Your daily cup of coffee may be doing more for you than just giving you a boost in the morning. Coffee’s health effects have long been a contentious issue, with proponents claiming its antioxidant activity and brain-boosting abilities and detractors citing drawbacks including insomnia, indigestion, and an increased heart rate and blood pressure.
However, the most recent wave of scientific information has a lot of good news for coffee drinkers.
Here are ten reasons why drinking coffee can be healthier than you think:
Coffee Is High in Antioxidants, Which Are Good for Your Health.
Coffee, in fact, has higher antioxidant activity than both green tea and chocolate, two antioxidant powerhouses. Approximately 1,000 antioxidants have been found in unprocessed coffee beans, with hundreds more developing throughout the roasting process.
Coffee has been identified as a key — and in some cases, the only — dietary source of antioxidants for many research’ participants.
Caffeine Improves Memory in the Short Term.
Austrian researchers discovered a rise in brain activity, assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), in a group of volunteers who were given a dose of 100 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, around the same amount seen in a single cup of coffee. When compared to the control group, which took a placebo and exhibited no increase in brain activity, the caffeinated volunteers’ memory skills and reaction times were also better, according to the researchers.
Coffee May Aid in the Prevention of Cognitive Deterioration.
Regular coffee drinking may help prevent cognitive decline linked with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, in addition to delivering a transient boost in brain activity and memory.
Researchers in Finland discovered that drinking three to five cups of coffee per day in midlife was linked to a 65 percent lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia later in life.
The researchers also looked at the influence of tea drinking on cognitive impairment, but found no link.
Coffee Is Healthy for Your Cardiovascular System.
A major Dutch study found that moderate coffee drinkers (those who drank two to four cups per day) had a 20% lower risk of heart disease than heavy or light coffee drinkers, as well as nondrinkers, after analyzing data from more than 37,000 people over a 13-year period.
Coffee May Aid in the Prevention of Some Malignancies.
Coffee drinkers may be less likely to acquire aggressive prostate cancer. Furthermore, according to new research from the Harvard School of Public Health, women who drank four or more cups of coffee per day had a 25% lower risk of endometrial cancer than women who drank less than one cup per day.
Regular coffee drinking has also been linked to lower incidence of liver, colon, breast, and rectal cancers, according to studies.
Coffee Has Been Shown to Reduce the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes.
A growing amount of evidence reveals a link between coffee drinking and a lower risk of diabetes. According to a 2009 study, each daily cup of coffee reduced the chance of acquiring diabetes by 7%. Heavy coffee consumers (those who drink four or more cups per day) have a 50% lower risk of diabetes than light coffee drinkers or nondrinkers, according to previous epidemiological studies.
Note: There is some evidence that coffee reduces muscle cell sensitivity to the actions of insulin, thereby impairing sugar metabolism and raising blood sugar levels. However, the relevance of this discovery is still unknown.
Coffee Is Really Good for Your Liver.
Coffee drinking has been related to a lower incidence of cirrhosis, particularly alcoholic cirrhosis, in addition to lowering the risk of liver cancer.
A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found an inverse relationship between increasing coffee drinking and a 20% reduction in the incidence of cirrhosis for each cup eaten (up to four cups).
Coffee can help you get more out of your workout.
We’ve been taught that caffeine dehydrates us, which is one of the main reasons why fitness professionals advise against drinking coffee before and after a workout.
A recent study reveals, however, that modest caffeine usage — up to 500 mg per day, or approximately five cups per day — does not dehydrate exercisers to the point that it interferes with their training.
Coffee also aids in the fight against exhaustion, allowing you to exercise for longer periods of time.
Coffee is an antidepressant.
Coffee drinking has been related to lower rates of depression in both men and women in numerous studies. The findings from multiple research revealed an inverse association between coffee consumption and depression: heavy coffee consumers appeared to have the lowest risk of depression (up to 20%).
Researchers aren’t clear how coffee prevents sadness, although it is known that caffeine activates mood-controlling neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin.
Coffee Helps to Prevent Gout.
Independent studies of men and women’s coffee consumption habits reveal that drinking coffee on a daily basis lowers the chance of acquiring gout.
The Nurses’ Health Study looked examined the health habits of nearly 90,000 female nurses over a 26-year period and discovered a link between long-term coffee intake and a reduced incidence of gout.
The benefit was associated with both regular and decaf consumption: women who drank more than four cups of regular coffee daily had a 57 percent lower risk of gout; women who drank one to three cups daily had a 22 percent lower risk of gout; and women who drank one cup of decaf per day had a 23 percent lower risk of gout when compared to women who didn’t drink coffee at all.
Males have had similar results: a large-scale study published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism discovered that men who drank four to five cups of coffee per day had a 40% lower risk of gout, while those who drank six cups or more had a 60% lower risk of gout.
