Does coffee has any health benefits?

You wake up in the morning, the first thing you do before cooking your breakfast or even reading the news or getting ready to work is preparing your cup of coffee. In fact, coffee is one of the most popular beverages worldwide, and it has several benefits.

Coffee contains the stimulant “caffeine”, which makes you feel less tired and rises your energy levels. Caffeine improves your energy balance by decreasing your appetite and increasing the basal metabolic rate and food-induced thermogenesis. Studies showed that drinking coffee throughout the day, 6 times a day and consuming 100 mg each time, increased the energy expenditure by 5%- which slightly help in long term weight loss.

Furthermore, coffee also affects your cardiovascular health. Several studies showed a U-shaped association between drinking coffee and cardiovascular disease risk, meaning that 3–5 cups of coffee a day is the most beneficial, however drinking less or more didn’t have a positive impact. Coffee is high in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents such as phenolic compounds and melanoidins, which is the reason behind this cardiovascular health improvement. Moreover, coffee consumption was related to a decreases risk of type 2 diabetes in a dose-dependent relationship.

Coffee may also slightly decrease the risk of developing several types of cancer such as breast, melanoma and prostate cancers. In addition, it was shown to be beneficial in liver health, in fact it helps decrease the risk of liver cirrhosis and fibrosis. Also, when drank in moderation caffeine was shown to improve several neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s, depression, and suicide.

Finally, consuming 3 to 5 cups of coffee is associated with a reduced risk of several chronic diseases. The guidelines recommend 400 mg of caffeine per day for adults and 200 mg per day for pregnant and lactating women.  To note, that drinking coffee beverages high in calories, including sugar and creamers may lead to weight gain as well as eliminating all the benefits of coffee. Creamer contain trans-fatty acids, which on the long term will increase the bad cholesterol (LDL) and decrease the good cholesterol (HDL) in our blood. Moreover, coffee creamer also contain the additive Carrageenan, studies found that this compound is responsible for inflammatory and toxic reactions in the digestive tract, which might lead to colitis, IBS, and even colon cancer. Therefore, instead of adding a creamer, try adding milk (dairy or plant-based) and avoid adding sugar or even artificial sugar to it in order to preserve all the coffee’s benefits.    

Reference:

van Dam, R. M., Hu, F. B., & Willett, W. C. (2020). Coffee, caffeine, and health. New England Journal of Medicine, 383(4), 369-378.