For the longest time now, there has been a lot of debate on whether the actual intake of coffee has any positives to the body or is it just a fallacy. The truth of the matter is that there are pros and cons to taking coffee in selected quantities.
Pros:
1. Coffee boosts your physical performance: Have a cup of black coffee about an hour before workout and your performance can improve by 11-12%. Caffeine increases adrenaline levels in your blood. Adrenaline is your body’s “fight or flight” hormone which helps you to prepare for physical exertion.
2. Coffee may help you lose weight: Coffee contains magnesium and potassium, which helps the human body use insulin, regulating blood sugar levels and reducing your craving for sugary treats and snacks.
3. Coffee helps you focus and stay alert: Moderate caffeine intake, 1-6 cups a day, helps you focus and improves your mental alertness.
4. Coffee lowers the risk of death: Studies have shown that coffee drinker’s overall risk of premature death is 25% lower than those who don’t drink coffee.
5. Coffee reduces the risk of cancers: One study has shown that coffee may decrease the risk of developing prostate cancer in men by 20 %, and endometrial cancer in women by 25 %. Caffeine may also prevent developing of basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer
6. Coffee reduces the risk of Parkinson’s disease: Studies have shown that regular coffee drinking decreases the risk of Parkinson’s disease by 25 %. There’s evidence that coffee causes activity in the part of the brain affected by Parkinson’s.
7. Coffee protects your body: Coffee contains a lot of antioxidants, which work as little warriors fighting and protecting against free radicals within your body.
8. Coffee may lower the risk of Type II diabetes: Caffeine decreases your insulin sensitivity and impairs glucose tolerance, therefore reduces your risk of type 2 diabetes.
9. Coffee protects your brain: High caffeine levels in your blood reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. It also lowers the risk of dementia.
10. Coffee brightens your mood, helps fight depression and lowers the risk of suicide: Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system and boosts the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline, which elevate your mood. Two cups of coffee a day prevents the risk of suicide by 50 %.
Cons:
1. Ad coffee can be toxic: Bad quality coffee can have a lot of impurities in it, which can cause sickness, headache or a general bad feeling. This can happen if your coffee is made from beans that have been over ripped or otherwise ruined.
2. Coffee can kill you: Yes if you drink 80-100 cups (23 liters) in a short session. This dose is lethal and will amount in 10-13 grams of caffeine within your body. Before you reach this point, however, you’ll be vomiting most of it out since 23 liters of any liquid is a lot.
3. Coffee can cause insomnia and restlessness:
Again, it’s the caffeine working here. Your recommended maximum amount of caffeine is 400 milligrams, roughly the amount that you’ll get from 4 cups of coffee. If you’re caffeine-sensitive, be careful with coffee.
4. Don’t drink more than one cup a day if you’re pregnant: Studies on coffee’s effect on a fetus have been controversial, but one thing is sure: if you drink coffee when pregnant, caffeine will also reach the fetus, and your baby is highly sensitive to caffeine.
5. If you have high cholesterol please choose filtered coffee: Coffee beans contain cafestol and kahweol, two ingredients that appear to raise LDL cholesterol levels. Filtering the coffee traps most of the LDL, but cafestol and kahweol are found in espresso, Turkish coffee, french press and Scandinavian style “cooked coffee”.
6. Coffee for kids may increase bedwetting: One survey reported that caffeine consumption of 5-7-year-old kids may increase enuresis a.k.a. bedwetting.
7. Coffee Can Increase Osteoporosis: It’s true that coffee can cause the body to excrete calcium in the urine. We don’t want the body to rid itself of calcium because this can lead to osteoporosis. According to The Diet Channel, about five milligrams of calcium are lost per every six ounces of coffee consumed.
8. Coffee Causes Wrinkles: Even though coffee has antioxidants, if you drink too much of it, it can cause wrinkling of the skin. This is a result of dehydration which is the worst thing for your skin. So when you’re drinking that morning cup or two, make sure that you’re pairing it with water.
9. Coffee Can Actually Cause Weight Gain: The blood sugar fluctuations that a caffeine high produces can contribute enormously to cravings, according to iVillage. Coffee is also socially connected to food.
10. Conventional Coffee Is Laden with Pesticides: The coffee plant is one of the most heavily sprayed crops. It’s coated with chemicals, pesticides, and herbicides, nothing you’d want to be ingesting. If you do drink coffee, make sure that it’s the organic variety, free from assorted chemicals that leech into our groundwater and can make us sick down the road
