitudinal study conducted of over 50,000 women demonstrated that the consumption of caffeinated Coffee. The most significant decrease in risk was found in women who drank four or more cups a day.
Researchers at Qingdao University Medical College in China carried out a meta-analysis of 15 previous studies into the correlation of consuming Coffee on depression. The results published in March 2016 suggest that there was a reduced risk of developing depression of up to eight percent on average per cup per day.
Is Coffee Healthy?
The antioxidants found in Coffee have been found to have numerous benefits, particularly in reducing inflammation. The founder of Bulletproof Coffee, Dave Asprey has spoken at length of the positive effects of these antioxidants. Coffee has been found to contain more antioxidant activity than green tea and cocoa.
Dave states Studies show that Coffee is extremely rich in antioxidants, such as hydrocinnamic acids and polyphenols to name a few,” says Asprey. “These specific antioxidants are especially efficient at neutralizing free radicals and preventing oxidative stress.”
A free radical is an uncharged molecule. Having too many of these free radicals in the body can cause inflammation. If inflammation is high in the body, then these free radicals can activate numerous disease processes and the multiple antioxidants in coffee work well at reducing the number of free radicals in the body. This reduces inflammation, which in turn helps to prevent disease.
A study in Austria has also shown that Caffeine can also have a positive effect on boosting short-term memory boost. A group of volunteers received a dose of 100 milligrams of Caffeine which is about the same amount as in a standard cup of Coffee. Researchers found a surge in brain activity as they performed a memory task. What this shows is that Caffeine appears to affect the areas of the brain responsible for memory and concentration, which help to provide a boost to short-term memory.
How Safe or Beneficial Is Coffee?
Coffee is safe for most adults. Despite the many positive effects of drinking coffee, you should also be aware of the reasons as to why Coffee should be enjoyed in moderation. If you know you are particularly sensitive to caffeine, then consider enjoying decaf coffee or tea. If you enjoy coffee in moderation, then there are tonnes of different varieties and strengths that you can enjoy.
You probably know two different types of people; those who swear by Coffee and couldn’t imagine living without it, and those who won’t drink it because of the mood it can put them in.
It’s important to remember that Coffee is a stimulant and everyone reacts differently to stimulants. Some people can drink lot’s of Coffee in a day and not feel any different, whereas some people can’t drink it at all for the effect that it will have. Whether that’s giving them the jitters or an increased sense of anxiety, it’s essential to know how sensitive you are to Coffee before indulging in it.
As with everything health related, seek professional advice if you’re looking for individual information. You should also avoid drinking Coffee before bed. It’s recommended that you don’t consume Coffee up to 6 hours before you head to sleep. It’s been shown that even consuming Coffee six hours before you head to sleep can wreak havoc on your ability to sleep at night, with sleep being affected by up to one hour when drinking Coffee up to 6 hours before going to sleep.
Coffee Side Effects – How Coffee Affects Anxiety and Sleep
Any stimulant can raise your heart rate and anxiety levels. Because Caffeine is so widely available and is in a lot of products we consume, it is easy to forget that it is a stimulant and should be treated as one. It’s important to consider the effects of Caffeine on yourself personally, and then you can make the correct decision as to how much Coffee to enjoy.
Caffeine can have the positive effects of making you more alert and improving concentration levels, but it can also mess with your bodies natural anxiety levels. Anxiety is our bodies initial response to situations where we feel threatened or that our safety is at risk; it promotes our ‘fight or flight’ response. The problem with Caffeine is that it also encourages this response, and it can lead you to overreact to situations which aren’t threatening. Caffeine can also make you irritable, disrupt a healthy sleeping pattern and also make an existing anxiety disorder worse.
If you’re not sure how Caffeine affects you, then experiment. Have a small cup of Coffee and monitor how it makes you feel. If you decide that you don’t want to consume Coffee, you can always drink decaf coffee and still enjoy the great taste.
As described above Coffee can disrupt your typical sleeping pattern. Once Caffeine enters your body, it can take up to six hours for half of that Caffeine to be eliminated. Caffeine is also linked to physical dependence, and withdrawal can lead to headaches, fatigue and muscle pain.
So once again it’s really important to enjoy Coffee in moderation, and if you enjoy a few cups a day, you should be fine, be sure not to drink it too late in the day.
Is Coffee Good For You?
Coffee, on the whole, has plenty of positive health effects for the body. With all the research that has been conducted into coffee, then there’s no reason that you shouldn’t be able to responsibly enjoy it and enjoy all the benefits. Coffee is definitely not bad for you.
Like most things, Coffee should be enjoyed in moderation. Millions of people enjoy it around the world as part of a healthy diet. The bottom line should be to listen to your body. If you feel like your sensitive to Coffee and it induces anxiety in you then don’t drink it. But in moderation, you should be able to enjoy the many benefits of drinking coffee without not being able to sleep or feeling anxious.
This guide should have given you sufficient information so that you can continue to enjoy the liquid gold that is Coffee in a safe and fulfilling way!
Hi my name is Larry, a coffee aficionado from the US. I have already visited Colombia, Sumatra, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ethiopia and Jamaica in my pursuit of finding the best-tasting coffee beans. I currently write from Bali and enjoy the relaxed life that you can only find in Canggu. Welcome to my coffee world!
