The Good, Bad and the Worse – Know your Coffee!

What’s your favorite pick—black coffee without sugar or coffee mocha? Coffee lovers, give us a cheer….only we can understand the unconditional love when the lips touch the heavenly elixir. Coffee has been accused of many health complications such as heart disease, to insomnia many a times, but there are a school of thought who are against these and say coffee actually comes with a number of health benefits. Let’s see if your morning cup of Joe does justice to your devoted love for it, or falls flat when measured through nutrition quotient! Read on.

Is coffee bad for your health?

Anything can remain healthy if you find the healthiest way to consume it. Coffee alone cannot reach the level of bringing detrimental effects to the health till it’s mixed with excessive sugar, artificial sweeteners, syrups, flavors, thick creams, ice creams etc. to enhance the richness of taste. Earlier researches say, substance in coffee may lead to increased risk of heart attack, issues in digestive tract, or even stomach ulcer. It can also be the reason behind your disturbed sleep and restlessness. More than four cups of coffee or more than 400mg of caffeine can increase the risk of high blood pressure level which can be further linked to hypertension.

It can increase the risk of fibrocystic breast disease in women, it has already been held responsible for reducing fertility in women by almost 27%, increasing the risks of miscarriage, loss of sexual desire, and even disturbed health during menopause. Researchers say that it can prove to be harmful to the foetus if caffeine consumption is more during pregnancy.  Moreover, it can dehydrate your skin and result in frizzy hair, skin breakouts, and signs of early aging.  It can cause addiction and withdrawal might lead to momentary symptoms such as headache, fatigue, irritability, restlessness, and lack of concentration.

Is coffee good for your health?

Researchers found that coffee helps improve the cognitive functions, reduces fatigue and makes your brain more alert. Among the fewer benefits caffeine has include improved muscle performance. Consuming caffeine before workout may increase the metabolism and can aid weight loss, even replenishing muscle glycogen concentrations even faster post workout, hence, can result in improved stamina and endurance. Potassium and magnesium present in coffee allows the body to use insulin to regulate the sugar levels in the blood and reduce the craving for snacking or overeating. Hence, coffee may assist weight loss.

Recent studies say that caffeine may help cut down the risk of skin cancer, endometrial cancer in women, and prostate cancer in men. The stimulant in coffee helps regulating brain function, thus reducing the risks of Parkinson’s disease by 25 %. The antioxidant in caffeine, quinine, helps keeping the free radicals at bay. It may also be associated with reducing the risks of type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer disease, dementia, and boosts mood. Cafestol and Kahweol in caffeine may have some anti-cancer effects too in the body.

The Bottom Line

Like we keep saying in our articles, self-control and moderation are the key to good health. Caffeine might have health benefits but it has its share of disadvantages too. Addiction to coffee might expose you to various health issues including yellow teeth, bad breath, digestive problem, insomnia, or loss of appetite to name a few.

Can You Overdose on Coffee?

So what is the safe amount of coffee that you can take daily without running the risk of overdosing on it? Researches tell us that coffee may help you live longer but, by that, it doesn’t mean that you end shooting down espresso shots down your throat every 5 minutes. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that healthy adults can safely consume 400mg of coffee a day, which is roughly equal to 4-5 cups. But just because you can doesn’t necessarily mean you should. You don’t want to be seen behaving like a kid who’s had way too much candy.

According to AsapScience, a lethal dose of coffee is, somewhere around 150 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of your body. So, if you weigh 70 kilograms, it would take about 70 cups of coffee for you to overdose. You must now be wondering who in their mind would consume 70 cups of coffee. Even before you hit the limit, you will be experiencing other physical discomforts such as the chance of your bladder exploding any minute, mania, and hallucinations.

The stats are just one way of saying you have nothing to worry about ever overdosing on coffee. So yes, that coffee shop is still a safe hangout for you and your buddies. But, as long you know your limits and stay away from being an insane epitome of coffee addiction, you are good. Let us know if you found this article interesting and we will be back with more such amazing articles. Till then, stay fit, stay happy!