How much coffee do you consume in a day? According to the International Coffee Organization, 1.5 billion cups of coffee are consumed worldwide every day. In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration reports that we consume 300 mg per person per day. And in this classroom 13 out of 19 respondents reported they that drink coffee. Those are some pretty big numbers for a product that is considered one of the world’s most socially accepted beverages.
Obviously, with a product as widely consumed as coffee, there are some positive and negative effects that it has on a person’s overall health and wellbeing.
For me, coffee is a morning must have, and a definite staple throughout most of my days, and even some of my evenings and I rarely, if ever consider the effects in as on my health.
For years, coffee has been criticized for things like stunting your growth, causing headaches, and the jitters and overall the word was, it was just plain bad for you. But, if you’ve been paying attention you’ll notice some of the good things that researchers have found to be benefits of coffee consumption such as helping prevent diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and even lowering the risks of some cancers. So, based on this mixture of facts how do we know if coffee is really good or bad for our health. Well, the answer lies somewhere in the middle so let’s just delve into this pool of facts and find out.
Let’s start out with the good news. Even though you may not believe it, there actually are some positive health benefits to coffee consumption. And why wouldn’t there be? After all, it’s grown from our earth, it’s got to be good for us then, right? Let’s see.
Medical News Today reported that recent research found that ingesting 200 mg of caffeine or coffee each day may boost long-term memory and have positive effects on the brain. The caffeine in coffee acts as a stimulant that combats tiredness, making you feel more alert and focused. The University of Michigan Health Service conducted a study that determined the stimulating effects of coffee can start as early as 15 minutes after consumption and last up to 6 hours. An article on Softpedia.com stated that women age 65 or older who consumed over 3 cups of coffee daily, scored better over time on memory tests than women who drank only one cup or less.
According to Dr. Donald Hensrud from Mayo Clinic, studies have shown that the health benefits of coffee include protecting against type 2 diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. Research also indicates that the antioxidants in coffee briefly lower uric acid levels, therefore easing the pain and inflammation caused by gout and arthritis. Those same antioxidants have also been found to lower the risk of heart disease among moderate drinkers. Now if you consume at least 6 cups of coffee a day, you may be surprised to find that you are reducing your risk of skin cancer by 35% according to recent research reported on Softpedia.com.
Here’s another positive kicker to coffee. It actually increases dopamine, that happy feeling hormone in your brain. That dopamine in turn creates an in physical activity at work and home, along with an increase in the libido of men and women. That’s a bonus.
The negative health effects of consuming coffee, on the other hand, are largely dependent on the amount of coffee an individual consumes. Some of the long term or permanent damage that coffee can cause include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoporosis. High blood pressure and high cholesterol can be linked to boiled coffee and the amount of caffeine in the coffee. Keep in mind, different coffee beans have different levels of caffeine in them.