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Coffee one of the world’s most popular beverages. In fact, approximately
2.25 BILLION cups of coffee are consumed every single day. If you know
me, you know I absolutely LOVE coffee. The main reason I love it is
because of its amazing flavours. Sure, coffee is also a stimulant, but I
don’t seem to notice too much of a difference after a cup. To add the
cherry on top, coffee has many health benefits that have been widely
studied. Today I’m going to share those with you and talk about 5 health
benefits of coffee!
5 Health benefits of coffee
Coffee is full of nutrition
Coffee isn’t just beans and water! Coffee is derived from the coffee plant and belongs to the Rubiaceae family. There are many different types of coffee beans, but the most common kind is Arabica.
Like most plants, the beans from the coffee plant are full of nutrients and phytochemicals. Coffee contains a lot of caffeine (which I will talk about later), potassium, B-vitamins, and small amounts of other vitamins and minerals. As well, it contains important phytochemicals that act as antioxidants such as Chlorogenic acid and Quinic acid.
Considering most people drink a few cups per day, you are probably getting a good amount of nutrition from these drinks. Just remember, adding a bunch of sugar and cream doesn’t help the situation! In fact, it can significantly contribute to calories and sugar intake.
If you need to add something, I recommend sticking with milk since this won’t add a lot of calories but will dampen down the bitterness a bit.
It improves your cognitive performance
Coffee is known as a stimulant because it contains a naturally-occurring compound called caffeine (1,3,7‐trimethylxanthine if you must know). Caffeine falls under the umbrella of compounds called Methylxanthines, which are central-nervous system stimulants. In other words, they stimulate our brain.
When we consume caffeine, it is absorbed into our blood stream extremely fast (99% within 45 minutes) and is sent throughout the body, including the brain. Because of the unique structure of caffeine (i.e., it likes fat/lipids), it can easily cross a thing called the blood-brain barrier. When it passes this barrier, it is allowed access to our brain. Caffeine has been connected to increasing (or increasing receptors to) neurotransmitters called dopamine and norepinephrine. These are related to mood improvement and alertness. Furthermore, it blocks a neurotransmitter called adenosine, which usually slows down brain activity.
Research continues to support the notion that caffeine can improve reaction time, arousal, attention, and improves our mood, likely from an increase in the neurotransmitters I just mentioned. However, to what extent caffeine can improve cognitive performance remains unknown. The authors of one caffeine review suggested that caffeine itself does NOT improve cognitive performance. Instead, caffeine improves our mood, arousal, and ability to concentrate, which THEN enhances our performance. Either way, there appears to be improvement in cognitive tasks when we drink caffeine within the recommendations.
While most people can have up to 400mg of caffeine per day (about 3-4 cups), some people are more sensitive to it and should have less. Drink what works for you!
It may be neuroprotective against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease
In a 2014 meta-analysis of 492 724 people, those who had approximately 3 cups of coffee per day had a 28% lower risk of developing Parkinson’s. These authors, along with other reviews, suggest that the caffeine in coffee blocks adenosine receptors, which in turn prevent the accumulation of a compound called β-amyloid and other dopaminergic lesions (i.e., injury to the brain tissue). Furthermore, coffee is extremely high in antioxidants because of the many phytochemicals in coffee beans. This helps to decrease inflammation throughout the body. One of the main phytochemicals in coffee is Chlorogenic acid, which has also been linked to brain protection.
Keep in mind that these diseases are extremely complicated and drinking coffee is NOT going to prevent it 100%. But, with most research suggesting neurological benefits to coffee consumption, this does make drinking coffee even more appealing!
You perform better athletically
Athletic performance is important to many of us. Personally, I have been an avid athlete since I was four (although I won’t deny that my skillset didn’t show up for many years later!)
There has been a TON of research on the effects of caffeine and athletic performance. So much that it is basically common knowledge that having caffeine will enhance performance in most athletes.
However, many of the studies that have shown this used caffeine tablets with water. Therefore, the outcomes of those studies cannot be applied to coffee. But fear not, some authors (probably coffee lovers) wanted to see if coffee had the same effect as these caffeine tablets.
In this study, the authors took a small sample of 8 cyclists and had them participate in a single blinded, cross-over, randomised, counter-balance study. Basically, participants rode a cycling bike over the course of a few weeks. Their goal was to complete a time-trial and ultimately, get the lowest time possible. Before they started, they were given either a placebo drink, a decaf coffee, a caffeinated coffee, or a caffeine capsule. The researchers then looked at the participants’ blood as well as their overall cycling time. Over the next few weeks, they would switch the drink provided until each cyclist performed with each drink (in random order, preventing the chance that they improved from practice!)
What did they find?
They found that athletes that had caffeinated coffee OR the caffeine tablets had significantly better performance times compared to the placebo or decaf coffee group. Translation: Coffee DOES improve athletic performance!One important thing that the authors commented on was HOW caffeine improves performance. There have been many theories that it is due to increased fat oxidation (more fat is burned and therefore gives us more energy). However, the authors found no differences in fat oxidation between all the groups. But they did suggest that it’s due to the blockage of adenosine (like I mentioned earlier). This appears to improve muscle excitation and contraction (i.e., better working muscles).
Finally, most studies look at caffeine and endurance performance. Very few look at strength exercise. In a recent meta-analysis, authors found that caffeine DOES improve strength exercise, especially in the upper body. However, they were not able to comment on coffee specifically. However, considering the effects of coffee on endurance exercise, you may be able to assume similar results.
So, if you enjoy coffee, try having some an hour before your gym session!
Coffee may reduce risk of death and chronic disease
In a recent European cohort study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, 521 330 people were studied for an average of 16.4 years. The researchers found that those who consumed coffee (3-4 cups per day) were significantly less likely to experience death from heart and liver disease (they also had much lower liver biomarkers). They also found that only women experienced improvements in their HDL (“good”) cholesterol and lower markers of inflammation (e.g., CRP). This indicates that coffee may be protective for your heart and liver while also decreasing inflammation.
In a meta-analysis of 1,109,272 people, researchers found that those who had 6 cups of coffee per day had a 33% decreased risk of type 2 diabetes. Even for those who had less than this, they still have a reduced risk compared to not drinking coffee.
Just to put this into perspective, a tall coffee at Starbucks is 354 mL. Therefore, to reach 6 cups you would need to have 4.25 tall coffees a day. For some people, they reach that no problem. For others, don’t worry about meeting that! You’ll benefit from even just one coffee.
Don’t like the caffeine? Well, good news! It didn’t matter if the coffee was caffeinated or not, suggesting the polyphenolic compounds in the coffee are the stars. Chlorogenic acid, the main polyphenol in coffee, may actually decrease sugar absorption in the gut. Furthermore, it is linked to decreased oxidative stress (i.e., inflammation)
Sum it Up
There is a reason why so many people drink coffee. It tastes amazing, it gives a nice boost to our days, and it has many health benefits.If you have a hard time with coffee, that’s okay! Tea has similar benefits. Or if you want, just stick to a diet full of variety and colour to ensure you are getting enough vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.
As mentioned in this article, coffee appears to benefit us in more ways than we even know. From improved sports performance to decreased risk of chronic disease, coffee seems to be a drink that we can really benefit from.
When it comes to nutrition studies, there is an important thing to note:
Nutrition studies are complicated and are difficult to perfectly run. There are many reasons for this, but mainly due to the fact that controlling food intake is nearly impossible. We cannot have a group of people drink ONLY coffee for years and years. Therefore, other things they eat (as well as other lifestyle factors) could potentially get in the way. While there are statistical analyses to control this, and researchers do their best to get accurate food data from the participants, we always need to remember that there is no guarantee that the information is 100% correct. With all research, we must take it with a grain of salt.
So, I hope you enjoyed this article on 5 health benefits of coffee. If you feared coffee before this, my hope is that your fear is lessened. Grab a cup and enjoy!
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