Welcome to the first post of my series about coffee myths! In the first two parts I will throw light on different myths regarding ' coffee and health.'
In which positive (or negative?) ways does coffee affect your health? Let’s go!
Myth 1: You suffer from dehydration when drinking coffee.
This is one of the most popular myths. Most research institutes including the American Nutrition Association, Asian Nutrition Society for Sports and Health and the german nutrition society (DGE) agree that coffee does not dehydrate you if you get used to it. For people who drink coffee every day this means coffee has no negative effect on your water balance.
Myth 2: Coffee causes high blood pressure
Coffee indeed affects your blood pressure. We have to consider that this is just temporary effect (there are no effects in the long term). This means: If you have a normal level of blood pressure you are totally fine with drinking coffee.
Myth 3: What are the effects of caffeine?
It takes about half an hour to 45 minutes until the caffeine reaches the blood circuit. The half-value period is around four hours, depending on your age, body weight and your individual genes. In a normal dose caffeine has positive effects on your physical and cognitive fitness. You feel awake, more concentrated and your mood improves. The consensus of scientists is: caffeine has no negative effects on your blood pressure in the long term. How do we know?
Well, caffeine was very often object of research when it comes to testing medicaments (lots of medicaments contain caffeine). If you have a normal level of blood pressure, caffeine does not harm you in any way. Let’s talk about the positive effects: different studies have proven that the caffeine-driven release of dopamine has positive effects for your health in the long term. Coffee drinkers have a reduced risks of suffering from Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s and depression.
Nice to hear. But...
Myth 4: Can coffee reduce the risk of cancer? What about diabetes?
The AACR says: Yes! Looking at the risk of skin cancer, researches found out that coffee has a significantly positive preventative effect. Furthermore, coffee contains several antioxidants that also have a positive preventative effect regarding other types of cancer. (I have to admit one thing though: There are not too many independent studies about coffee and cancer to make a definite statement). When it comes to diabetes, researchers found out that coffee drinkers are less affected. The reason is that coffee contains 'clorogenic acid' which decreases the risk of getting diabetes. Considering all these facts, we can state that coffee is good for you!
Conclusion: After part 1 we can state: coffee is good for your health! Basically there are no negative effects worth mentioning so far. Just in case your blood pressure is already too high you should be careful and not drink too much (about 4 cups a day should be totally fine).
Part 2 will answer if coffee actually stimulates your digestion in a helpful way, if there is a serious risk of getting addicted, if coffee really causes problems falling asleep and if it affects the potency.
Hope you liked it. Enjoy your coffee!
I started drinking larger amounts of coffee when I gave up drinking alcohol 10 years ago. It's my daily routine to drink coffee until early afternoon, then I switch to water for the rest of the day. Nice to know this is one habit that won't kill me. It's my last vice for crying out loud! :-)
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