Coffee isn't just warm and energizing, it may also be
extremely good for you. In recent years, scientists have studied
the effects of coffee on various aspects of health and their
results have been nothing short of amazing.
Here's why coffee may actually be one of the healthiest beverages
on the planet.
Coffee doesn't just keep you awake, it may literally make you
smarter as well. The active ingredient in coffee is caffeine, which
is a stimulant and the most commonly consumed psychoactive
substance in the world. Caffeine's primary mechanism in the brain
is blocking the effects of an inhibitory neurotransmitter
called Adenosine. By blocking
the inhibitory effects of Adenosine, caffeine actually increases
neuronal firing in the brain and the release of other
neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine (1, 2). Many
controlled trials have examined the effects of caffeine on the
brain, demonstrating that caffeine can improve mood, reaction time,
memory, vigilance and general cognitive function (3).
Bottom Line:
Caffeine potently blocks an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the
brain, leading to a net stimulant effect. Controlled trials show
that caffeine improves both mood and brain function.
There's a good reason why you will find caffeine in most commercial
fat burning supplements. Caffeine, partly due to its stimulant
effect on the central nervous system, both raises metabolism and
increases the oxidation of fatty acids (4, 5, 6).
Caffeine can also improve athletic performance by several
mechanisms, including by mobilizing fatty acids from the fat
tissues (7, 8). In two
separate meta-analyses, caffeine was found to increase exercise
performance by 11-12% on average (9, 10).
Bottom Line:
Caffeine raises the metabolic rate and helps to mobilize fatty
acids from the fat tissues. It can also enhance physical
performance.
Type II diabetes is a lifestyle-related disease that has reached
epidemic proportions, having increased 10-fold in a few decades and
now afflicting about 300 million people. This disease is
characterized by high blood glucose levels due to insulin
resistance or an inability to produce insulin. In observational
studies, coffee has been repeatedly associated with a lower risk of
diabetes. The reduction in risk ranges from 23% all the way up to
67% (11, 12, 13, 14).
A massive review article looked at 18 studies with a total of
457,922 participants. Each additional cup of coffee per day lowered
the risk of diabetes by 7%. The more coffee people drank, the lower
their risk (15).
Bottom Line:
Drinking coffee is associated with a drastically reduced risk of
type II diabetes. People who drink several cups per day are the
least likely to become diabetic.
Not only can coffee make you smarter in the short term, it may also
protect your brain in old age. Alzheimer's disease is the most
common neurodegenerative disorder in the world and a leading cause
of dementia. In prospective studies, coffee drinkers have up to a
60% lower risk of Alzheimer's and dementia (16, 17, 18).
Parkinson's is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder,
characterized by death of dopamine-generating neurons in the brain.
Coffee may lower the risk of Parkinson's by 32-60% (19, 20, 21, 22).
Bottom Line: Coffee
is associated with a much lower risk of dementia and the
neurodegenerative disorders Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
The liver is a remarkable organ that carries out hundreds of vital
functions in the body. It is very vulnerable to modern insults such
as excess consumption of alcohol and fructose. Cirrhosis is
the end stage of liver damage caused by diseases like alcoholism
and hepatitis, where liver tissue has been largely replaced by scar
tissue. Multiple studies have shown that coffee can lower the risk
of cirrhosis by as much as 80%, the strongest effect for those who
drank 4 or more cups per day (23, 24, 25).
Coffee may also lower the risk of liver cancer by around 40%
(26, 27).
Bottom Line: Coffee
appears to be protective against certain liver disorders, lowering
the risk of liver cancer by 40% and cirrhosis by as much as
80%.
Many people still seem to think that coffee is unhealthy. This
isn't surprising though, since it is very common for conventional
wisdom to be at exact odds with what the actual studies say. In two
very large prospective epidemiological studies, drinking coffee was
associated with a lower risk of death by all causes (28). This
effect is particularly profound in type II diabetics, one study
showing that coffee drinkers had a 30% lower risk of death during a
20 year period (29).
Bottom Line: Coffee
consumption has been associated with a lower risk of death in
prospective epidemiological studies, especially in type II
diabetics.
Coffee isn't just black water. Many of the nutrients in the coffee
beans do make it into the final drink, which actually contains a
decent amount of vitamins and minerals.
A cup of coffee contains (30):
6% of the RDA for Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5).
11% of the RDA for Riboflavin (Vitamin B2).
2% of the RDA for Niacin (B3) and Thiamine (B1).
3% of the RDA for Potassium and Manganese.
May not seem like much, but if you drink several cups of coffee per
day then this quickly adds up.
But this isn't all. Coffee also contains a massive amount of
antioxidants. In fact, coffee is the biggest source of antioxidants
in the western diet, outranking both fruits and vegetables combined
(31, 32, 33).
Bottom Line: Coffee
contains a decent amount of several vitamins and minerals. It is
also the biggest source of antioxidants in the modern diet.
Even though coffee in moderate amounts is good for you,
drinking way too
much of it can still be harmful. I'd also like to point
out that many of the studies above were epidemiological in nature.
Such studies can only show association, they can not prove that coffee
caused the effects. To make sure to preserve the health benefits,
don't put sugar or anything nasty in your coffee! If it tends to
affect your sleep, then don't drink it after 2pm. At the end of the
day, it does seem quite clear that coffee is NOT the villain it was
made out to be. If anything, coffee may literally be the healthiest
beverage on the planet.
Why is
Coffee Good For You? Here are 7 Reasons | Authority
Nutrition
Kristjan
Gunnarsson is a medical student, professional blogger, certified
personal trainer and a fitness and health enthusiast. His main
passions in life are health and nutrition and he contributes to
Authority Nutrition every week, with fresh ideas on weight loss,
nutrition, and the things that are required to gain optimal
health.
