Coffee: Friend or Foe?

The health effects of coffee are controversial. Despite everything you may have heard, there are many good things to be said about coffee. It is high in antioxidants and is linked to a reduced risk of many diseases. However, it also contains caffeine, a stimulant that can cause problems and disrupt sleep in some people.

This article takes a detailed look at coffee and its effects on health, both the positive and negative aspects.

Coffee contains some essential nutrients and is extremely high in antioxidants.

Coffee is rich in many nutrients that are naturally found in coffee beans.

A typical cup of coffee includes the following:

• Vitamin B2 (riboflavin): 11% DV
• Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid): 6% DV
• Vitamin B1 (thiamine): 2% DV
• Vitamin B3 (niacin): 2% DV
• Folate: 1% of DV
• Manganese: 3% of DV
• Potassium: 3% of DV
• Magnesium: 2% of DV
• Phosphorus: 1% of DV

That might not seem like much, but try multiplying that by the number of glasses you drink per day – it could make up a significant portion of your daily nutrient intake.

However, coffee truly shines with its high antioxidant content.

In fact, a typical Western diet provides more antioxidants from coffee than from the total amount of fruits and vegetables.

Coffee contains caffeine, a stimulant that can boost brain function and speed up metabolism.

Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world. Soft drinks, tea, and chocolate contain caffeine, but coffee is the largest source. The caffeine content of a single cup can range from 30-300 mg, but the average cup is around 90-100 mg. Caffeine is a known stimulant. In your brain, it blocks the function of an inhibitory neurotransmitter (brain hormone) called adenosine.

Caffeine blocks adenosine, increasing activity in your brain and releasing other neurotransmitters like norepinephrine and dopamine. This reduces fatigue and makes you feel more alert.

Numerous studies show that caffeine can improve mood, reaction time, alertness, and overall cognitive function by leading to a short-term increase in brain function. Caffeine can also increase metabolism by an average of 3–11% and exercise performance by an average of 11–12%. However, some of these effects are likely short-term. If you drink coffee every day, you will develop a tolerance, and with that, the effects will become less potent.

Coffee may protect your brain from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Alzheimer's disease is the world's most common neurodegenerative disease and a leading cause of dementia. Studies have shown that coffee drinkers have up to 65% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease and results from the death of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain. Coffee drinkers have a 32-60% lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease. The more coffee people drink, the lower the risk becomes.

Coffee drinkers have a much lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetesIt is characterized by high blood sugar levels due to resistance to the effects of insulin.

This widespread disease has increased tenfold in a few decades and now affects more than 300 million people.

Interestingly, studies show that coffee drinkers may have a 23-67% lower risk of developing this condition.

A review of 18 studies involving 457.922 people shows that drinking one cup of coffee a day reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes by 7%.

Coffee Drinkers Have a Lower Risk of Liver Disease

Your liver is an incredibly important organ with hundreds of different functions in your body.

It is sensitive to excessive alcohol and fructose intake. The final stage of liver damage is called cirrhosis, and it involves most of your liver turning into scar tissue.

Coffee drinkers have up to 84% lower risk of developing cirrhosis, with the strongest effect in those who drink 4 or more cups a day. Liver cancer is also common. It is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Coffee drinkers have up to 40% lower risk of liver cancer.

Coffee drinkers have a much lower risk of depression and suicide.

Depression is the most common mental disorder in the world and leads to a significant decrease in quality of life. A 2011 Harvard study found that people who drank the most coffee had a 20% lower risk of developing depression. In a review of three studies, people who drank four or more cups of coffee a day were 53% less likely to commit suicide.

Caffeine can cause anxiety and disrupt sleep.

It would be wrong to talk only about the good without mentioning the bad.

The truth is, although it varies from person to person, coffee also has some downsides.

Consuming too much caffeine can cause nervousness, anxiety, heart palpitations, and even worsen panic attacks. If you are sensitive to caffeine and prone to overstimulation, you may want to avoid coffee altogether. Another unwanted side effect is that it can disrupt sleep. If coffee reduces the quality of your sleep, try avoiding it later in the day, for example, after 2 PM.

Caffeine can also have diuretic and blood pressure-raising effects, but these usually disappear with regular use. However, a slight increase in blood pressure of 1-2 mm/Hg may persist.

Caffeine is addictive, and several cups too much can cause withdrawal.

Another problem with caffeine is that it can lead to addiction. When people consume caffeine regularly, they develop a tolerance to it. Either it stops working as it used to, or a larger dose is needed to produce the same effects.

When people abstain from caffeine, they experience withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, brain fog, and irritability. This can last for several days.

Tolerance and withdrawal are hallmarks of physical dependence.

The Difference Between Regular and Caffeine-Free

Some people prefer decaffeinated coffee to regular coffee.

Decaffeinated coffee is usually made by rinsing coffee beans with chemical solvents.

Each time the beans are rinsed, a percentage of the caffeine dissolves in the solvent. This process is repeated until most of the caffeine is removed.

Remember that even decaffeinated coffee still contains caffeine, albeit in much smaller amounts than regular coffee.

How to Maximize Health Benefits?

There are some things you can do to maximize the beneficial health effects of coffee.

Most importantly, don't add too much sugar.

Another technique is to brew coffee with a paper filter. Unfiltered coffee, such as that found in Turkish or French press, contains cafestol, a substance that can raise cholesterol levels (42,43).

Keep in mind that some coffee drinks found in cafes and shops contain hundreds of calories and a lot of sugar. These drinks are unhealthy if consumed regularly.

Finally, make sure you don't drink excessive amounts of coffee.

Should you drink coffee?

Some people – especially pregnant women – should absolutely avoid or severely limit coffee consumption.

People with anxiety problems, high blood pressure, or insomnia may want to reduce their intake for a while to see if that helps.

There is also some evidence that people who metabolize caffeine slowly have an increased risk of heart attack from drinking coffee.

In addition, some people are concerned that drinking coffee may increase the risk of cancer over time.

While it's true that roasted coffee beans contain acrylamide, a category of carcinogenic compounds, there's no evidence that the small amounts of acrylamide found in coffee are harmful.

In fact, most studies suggest that coffee consumption has no effect on cancer risk and may even reduce it (45, 46).

However, coffee can have significant beneficial effects on the health of the average person.

If you don't already drink coffee, these benefits aren't a compelling reason to start. There are downsides too.

However, if you already drink coffee and enjoy it, the benefits seem to far outweigh the drawbacks.

References

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Ross GW, Abbott RD, Petrovitch H, Morens DM, Grandinetti A, Tung KH, Tanner CM, Masaki KH, Blanchette PL, Curb JD, Popper JS, White LR. Association of coffee and caffeine intake with the risk of Parkinson's disease. JAMA. 2000 May 24-31;283(20):2674-9. doi: 10.1001/jama.283.20.2674. PMID: 10819950. 

Nehlig A, Daval JL, Debry G. Caffeine and the central nervous system: mechanisms of action, biochemical, metabolic and psychostimulant effects. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 1992 May-Aug;17(2):139-70. doi: 10.1016/0165-0173(92)90012-b. PMID: 1356551.

Pulido R, Hernández-García M, Saura-Calixto F. Contribution of beverages to the intake of lipophilic and hydrophilic antioxidants in the Spanish diet. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2003 Oct;57(10):1275-82. doi: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601685. PMID: 14506489.

Snel J, Lorist MM. Effects of caffeine on sleep and cognition. Prog Brain Res. 2011;190:105-17. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-53817-8.00006-2. PMID: 21531247.

Important Note: This text, healthline.com This text has been taken from and translated from the website. Habit Gıda AŞ bears no responsibility for the content of this text. This text is for informational purposes only, translated from English to Turkish, and is not intended to provide any health advice. Habit Gıda AŞ cannot be held responsible for any health problems that may arise in readers as a result of this text. Readers should not take any action regarding the content of this text without consulting their doctor about their own health condition. You should consult your doctor about all matters related to your health.