Various Coffee Benefits You Need to Know
What is the first thing you think of when you hear about coffee? Lifesaver? Day booster? Or probably, your guilty pleasure? Despite the popular belief that this brown liquid of goodness is a boost for your heavy eyes, it is more than that. It actually is good for your health. Coffee lowers your risk of liver cancer, type 2 diabetes, liver disease, maintaining heart health, and many others.
Coffee is the glue that holds you together on some days (or.. most days?). It transforms you from a zombie into a human first thing in the morning, cheers you in the afternoon, and keeps you going for hours in between.
But, have you ever thought, “Is coffee really good for me?”
You can relax and release your tension. This popular caffeinated liquid actually offers several benefits. Just in case you need to be reminded to cater your caffeine intake, continue reading to see how much coffee you should limit yourself to, the benefits of coffee, and so on.
Is Drinking Coffee Good For Your Health?
It actually is. But with a moderate amount of caffeine intake. An article in Discover mentioned that moderate amounts of coffee (about 2-5 cups a day) can lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, liver and endometrial cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and depression. In fact, it is possible for people who consume coffee to reduce the risk of premature death, although it is not yet clear exactly what role it plays in our lives.
Nutrition Source In Coffee
Coffee is the source of:
- Caffeine
- Magnesium
- Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
- Polyphenols (includes chlorogenic acid and quinic acid)
- Diterpenes (includes cafestol and kahweol)
Coffee is perhaps best known for this natural stimulant - caffeine - which gives people energy and keeps them alert throughout the day. Caffeine binds to adenosine receptors, which normally make you sleepy, and reduces its depressant effects.
Drinking coffee does more than merely wake you up. It improves memory, mood, response time, and mental function by acting on the brain. Caffeine can also improve workout endurance and performance.
It also contains Magnesium and Vitamin B2.
Other than those, polyphenols (a form of antioxidant) are also found in coffee beans. Antioxidants can aid in the prevention of free radical damage to the body. Free radicals are a sort of waste that the human body creates naturally as a result of several activities.
Inflammation can be caused by free radicals, which behave as poisons in the body. Inflammation has been linked to numerous features of metabolic syndrome, including type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Is It Okay To Drink Coffee Every Day?
If you are a coffee drinker, nothing is more important than how to prepare your coffee. Experts find that coffee brewed using filter paper is the preferred method of preparation. Other methods of making coffee, including espresso, French press, or boiled Turkish, are considered "unfiltered", even if they are filtered through a metal filter.
Unfiltered coffee is associated with higher mortality rates and can contain compounds called diterpenes that increase levels of LDL, or LDL, cholesterol.
While it might be tempting to assume that coffee's health benefits apply to Starbucks' signature drink, it often doesn't.
But, why?
Well, apparently, Starbucks or Dunkin’ is not just serving “coffee”.
The benefits mentioned below will be referred to as coffee in its simplest form, such as drip coffee, Chem-X or poured with only a little amount of cream or added sugar—not Frappuccinos with extra whipped cream or Caramel macchiato. Drinks like these contain a lot of added sugar and calories. However, drinking regular coffee instead of these sugary drinks, or other beverages such as soda or juice, has a positive effect on health.
Also read: How Much Coffee is Too Much? 8 Side Effects of Caffeine
Health Benefits of Coffee
Coffee is a complex mixture of more than a thousand chemicals. What sets a coffee apart is the type of bean used, how it's roasted, how much is ground, and how it's brewed. Human responses to caffeine can also vary greatly between individuals.
Low to moderate doses of caffeine (50-300 mg) can increase alertness, energy, and the ability to focus, while higher doses can have negative effects such as anxiety, restlessness, restlessness, and increased heart rate. However, cumulative research on coffee shows a trend of potential health benefits of drinking coffee. Do the benefits come from the caffeine or the plant compounds found in coffee beans?
Let's discover those benefits below.
1. Lower The Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
In 2014, researchers who collected data on more than 48,000 people found that those who increased their coffee consumption by at least one cup per day for 4 years had an 11% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who did not increase their coffee intake.
A 2017 meta-analysis concluded that people who drink 4 to 6 cups of caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee per day appear to be less likely to develop metabolic syndrome, including type 2 diabetes.
2. Protect Against Neurodegenerative Disease
Various studies show that caffeine may protect you from Parkinson's disease.
One group concluded that men who drink more than four cups of coffee per day may have a five times lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease than those who did not.
The results of a 2017 meta-analysis showed an association between coffee consumption and a lower risk of Parkinson's disease, even among people who smoke. The team also found that coffee drinkers were less likely to develop depression and cognitive conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.
However, there is not enough evidence to prove that drinking decaffeinated coffee helps prevent this disease.
3. Reduce The Risk of Some Variant of Cancer
Coffee drinkers had a lower risk of liver cancer and colon cancer, two of the world's top causes of cancer deaths.
Coffee can affect how cancer develops, from the onset of cancer cells to their death. For example, coffee can stimulate the production of bile acids and speed up digestion through the colon, reducing the number of carcinogens exposed to colon tissue.
Various polyphenols found in coffee have been shown to inhibit the growth of cancer cells in animal studies. Coffee has also been linked to lower levels of estrogen, a hormone linked to some types of cancer. Caffeine itself can interfere with the growth and spread of cancer cells.
4. Other Liver Disease
There are a lot of studies that find the link between coffee with liver diseases
People who drink coffee may also have a lower risk of developing gallstones. Caffeine or coffee components have been proposed to reduce gallstone development in a variety of ways. Cholesterol is the most prevalent cause of gallstones. Coffee may help prevent cholesterol crystals from developing in the gallbladder. It may cause gallbladder spasms and increased bile flow, preventing cholesterol from accumulating.
For ten years, a study of 46,008 men followed the development of gallstones and their coffee use. After accounting for other known causes of gallstones, the researchers discovered that men who drank coffee on a regular basis were considerably less likely to acquire gallstones than men who did not.
5. Heart Health
One to two cups of coffee a day can help prevent heart failure, which occurs when a weak heart is unable to pump enough blood to the body.
Caffeine consumption may have at least some benefits for cardiovascular health, including blood pressure. In a 2018 study, researchers found that drinking three to five cups of coffee per day can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 15%. Drinking one to five cups per day also appears to be associated with lower overall mortality from any cause.
For people who have experienced a heart attack, drinking coffee does not appear to increase the risk of having another heart attack or death as a result.
Drinking at least one cup of coffee each day is linked to a decreased risk of stroke, the fourth-largest cause of death among women.
6. Decrease The Risk of Depression
There was evidence of a linear relationship between coffee consumption and depression, with each cup per day increase in coffee intake lowering the risk of depression by 8%. And when caffeine consumption was between 68 and 509 mg/day, the risk of depression reduced quicker and the link became substantial.
7. Mortality
A link was discovered between moderate coffee consumption and a decreased risk of early mortality in a large cohort of over 200,000 individuals followed for up to 30 years. Those who drank 3 - 5 cups of coffee per day were 15% less likely than non-drinkers to die young from all causes, including cardiovascular illness, suicide, and Parkinson's disease.
As we mentioned before, drinking coffee, both caffeinated and decaffeinated, has several benefits. Coffee's bioactive components, according to scientists, may have a role in preventing illness by lowering inflammation and insulin sensitivity.
Consuming more coffee and having a decreased incidence of mortality from all causes in a large prospective cohort of over 500,000 adults monitored for ten years. Those who drank 6 - 7 cups of coffee each day had a 16 percent lower chance of early death than non-drinkers. Those who drank 8 or more cups per day were likewise shown to be at a lower risk.
Regardless of whether a person had a genetic proneness to quicker or slower caffeine metabolism, the protective effect was still apparent. The benefits of instant coffee and decaf were identical.
8. Helps You With Obesity
Coffee has magnesium and potassium, which aid in the utilization of insulin, blood sugar regulation, and the reduction of sweet and snack cravings.
A 2019 study showed that drinking coffee may have a fair relationship with weight loss, with the association being greater in men than in women. However, these results have not been repeated, so they may not be definitive.
Can Coffee Be Part Of A Healthy Diet?
A recent study found that drinking four cups of coffee a day — without cream and sugar — was associated with nearly a 4% reduction in body fat (yay you!).
It is said that “regular coffee consumption can boost weight loss and better overall health when incorporated into a healthy diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains, less of sugar and artificially sweetened beverages, and also processed and red meat.”
So, can coffee help your diet? Yes, but with a considerable amount every day and supported by other healthy eating habits as mentioned above.
Bottom Line
Even with several concerns of the risk, there are also benefits of coffee.
According to a large number of data and research, caffeinated coffee drinking does not raise the risk of cardiovascular disease or cancer. In fact, drinking 3 to 5 standard cups each day has been linked to a lower risk of numerous chronic illnesses. However, some people may be unable to take larger doses of caffeine owing to restlessness, anxiety, or restlessness.
People who have trouble controlling their blood pressure may wish to cut back on their coffee consumption.
Pregnant women are also advised to consume less than 200 mg of caffeine per day, which is the amount found in two cups of coffee because caffeine crosses the placenta to the fetus and is linked to miscarriage and low birth weight.
Because of the potential negative side effects that some people experience when drinking caffeinated coffee, there is no need to start drinking it if you haven't already or increase the amount you currently drink, as there are many other nutritional strategies to improve your health.
Decaf coffee is a good option if a person is sensitive to caffeine, and according to the research summary above, decaf coffee offers health benefits similar to caffeinated coffee.
It is also important to remember how you enjoyed your drink. The extra calories, sugar, and saturated fat from whipped cream and flavored syrup can offset any health benefits found in regular black coffee.
Also read: Why Do We Need Coffee Break? Here's the Answer!