Healthy Brew: 10 Reason to Enjoy Your Morning Cup

More Great Reasons to Enjoy a Cuppa

Recent studies have shown that consuming 2-5 cups of coffee a day can lead to better health. Though, to be honest, I don’t think many of us needed any more convincing! But when it comes to enjoying coffee and our general well-being, there is a lot to talk about! Here we have detailed a list of 10 health benefits of coffee!

Studies have shown that coffee, being high in antioxidants has a whole host of health benefits. Antioxidants are compounds that help our bodies combat free radicals. Free radicals are agents that can cause serious cell damage and throw our bodies into oxidative stress, which can complicate our health. Luckily, by consuming coffee daily, one can supply the body with more antioxidants that can help to banish the cell-damaging free radicals.

A 2007 study found that consuming two or more cups of coffee can help to reduce post-workout pain in our muscles by as much as 48%. That’s quite a lot. This makes coffee a particularly useful post-workout beverage to take to the gym or on long bike rides. But you may also want to save some as a pre-workout drink too, because…

It turns out, caffeine is a great pre-workout drink, too! And there’s more than 1 reason as to why. First, caffeine can help your body break down fatty acid by stimulating the nervous system. Second, it can also amplify the adrenaline levels that pump through your blood and preps your body for some hardcore physical effort. Third, caffeine can help keep you going by helping your body break down body fat and converting it into fuel. And lastly, caffeine has also been found to improve physical performance as well. Just make sure to drink your coffee 30 minutes to an hour before exercise and make sure to hydrate with plenty of water before, during and after workouts.

It's not all just muscle here! Coffee can also help give your brain a boost, too. Studies have shown that caffeine improves mental functions by blocking an inhibitory neurotransmitter, or brain signal, which results in an increase of positive brain chemicals like dopamine. Consuming caffeine can result in improved mood, memory, mental functions and reaction times.

The mental benefits of coffee do not stop with enhanced memory and alertness, either. Studies have shown that women who drink 4 or more cups of coffee daily are 20% less likely to experience depression.

Here’s another reason to grab a cuppa after a long night out! Coffee can help defend your liver. People who drink 4 or more cups of coffee each day have reduced risk of developing cirrhosis of the liver, up to 80%!

Several studies on coffee and caffeine have noticed a trend between the amount of coffee and caffeine consumed per day and reduced risks of developing certain types of cancer and melanoma. Some of these include liver cancer and colorectal cancer. Coffee cannot cure cancer, but consuming 3-5 cups daily can help reduce the risk of developing these specific types of cancer.

A study from Cornell found that coffee consumption can aid in reducing retinal damage that can come as a result of oxidative stress. Oxidative stress, caused by those pesky free radicals, and vanquished by the antioxidants in coffee! The credit goes to a naturally occurring acid in coffee that provides said antioxidants that help combat the free radicals.

This one sounds too good to be true, but some studies have found that regular coffee consumption can reduce the risk of death in people by up to 26%. This may in part be due to the plethora of ailments and diseases, along with the mountain of antioxidants coffee provides.

A study from Korea has shown that consuming 3-5 cups of coffee a day can result in a reduced risk of developing heart disease. Additionally, a study from Brazil found that people who drank at least 3 cups of coffee daily had a lower potential to develop calcified arteries. That’s not all, as once again, the high level of antioxidants in coffee can certainly be seen as a plus to heart health, too.

And that’s not all!

As research into the effects of coffee and caffeine continue to improve, more and more interesting facts and information are coming to light about this excellent beverage. From the antioxidants in coffee to the fat burning properties of caffeine, coffee has a whole mound of reasons to enjoy a cup or even five, each day!

Is the caffeine amount okay?

If you are concerned about the amount of caffeine in coffee, but still want to experience and enjoy the same amount of health benefits, there is good news. There are still many health benefits one can experience from drinking decaf. Though, fully caffeinated coffee possesses the most benefits because the decaffeination process often results in many of the antioxidants being skimmed from the resulting beverage. But this is okay, especially if one’s body cannot handle the amount of caffeine that would result in 3-5 cups of fully caffeinated coffee each day! Though for some, too much caffeine does not exist, in which case, feel free to enjoy as much as you like. Even more recent studies have shown that even as many as 25 cups of coffee is mostly safe and still beneficial to the human body.

How to get in your daily coffee(s)

A great way to get your daily intake of coffee without overloading too much is to start by enjoying a rich cup in the morning. Something like a latte that also provides a decent amount of calcium to start the day with.

If you are still feeling fine but want your second cup to reach your quota, an after lunch iced coffee is very refreshing. An iced Americano is wonderful because it is espresso, something that can give you that midday boost to keep you going. The iced character also allows you to drink faster and get the caffeine to your body as quickly as you can!

Evening coffee can be a tricky one, as many people don’t want the caffeine to keep them up all night. You can opt for another more diluted coffee such as a flat white or cappuccino to enjoy as dessert, or alternatively, if you’d like to keep your caffeine intake restricted to before 2 p.m. then a pre-work or in-transit black coffee or macchiato is a great additional choice. Feel free to experiment with what works best for your routine, body, and budget, and certainly don’t forget to enjoy coffee alongside meals, too!

Sources:

• “13 Health Benefits of Coffee, Based on Science.” Healthline, Healthline Media, www.healthline.com/nutrition/top-13-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-coffee.

• “20+ Good Health Reasons To Drink Coffee.” Caffeine Informer, www.caffeineinformer.com/7-good-reasons-to-drink-coffee.

• “Here's the Exact Number of Cups of Coffee You Can Drink Per Day.” Healthline, Healthline Media, www.healthline.com/health-news/6-cups-of-coffee-a-day-is-safe-but-more-isnt-healthy#What-are-the-health-benefits-associated-with-coffee-consumption?