Coffee the most favorite drink of today’s youth. Whether an expresso, latte, Americano, cappuccino, decaf, or frappe, coffee is always a good option.
Either to catch up with an old friend/colleague, read alone in peace or spend hours working on your recent assignment a coffee shop is always the best place to turn to.
Coffee has become a part of the daily routine of many people.
So, it is very important to know what exactly is it that you are consuming with such love and dedication? Whether it is good for you or not?
Or is it just a trend followed by everyone and has lured you into it too? Does coffee have any health benefits?
Does coffee have any negative effects? What kind of coffee should I consume? How much would coffee consumption not lead to addiction?
These must be some of the questions in your mind and I have tried to answer many of your queries below!
Table of Contents
Coffee – The Most Popular Brewed Drink
Coffee is a brewed drink prepared by using roasted coffee beans, which are seeds of berries from the Coffea plant.
The Coffea was initially native to Africa and surrounding regions/countries but was later exported to about 70 countries mostly equatorial and tropical regions to be grown there too.
The most commonly grown varieties are the highly regarded ‘Arabica’, and the stronger and more hardy but less sophisticated ‘Robusta’.
When the coffee berries ripe, they are picked, processed and dried. These dried berries are known as Beans which are roasted to varying degrees.
Roasted beans are ground and brewed in boiling water to produce the beverage coffee. Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world.
It is prepared and presented/served in a variety of ways like espresso, French press, latte, cappuccino and many more. It is either served hot or cold (commonly known as frappe).
Coffee is slightly acidic and can have a stimulating effect on the human body due to its caffeine content.
Clinical researchers show that moderate consumption of coffee is benign or has a mildly beneficial effect on adults, with continuing research on whether long-term consumption lowers the risk of some forms of cancer or inhibits cognitive decline during ageing.
Difference Between Regular Coffee And Decaffeinated Coffee
Some people choose decaffeinated coffee instead of regular. Decaffeinated coffee is usually made by rinsing the coffee beans with solvent chemicals.
Each time this is done, caffeine dissolves in the solvent by some percentage and this process is repeated until most of the caffeine has been removed.
But, it’s important to keep in mind the fact that decaffeinated coffee does contain some caffeine the difference being that it is just much less than regular coffee.
Black Coffee
It is coffee with no added sugar, milk or cream. Black coffee is low in fat and calories. It supplies a wealth of antioxidants that are very helpful in protecting your health.
A few risks have been recently linked to drinking huge amounts of black coffee, but many have assured that you can safely drink a cup of coffee every morning.
Health Benefits Of Coffee
A cup of coffee in the morning is believed to be associated with more than just an energy boost. Many new types of research are emerging to suggest that there may be many health benefits linked with drinking coffee, the dark black beverage, from helping to lower the risk of liver disease to preventing diabetes.
Coffee is loaded with beneficial nutrients and antioxidants that can significantly improve your health.
1. Coffee Helps Burn Fat
Numerous studies show that caffeine is able to boost the metabolic rate of the human body by 3-11%. Thus, many times helps in weight loss.
Other studies say that caffeine is responsible for specifically increasing the burning of fat, by as much as 29% in lean people and 10% in obese individuals.
But, it is a possibility that these effects will diminish in long-term coffee drinkers.
2. Caffeine Can Improve Your Physical Performance
Caffeine is a stimulant of the nervous system, causing it to signal the fat cells to break down body fat. It also triggers the release of adrenaline (the fight and flight hormone) which prepares our body for an intense workout. On an average, it can increase your physical performance by 11-12%.
3. Coffee Can Increase Metabolic Rate
How many calories we burn at rest is called Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). The higher the metabolic rate the easier it is for us to lose weight.
Many studies show that caffeine can increase the metabolic rate by 3-11%, with larger doses having an even greater effect.
But an important fact to note is that caffeine can boost an increase in fat burning and the metabolic rate in the short term, but after some time, it stops working as people become tolerant to the effects.
4. Coffee Contains Essential Nutrients
Coffee is more than just black water. A number of the nutrients in the coffee beans are incorporated into the final drink.
One cup of coffee contains:
- Vitamin B5: 6% of the RDA.
- Vitamin B3 (Magnesium and Niacin): 2% of the RDA.
- Manganese and Potassium: 3% of the RDA.
- Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin): 11% of the RDA.
Even though this doesn’t seem a lot but people drinking 3-4 cups daily can consume a good number of nutrients.
5. Coffee Can Improve Your Energy Levels And Make You Smarter
Coffee contains the psychoactive substance, which is a stimulant known as caffeine.
After you drink coffee, the bloodstream absorbs caffeine. And then, traveling into the brain, caffeine becomes responsible for the blocking of an inhibitory neurotransmitter called Adenosine.
This being the reason, the number of other neurotransmitters like epinephrine, dopamine, and norepinephrine increases, leading to better working of neurons.
6. Coffee May Lower Your Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes
Diabetes is a huge problem currently affecting about 300 million of the world’s population.
For some reason, coffee drinkers have a significantly reduced risk of having type 2 diabetes.
Few studies show that people drinking more coffee have a 23-50% lower risk of getting this disease.
7. Coffee May Protect You From Alzheimer’s Disease And Dementia
Alzheimer’s is the most common neurodegenerative disorder and it is the main cause of dementia. The affected age group is that of above 65 years of age. Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s has no known cure. Yet, there are many things you can do to prevent the disease.
This includes advice for exercising and eating healthy, but drinking coffee may be amazingly effective as well. A number of studies show a 65% lower risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease for a coffee drinker.
8. Caffeine May Lower The Risk Of Your Parkinson’s
The second most common neurodegenerative disease is Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s being the first one. The death of dopamine-generating neurons in the brain is its cause.
Similarly, there is no known cure, like Alzheimer’s, which makes it very important to focus on prevention. Studies show a much lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, with a reduction range of 32-60% for coffee drinkers.
9. Coffee Has Protective Effects On The Liver
Several common diseases primarily affect the liver, including fatty liver disease, hepatitis, and other liver disorders. Many of these diseases can lead to a serious liver condition, in which the liver has been largely replaced by scar tissue called cirrhosis.
It is also seen that coffee may protect against another liver condition known as cirrhosis. People who drink 4 or more cups per day have up to an 80% lower risk.
10. Coffee Can Fight Depression And Make You Happier
Depression is a major mental issue in today’s world which can significantly reduce the quality of life. In a study published by Harvard in 2011, women had a 20% lower risk of becoming depressed if they drank 4 or more cups per day. Another study found that people drinking 4 or more cups per day were 53% less likely to commit suicide.
11. Coffee Drinkers Have Lower Risk Of Some Type Of Cancers
Cancer is one of the world’s leading cause of death and its characteristics are the uncontrolled growth of cells in the body.
Coffee appears to be protective against two types of cancer, colorectal cancer, and liver cancer. Studies show that coffee drinkers have up to a 40% lower risk of liver cancer.
One study found that those who drank 4-5 cups of coffee per day had a 15% lower risk of colorectal cancer.
12. Coffee Does Not Cause Heart Disease And May Lower The Risk Of Stroke
It is often said that caffeine can increase blood pressure. This is true, but with a very small effect i.e. 3-4 mm/Hg and it mostly goes away if you are a regular coffee drinker.
Some studies show that coffee drinkers have a 20% lower risk of stroke. There is also some studies and evidence that proves that women who drink coffee have a lower risk of heart disease.
13. Coffee May Help You Live Longer
As seen above coffee can prevent the risk of many life-threatening diseases, hence, it may help you live longer.
14. Coffee Benefits For Hair
The health of your hair follicles and hair growth cycle are responsible for the length and quality of your hair. Caffeine stimulates your hair roots, mind and soul.
It is often used as an ingredient in hair care products to improve hair structure and growth.
It has the following hair benefits:
a. Treatment Of Hair Loss
Men mostly experience hair loss due to the male hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which affects susceptible hair follicles. Hence, these hair follicles grow smaller and finally disappear, causing baldness.
Caffeine, when applied penetrates into the hair roots and stimulates them. Along with preventing male baldness and hair loss, it also stimulates hair growth in the scalp of women and stronger hair growth.
b. Stimulates Hair Growth
Caffeine is believed to be a stimulant for hair follicles. Topical treatment with caffeine showed an increase in the average growth of hair follicles by around 46% was shown in a research by the International Journal of Dermatology indicated that.
c. Makes Hair More Manageable
Along with strengthening of hair follicles, it also adds shine to the hair and makes them more manageable.
15. Benefits Of Caffeine For Skin
Caffeine is being used in skincare. Besides boosting your mood, it can improve your skin as well. Many skincare companies have started to add caffeine to their products.
Adding caffeine to your skin products and routine can provide you with even toned and shiny skin.
Coffee has the following skin benefits:
i. Fights Free Radicals
Free radicals are the main reason for causing premature skin ageing, resulting in the appearance of sun spots, wrinkles, and loss of elasticity. The antioxidants present in caffeine can attack these free radicals and eliminate them. This will improve the overall look of your skin.
This being the reason, caffeine is widely used in anti-ageing day and night creams in conjunction with retinol.
ii. Soothes Inflamed Skin
Caffeine is very effective in reducing inflammation and redness as it contains anti-inflammatory properties. Using it in skin care products can reduce redness and give you a smooth and beautiful skin.
iii. Dark Circles Under The Eyes
Dark circles can be caused by many different factors such as dehydration, allergies, lack of sleep or genetics. Caffeine does not cure hereditary dark circles but anti-inflammatory properties make it beneficial in reducing inflammation and puffiness associated with dark circles.
Tea leaves contain some amount of caffeine so you can apply moist tea bags to your eyes for 5 minutes for effective results.
iv. Tightens Skin
Another useful benefit of caffeine is that its topical use can smooth puffy skin and tighten fine lines. Caffeine in creams is absorbed by your skin to tighten and firm its appearance. It also inhibits the growth of skin cancer cells.
Caution
Caffeine can provide various benefits for your skin, hair, and health. However, only the right dose of caffeine makes this possible. More intake of caffeine than required has been reported to cause adverse health effects.
Moreover, some individuals are required to restrict its consumption as they are sensitive to caffeine. Increased consumption can also lead to dependence due to increased tolerance.
Consumption of more than 500 to 600 milligrams of caffeine per day can make you prone to health problems like nausea, insomnia, gastrointestinal problems, nervousness, headaches, elevated heartbeat, and migraines.
- It increases blood pressure in those who don’t consume it regularly, thereby increasing the risk of cerebral vascular disease and strokes.
- The decrease in bone mineral density, which causes osteoporosis, can be stimulated by consumption of excess caffeine.
- Regular consumption can lead to coffee addiction, and withdrawal i.e. reduction in coffee consumption can cause a headache, fatigue, and decreased alertness.
- Caffeine can deprive the condition of insomnia. Often it interferes with deep sleep, which can cause fatigue during the day.
- Daily consumption of caffeine causes an increase in blood sugar levels, thus causing problems for diabetic patients.
- High doses of caffeine can cause anxiety.
- Coffee is a diuretic, so it is likely to cause dehydration.
- It also contributes to bone density loss in the spine in elderly postmenopausal women.
- Excess consumption of caffeine increases the likelihood of experiencing auditory hallucinations.
- It causes shaking of hands i.e. it affects the fine muscular movements adversely.
What Are The Negative Side Effects Of Drinking Coffee?
Coffee containing caffeine can cause
- insomnia,
- restlessness,
- nervousness,
- stomach upset,
- nausea and vomiting,
- increased heart and breathing rate.
Consuming large amounts of coffee might also cause
- anxiety,
- agitation,
- headache,
- ringing in the ears, and
- irregular heartbeats.
Some Negative Effects Are Elaborated Below
1. Coffee And Hydrochloric Acid
Drinking coffee first thing in the morning on an empty stomach stimulates hydrochloric acid production. This can be a problem because HCl should be produced to digest meals only.
It may have difficulty producing enough to deal with a large meal if your body has to make HCl more often in response to regular cups of coffee.
Specifically, the most affected by a lack of hydrochloric acid in the stomach is protein digestion, protein-based foods can pass into the small intestine before being broken down properly.
Undigested protein is related to a variety of health problems, like bloating and gas. Some experts say almost all disease begins in the gut. Hence, it’s important to limit anything that interferes with the proper functioning of the digestive system.
2. Ulcers And Acidity
Many of the components found in coffee like caffeine and the various acids in coffee beans can irritate your stomach and the lining of your small intestine.
It’s common with people suffering from ulcers and gastritis that the doctor’s advice them to completely cut out coffee from their diet.
Ulcers are believed to be caused by Helicobacter pylori bacteria. But the acidic effect of coffee over the stomach lining may be a contributing factor towards making it more susceptible to the infection by the bacterium.
3. Coffee As A Laxative
Drinking coffee can stimulate peristalsis, the process in the digestive tract that leads to expulsion of food after digestion.
Some people deliberately use it as a laxative which could be a problem. By stimulating peristalsis, coffee promotes increased gastric emptying, i.e. the contents of the stomach are quickly passed into the small intestines, often before proper digestion and break down of food.
In this partially digested state, it is harder to absorb nutrients from the ingested food. It also leads to increase the chances of inflammation and irritation within the gastrointestinal tract.
Also, it seems caffeine alone is not to blame as decaffeinated coffee has also been shown to have laxative and gastric emptying properties.
4. Coffee, Stress, And Tension
Drinking lots of coffee promote the release of the stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine, cortisol. These chemicals increase your body’s blood pressure, heart rate, and tension levels. It is often said that coffee is needed for energy.
But for many of us, it has become more than just an energy drink! A lot of us need coffee to get through the day which might just be elevating your stress levels instead of providing an energy boost.
Digestion is also affected if the fight and flight hormone is stimulated by coffee as in situations where adrenaline is released and is needed then digestion suffers, but coffee releases the stress hormones without any real situation to be dealt with.
5. Dehydration
Caffeine is a diuretic i.e. a substance increasing urine production, regular coffee drinkers are at risk of dehydration. Engaging in vigorous exercise may make you sensitive to the dehydration – an effect of coffee.
It is important that coffee consumers drink a lot of water or other caffeine-free beverages to stay hydrated, specifically during and after exercise.
6. Blood Pressure
Boosted energy by caffeinated coffee may come at a cost: Caffeine can be responsible for sharp raise blood pressure levels, even for individuals whose blood pressure is usually normal.
Consumption of caffeinated coffee can slowly increase your blood pressure, it is seen that some people are more sensitive to caffeine’s effects than others.
If you have high blood pressure, then limit your coffee consumption to 24 oz. per day, and coffee before physical labor and vigorous exercise, both of which naturally raise blood pressure.
7. Addiction
Coffee does cause addiction. Not necessarily 20 cups of coffee but not being able to go through the day without even a single cup of coffee is a start of a minor coffee addiction.
People with a more serious addiction to coffee can experience hand tremble, nervousness, cold sweats and even anger until they get their dose.
8. Insomnia
Having too much coffee will interfere with your sleep, especially if you’re drinking coffee in the evening.
If people say having coffee doesn’t affect their sleep it means that they are already having too much coffee and their body is building resistance towards it. Caffeine keeps you awake.
9. Osteoporosis
Drinking more than 3 cups of coffee a day for years can lead to depletion in bone density. This makes you pray to a higher risk of developing osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is an illness lot of people suffer mostly after an age of 50 years and it causes fragile bones.
10. Coffee Withdrawl
For frequent coffee drinkers, missing on even a cup of coffee may cause more problems than drinking it. Caffeine withdrawal can strike 12 to 24 hours after a regular coffee drinker last consumes caffeine.
Characterised by fatigue, headaches, anxiety, depression, and drowsiness, caffeine withdrawal mostly subsides as soon as a coffee drinker gets his caffeine or within 48 hours.
Negative Effect Of Coffee On Women
a. PMS
Scientists have discovered that women who usually have strong PMS can fall prey to experiencing it even stronger due to drinking coffee.
Even chocolate has the same kind of effect. Sorry ladies – but if you want to get rid of your PMS, it’s a no on two things we love the most.
b. Breast Size
Not a very significant effect of coffee but chronic drinkers could encounter a reduction in breast size but that is also very less.
Can Drinking Coffee Cause Acne?
Coffee can cause acne in a variety of ways- Coffee intensifies your body’s stress response, boosting stress hormones that lead to acne.
Milk and sugar are commonly used in combination with coffee, but they are two of the top four dietary acne triggers.
Coffee Effects On Brain
Adenosine- a neurotransmitter influences attention, alertness, and sleep, when caffeine hits the brain, it suppresses adenosine. Like mercury rising in a thermometer, it builds up in your brain as the day goes on.
When adenosine reaches a maximum level, your body decides it’s bedtime. Hence, the major reason why coffee is so prevalent amongst people working up late at night is this.
Coffee as a modern man’s drink is a very healthy option if kept in check. Hence, keep in mind the negative effects of excessive drinking of coffee but otherwise, it is a great beverage for you.
