Is Coffee Healthy?

Health is a major concern for everyone. This is why before putting any beverage in your body, you need to ask yourself whether it will have a negative impact on your overall health. We noted that a large number of people were asking different questions related to how healthy coffee is. This is the major reason which has prompted us to do a thorough research and provide answers to these questions.

What Coffee Does to Your Body

Coffee is derived from a bean. Hence, it contains polyphenols and phytonutrients. These are chemical compounds found in plants which contain antioxidant benefits. Antioxidants improve your health.

Caffeine is the major ingredient found in coffee. When this ingredient enters your bloodstream, it finds its way to your brain. It will work as a stimulant and hence boost both your energy and alertness.

Coffee has been known to suppress appetite. This, in turn, will boost the number of calories that your body burns and hence helping in weight loss. But, you cannot rely on coffee for significant long-term weight loss.

You will get the above benefits when you drink your coffee in moderation. Drinking too much coffee may have a variety of negative effects. These include spiking your heart rate, blood pressure and causing insomnia.

Why Coffee is Good for You

Coffee offers various health benefits. These include the following:

1. Lowers type II diabetes risk – For people who consume at least 6 or more cups of coffee on a daily basis, their risk for type II diabetes is 22% lower.

2. Lowers Alzheimer’s disease risk – There is evidence which points out towards the fact that caffeine has the ability to protect you against Alzheimer’s disease.

3. Lowers the heart disease risk – People who consume 3 to 5 cups of coffee on a daily basis are less likely to have heart disease. People who drink 3 cups of coffee on a daily basis are less likely to develop calcification in their coronary arteries.

4. Reduces colorectal cancer risk – Drinking coffee moderately reduces the risk of developing colorectal cancer by up to 26%.

5. Protection against liver cirrhosis – Coffee has been proven to have liver protecting benefits. These help in lowering the risk of developing liver cirrhosis.

6. Reduces depression – A study by the Harvard School of Public Health determined that women who usually drink at least 4 cups of coffee on a daily basis are 20% less likely to get depressed.

7. It will help increase physical performance and burn fat – Caffeine has the ability to raise your metabolism and also increase the fatty acid oxidation. Caffeine has been proven to increase exercise performance by 11% to 12%.

8. Coffee can make you smarter – Through various controlled studies which have been used to observe the effects of caffeine on a human brain, it has been determined that caffeine has the ability to improve reaction time, mood, vigilance, general brain function, and memory.

Will Coffee Dehydrate You?

This is another frequent question related to how healthy coffee is. The simple answer is that coffee will not dehydrate you. As a matter of fact, drinking coffee will contribute to your daily fluid requirements. Drinking coffee will not cause you to lose more fluids that you are ingesting.

People usually fear that coffee will dehydrate them since it has a mild diuretic effect (causes the need to urinate). This mild need to urinate caused by coffee does not increase the risk of becoming dehydrated. Caffeine is a weak diuretic. People usually acquire tolerance to the caffeine diuretic effect very rapidly. It usually takes about four to five days of regular caffeine intake to acquire this tolerance. What this tells you is that consuming caffeine regularly will not lead to chronic dehydration.

Will Coffee Increase Blood Pressure?

Research has confirmed that caffeine can cause an increase in your blood pressure. This can happen even if you do not have high blood pressure. Up to now, it is not very clear as to what causes the blood pressure to spike. Some researchers stipulate that caffeine may block a hormone that is responsible for keeping arteries widened. Other researchers claim that the spike in blood pressure may be as a result of the caffeine causing the adrenal glands to produce more adrenaline.

People who ingest caffeine regularly usually develop a tolerance for the caffeine. After the tolerance has developed, the caffeine does not cause the blood pressure spike. Therefore, caffeine will not have a long-term effect on your blood pressure.

If you think that caffeine may raise your blood pressure such that it impacts your health too much, you should limit the amount of caffeine that you take on a daily basis. The recommended limit is 200 milligrams every day. This is equivalent to taking only two 8-ounce cups of coffee.

For people who have high blood pressure, it is important that you avoid drink coffee before activities which might naturally increase your blood pressure. These include activities such as lifting weights, exercise, or hard physical labor.

Will Coffee Make Me Fat?

Simply put, coffee when served black will not contribute to gaining weight. This is because black coffee is low in calories. One thing which can cause you to gain extra weight is if you overdo it. If your coffee contains added milk and sugar, you may find yourself gaining weight. You can avoid adding weight by making sure that you record the calories you get from your coffee on a daily basis. You can also keep your weight in check by avoiding calorie-packed coffee drinks.

There is a very easy way to avoid taking calorie-packed coffee. When you drink the regular hot-brewed coffee, you will most likely need to add sugar and milk to make it have a nice taste.

However, when you drink cold brew nitro coffee, you won’t need to add any sugar or milk. Cold brew nitro coffee has a natural flavor which originates from the sugars and oils found in the coffee beans. Simply defined, nitro coffee is coffee that has been brewed using cold water and has been infused with nitrogen.

Our conclusion related to the question how healthy coffee is: All that you do, do it with moderation and enjoy a great cup of coffee knowing that has a good impact on your health. Read more and find out if coffee can produce cancer.