Coffee often gets a bad rap for everything from its caffeine content to the stain it leaves on your teeth. But the truth is that the benefits of this drink far outweigh the many perceived disadvantages associated with it. An often overlooked fact is that coffee is so much more than just caffeine.
In its original form, it is a whole food containing many beneficial nutrients and antioxidants. The key is knowing where to find high-quality coffee and how to avoid losing any health benefits by reducing its nutrient content or adding harmful substances such as artificial ingredients.
Let's take a look at the amazing health benefits of coffee in this article.
Health benefits of coffee (it will also make you happier)
1. Help you burn more calories.
In one Spanish study, athletes who drank the equivalent of 12 ounces of coffee before exercise burned about 15% more calories for a full three hours after exercise.[1]
Even if you don't exercise, drinking coffee has been proven to boost metabolism by 10-20% for those who drink one to two cups a day. As a result, you can burn calories (and even help you lose weight if you diet and exercise).
2. Improve blood circulation.
According to a Japanese study, drinking a five-ounce cup of coffee causes a 30% increase in capillary blood flow.
This level of increased circulation results in better oxygenation of your body's tissues, which has a number of benefits, such as improved performance during exercise.
3. They have an analgesic effect.
University of Illinois research has shown that two to three cups of coffee can reduce participants' perceived levels of pain, in this case after a workout.
These results were replicated in a University of Georgia study where participants reported a 48% reduction in muscle soreness compared to 30% and 25% with naproxen and aspirin, respectively.
4. Increase your endurance.
Not only can coffee reduce your perceived level of pain during exercise, but it can also reduce your perceived level of tension. By reducing the amount of energy you feel you expend (more than 5%), it becomes easier for you to exercise.
As a result, drinking coffee before a workout can improve exercise performance by more than 11% because you feel like you're using less energy.
5. Help preserve muscle tissue.
When you drink coffee, your brain releases a substance called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that keeps your muscles working. Without this important factor, muscles are more prone to atrophy.
In fact, the caffeine in coffee helps prevent age-related loss of strength, which can also reduce the risk of injury.
6. Make you smarter
The caffeine in coffee causes a feeling of alertness and increased energy as a result of its interaction with adenosine receptors in the brain.[2]
This causes an improvement in various areas of brain function such as reaction time, alertness, and overall cognitive function.
7. Improve your memory.
Another important brain function supported by coffee consumption is improved memory.
Drinking two eight-ounce cups of coffee a day has been shown to improve long-term memory.[3]
8. Reduce your risk of depression.
Coffee is also associated with lower levels of depression, especially in women. Those who consume up to four eight-ounce cups a day have been found to reduce their risk of depression by as much as 20%.
This reduced risk is because coffee also affects the production of brain chemicals like serotonin and dopamine.
9. Reduce your risk of certain types of cancer.
So far, coffee has been associated with a reduced risk of both liver and rectal cancers, the third and fourth most common cancers in the world.
Coffee drinkers appear to have a 40% lower risk of liver cancer and a 15% lower risk of colorectal cancer if they drink four to five cups a day. An association has also been found between coffee drinkers and a lower risk of basal cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer.
10. Reduce your risk of heart disease.
Studies over the years have claimed that caffeine consumption can increase blood pressure. While this is true, the effect has been found to be quite small and is usually only present in those who do not drink coffee regularly. No studies have been found to support the idea that coffee increases the risk of heart disease.
However, evidence shows that coffee may reduce the risk of heart disease in some people, especially women. Coffee drinkers have a 20% lower risk of stroke.[4]
11. Protect your liver
In addition to preventing liver cancer, coffee also prevents other common diseases that affect the liver, such as hepatitis and fatty liver disease.
Coffee may protect against cirrhosis of the liver, in which the liver is severely damaged by scar tissue, reducing the risk by 80% in people who drink four or more cups every day.
12. Helps fight gout.
Gout is a condition caused by high levels of uric acid in the blood. Men who drink four to five cups of coffee a day have a 40 percent lower relative risk of gout than men who don't drink coffee.[5]
Decaffeinated coffee also slightly reduces the risk of gout.
13. Help you get plenty of nutrients and antioxidants.
Coffee has been found to contain a huge amount of antioxidants. In fact, many people in Western culture get more antioxidants from coffee than they do from fruits and vegetables combined.
Other important ingredients include riboflavin (11% DV), potassium (3%), magnesium, and niacin (2% each). These amounts increase if you drink more than one cup a day.
14. Reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is a disease that currently affects about 300 million people worldwide. Coffee drinkers have the opportunity to lower their risk with every cup of coffee they drink.
The results of various studies seem to indicate a risk reduction of about 7% per cup drunk, with the highest coffee drinkers reducing risk by 67%.[6]
15. Make you more energetic
This advantage seems obvious. This is the reason many people turn to their morning cup of coffee.
There is no doubt that coffee can give you an extra boost, especially if you haven't gotten enough sleep. This is due to caffeine, which acts as a stimulant that helps you feel more alert and focused. It also gives you a boost of energy and helps you keep going when your stamina is low.
You can even increase your productivity if you drink coffee strategically. Here's how to do it: How to Drink Caffeine with a Performance Boosting Strategy
16. Reduce your risk of Alzheimer's.
Studies conducted at both the University of Miami and the University of South Florida have found a proven link between coffee consumption and a reduced risk of dementia, a type of which is Alzheimer's disease.
In fact, those who consumed about three cups a day were 65% less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. Coffee drinkers also have a 32 to 60% lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease, another leading neurodegenerative disease.
17. Reduce your stress levels just by sniffing coffee.
Researchers at Seoul National University found that sleep-deprived rats exposed to the smell of coffee had reduced amounts of stress-causing proteins in their brains.[7] It is worth noting that this reduction in stress was associated with the stress caused by sleep deprivation.
This is good news for those who don't like coffee.
18. Make you happier
Being happy is great, right? And for those who love coffee, there's nothing better than the familiar warmth and flavor that keeps you awake every morning or any time of the day.
19. Help you live longer
While it is not known how drinking coffee reduces the risk of death, there is definitely a correlation.
Research by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has shown that people who drink three or more cups every day have a 10% lower risk of death. Perhaps the most important takeaway from this study is that drinking coffee does not seem to have adverse effects on your health, as earlier studies have shown.
20. Promote sustainability
In recent years, there has been an increase in the popularity of fair trade coffee, which protects small farmers around the world.
By working to improve the rights and earning opportunities of farmers, fair trade organizations also promote social, economic and environmental sustainability. They encourage shade-grown and organic coffee, which is part of what makes beans grown in places like Costa Rica superior to what you can get from larger commercial distributors.
Are there any potential risks of drinking coffee?
There are several important factors to consider if you want to enjoy the benefits of coffee:
- Because many of these benefits are directly related to the caffeine in coffee, you won't get the same benefits from decaffeinated coffee. You can also reduce the health benefits by adding substances such as artificial sweeteners and creamers.
- While coffee can certainly help you resist fatigue, drinking too much of it can lead to adrenal exhaustion.
- Coffee is also a diuretic. Too much of it can lead to dehydration.
As you can see from the following infographic, coffee can be both an angel and an evil. If you don't drink too much, it can lead to negative results:[8]
How to get the most out of coffee?
To get the most out of your coffee, choose whole coffee beans and grind them right before brewing your coffee. Black coffee is recommended if you want more benefits.
You'll also want to use organic coffee beans, as pesticide-free ones are often among the most heavily sprayed crops in existence.
The best way to find chemical-free beans is to look for the 100% organic seal or visit your local coffee farm and buy them directly from the grower. Your taste buds and your health will thank you.
