The Benefits Of Coffee
Coffee has many properties that have many people describing it as a superfood. When thinking of coffee what will likely first come to mind is its caffeine however did you know that this bean contains more than 1,000 different compounds?
Its concentration of phytochemicals makes it a highly rated antioxidant food, and its actually the primary source of antioxidants in the American Diet.
This of course relates to high quality varieties that have not been highly processed and that are also less likely to contain traces of mold.
Caffeine Withdrawal May Cause Mental Disorder
This might be shocking for you, but the caffeine withdrawal is very real and produce enough physical symptoms, reports WebMD.
In other words, people who dont get usual dose of caffeine, there are chances, they can be suffered from a range of short and long-term withdrawal symptoms.
- Headache is very common, at least 50% of people experience this in caffeine withdrawal
- Drowsiness
- Muscle pain
- Vomiting
Its effect would be minimal or as much severe as you wont be able to leave your house, wont be able to function properly, Griffiths told WebMD.
Should you quit?
Experts on WebMD.com say that caffeine withdrawal produce physical symptoms, doesnt mean its dangerous. You can stop drinking coffee but the best way is with a gradual withdrawal.
Just dont quit immediately otherwise it may cause more physical symptoms than usual.
Is Coffee Bad For You
For years, doctors warned people to avoid coffee because it might increase the risk of heart disease and stunt growth. They worried that people could become addicted to the energy that high amounts of caffeine provided, leading them to crave more and more coffee as they became tolerant to higher amounts of caffeine. Experts also worried that coffee had damaging effects on the digestive tract, which could lead to stomach ulcers, heartburn and other ills.
All of this concern emerged from studies done decades ago that compared coffee drinkers to non-drinkers on a number of health measures, including heart problems and mortality. Coffee drinkers, it seemed, were always worse off.
But it turns out that coffee wasnt really to blame. Those studies didnt always control for the many other factors that could account for poor health, such as smoking, drinking and a lack of physical activity. If people who drank a lot of coffee also happened to have some other unhealthy habits, then its not clear that coffee is responsible for their heart problems or higher mortality.
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Improves Your Brain Function
As weve already discussed, most popular stimulant in coffee is caffeine, and actually the key reason why coffee boosts your brain functioning in short term .
Its mainly believed to be due to the way caffeine interacts with adenosine receptors, neurotransmitters in the brain that make you sleep.
A handful of studies found that adenosine largely builds up during the day and makes you feel dozy during the night time .
Caffeine mainly fights with the adenosine to stop it from binding to its receptors and avert it from slowing your brain functioning.
Interestingly, it also stimulates the brain for the release of other neurotransmitters to improve several other aspects of your brain including mood, attention, learning and overall brain functioning.
However, over the time, you may become tolerant to the effect of caffeine and youll have to ingest the more coffee to experience the same spark, suggests to a study by Psychopharmacology.
Effects Can Vary From Person To Person Hence The Conflicting Information
Conflicting information about the effects of coffee abound. Until not too long ago, the World Health Organization classified coffee as possibly carcinogenic, but later reversed the statement stating that evidence for the association between coffee and cancer is inadequate. As mentioned earlier, the same conflicting evidence can be seen for cardiovascular disease. Perhaps the reason so many studies come up with so many different conclusions is that every person is different to a degree, especially in the way they metabolize substances.
Slow metabolizers keep caffeine in their system for longer, offering it more time to trigger harmful effects such as heart attacks. On the other hand, fast metabolizers may allow antioxidants, polyphenols and coffees other healthful compounds to kick in without the side effects of caffeine because the stimulant is flushed out of the system fast.
And in all likelihood, there may be many other genetic and environmental factors contributing to differences in caffeine metabolism.
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Coffee Depletes Vital Nutrients In The Body
Just as gluten prevents the body from absorbing calcium in some people, so caffeine prevents some nutrients from being absorbed. Caffeine interferes with the absorption of both magnesium and Vitamin B. As both magnesium and the various B vitamins have a lot to do with being calm and stress free, drinking coffee is self-defeating.
Caffeine also interferes with the osteoblasts which produces strong bones. So its a factor in osteoporosis.
For people who are sensitive to coffee, decaffeinated or not, coffee still gives the jitters!
May Increase Energy And Performance
Coffee may help some people maintain alertness and energy levels thanks to its caffeine content. When coffee is consumed, it is absorbed into the bloodstream and travels to the brain where it fires up certain neurons which may improve memory, mood, energy and cognitive function, if consumed in moderation. Other reports suggest drinking coffee before exercise may reduce rates of exertion and potentially improve athletic performance.
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Some Studies Show That Coffee Drinkers Live Longer
Given that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of many common, deadly diseases as well as suicide coffee could help you live longer.
Long-term research in 402,260 individuals aged 5071 found that coffee drinkers had a much lower risk of dying over the 1213 year study period (
The sweet spot seems to be at 45 cups per day, with men and women having a 12% and 16% reduced risk of death respectively.
Summary Some studies demonstrate that on average coffee drinkers live longer than non-coffee drinkers. The strongest effect is seen at 45 cups per day.
Calories Heartburn And Urine
You won’t break your calorie budget on coffee — until you start adding the trimmings.
According to the web site myfoodapedia.gov — part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion — a 6-ounce cup of black coffee contains just 7 calories. Add some half & half and you’ll get 46 calories. If you favor a liquid nondairy creamer, that will set you back 48 calories. A teaspoon of sugar will add about 23 calories.
Drink a lot of coffee and you may head to the bathroom more often. Caffeine is a mild diuretic — that is, it makes you urinate more than you would without it. Decaffeinated coffee has about the same effect on urine production as water.
Both regular and decaffeinated coffee contain acids that can make heartburn worse.
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Lopez-Garcia, E. Circulation, Feb. 16, 2009 advance online edition.
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American Association for Cancer Research International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, Houston, Dec. 6-9, 2009.
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It Gives You Important Nutrients
If you drink coffee, it is your single largest source of antioxidants.A few important nutrients include: Vitamins B2, B3, and B5, Manganese, Magnesium, and Potassium. Also, the human body absorbs more nutrients from coffee than it does from other popular sources of antioxidants like fruits and vegetables. You get more healthy bang for your buck with coffee than with anything else.
How To Make Black Coffee
While there is no one correct way of making black coffee and different people make their black coffee in their own ways, there are steps you can take to ensure that your beverage tastes amazing every time.
There are two ways you can make black coffee by grinding it on your own, or by using a machine.
If you want a clear black coffee with a truly delicate taste, then grinding it on your own is the best option. Take about three tablespoons of coffee and grind them till they are as fine as sea salt. Boil about 600 grams of water. Add a filter to your dripper, filling it with the ground coffee. Gently tap the surface and pour it over in a cup. Your black coffee will be ready in no time.
Another option is to simply use a coffee machine, which most people do because of how convenient it is.
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How Much Caffeine Is In Decaf Coffee
The most important thing to note about decaf coffee is that its not completely free of caffeine. No matter the decaffeination process, there is still usually about 2mg of caffeine left in an 8-ounce cup of decaf coffee.
Even though theres still caffeine left, it is a very small, trace amount. If you need to reduce your caffeine intake, its safe to have several cups of decaf coffee without worrying.
Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte Smoothie
Blend all ingredients to create a seasonally inspired drink. Using real pumpkin adds beneficial fiber.
- 1 cup coffee
- ½ cup milk of your choice
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup canned plain pumpkin
- 4 ice cubes
Try to limit added sugar as much as you can! If you MUST add sweetener, try pure maple syrup in a small quantity- start with 1 teaspoon.
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May Dramatically Increase Your Blood Pressure
Caffeine can cause short but obvious increase in blood pressure even if you never had higher blood pressure before.
Its still unclear what causes this spike in blood pressure level, says MayoClinic. However, some researchers believe that caffeine does so by blocking a hormone thats responsible for keeping your arteries widened.
Coffee drinkers usually have higher blood pressure than other people but with the time, people develop tolerance to caffeine so this doesnt cause a long-term effect on their blood pressure.
If youre concerned about caffeines effect on your blood pressure, its always suggested to limit your caffeine consumption by keeping it below than 200 mg per day.
Also avoid consuming caffeine before activities which cause an increase in blood pressure such as exercise, weightlifting or other hard physical laboring.
Parkinsons And Alzheimer’s Diseases
âFor Parkinsonâs disease, the data have always been very consistent: higher consumption of coffee is associated with decreased risk of Parkinsonâs,â Hu tells WebMD. That seems to be due to caffeine, though exactly how that works isn’t clear, Hu notes.
Coffee has also been linked to lower risk of dementia, including Alzheimerâs disease. A 2009 study from Finland and Sweden showed that, out of 1,400 people followed for about 20 years, those who reported drinking 3-5 cups of coffee daily were 65% less likely to develop dementia and Alzheimerâs disease, compared with nondrinkers or occasional coffee drinkers.
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Tip: Use Paper Filters For Brewing
Some studies suggest that a substance in coffee called cafestol can raise your LDL cholesterol. A typical coffee bean contains about a half percent of cafestol. If you dont filter your coffee, cafestol will make it into your bloodstream. In a two-year Norwegian study, coffee increased serum cholesterol by eight percent in men and 10 percent in women. Simply filtering your morning brew reduces the amount of cafestol you drink.
Coffee And Other Liver Diseases
A from 2017 concluded that consuming any type of coffee appeared to reduce the risk of liver cancer, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and cirrhosis.
People who consume coffee may also have a lower risk of gallstone disease.
In 2014, researchers looked at coffee consumption among people withprimary sclerosing cholangitis and primary biliary cirrhosis . These are autoimmune conditions that affect the bile ducts in the liver.
They found that people with PSC were more likely to have a lower coffee intake than those without the condition. There was no evidence to suggest that coffee intake was different among people with or without PBC.
Also, one 2014 study suggested a link between coffee consumption and a lower risk of dying from nonviral hepatitis-related cirrhosis. The researchers suggested that drinking two or more cups of coffee every day might reduce the risk by 66%.
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Here Are 10 Reasons Why You May Want To Quit Coffee
Risks Are Few But They Exist
Coffee may impart a number of health benefits over time, but certain groups should approach consumption carefully. Not much is known about the effects of coffee on children. Meanwhile, caffeine has been found to have negative impacts on pregnancies. Thats why people who are expecting are usually asked to limit their coffee intake to 200 milligrams a day, the equivalent of about two cups. And for some, including people with panic or anxiety disorders, too much caffeine or its coffee equivalent can cause anxiety or other unwanted side effects.
But what when it comes to coffee, what might keep one person up all night may hardly affect anothers slumber. Cornelis says that theres a complex relationship between genes and caffeine metabolism, or how quickly the body processes caffeine. She has researched how certain gene variants influence this process. To make matters more complicated, this response can vary over different populations that may have evolved to tolerate more or less caffeine.
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You May Decrease Your Risk Of Getting Alzheimer’s Disease
Almost two-thirds of Americans living with Alzheimers disease are women. But the caffeine in two cups of coffee may provide significantprotection against developing the condition. In fact, researchers foundthat women age 65 and older who drank two to three cups of coffee a daywere less likely to develop dementia in general.
Well Is It Good For You
Although coffee is good for you, we probably shouldn’t get carried away and start drinking gallons of it because there are a few caveats that we have to keep in mind. I know most of you probably want a simple answer whether coffee is good or bad for you, but if you haven’t learned by now, it’s a little of both. Let me explain the negative side effects of drinking too much coffee.
Anxiety
Although we know that coffee can increase alertness and vigilance, we’ve got some evidence that says that too much coffee can cause anxiety, restlessness and agitation. For example, there was a review from 2010 that concluded that, at low doses, caffeine improves hedonic tones and reduces anxiety. While at high doses, there is an increase intense arousal, including anxiety, nervousness and a jitteriness. We all know, if you drink too much coffee, you get quite jittery, which could potentially be bad.
Sleep and Insomnia
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Are There Other Factors
Several studies have shown that there are most coffee beans have some sort of mold, and this may well be the reason for the negative effects. According to one study 91.7 of green coffee beans from Brazil were contaminated. The amount of toxins were below the accepted level for human consumption in Europe.
Ochratoxin, a carcinogen, was found in about half of all coffees, whether they were green coffee beans or roasted coffee beans. The substance was also found in brewed coffee.
Drawbacks Of Drinking Coffee
Is coffee bad for you?For most people, regular coffee consumption is not bad for their health. But while the health benefits of coffee are far-ranging, there can still be drawbacks from consuming caffeinated beverages in some cases.
The disadvantages of drinking coffee are possible digestive issues, increased anxiety, potential toxicity, poor sleep, and heart health concerns. Its important to note, though, that most of these are both rare and avoidable.
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