Coffee!! A great stressbuster at work. Your energy boost after a spin class. A perfect accompaniment to your favorite book- it is difficult to imagine a day without a steaming cup of freshly roasted joe. But is coffee good for your health?
For centuries, drinking coffee has been a topic of debate. Coffee afficionados believe it is a powerhouse of energy, while opponents claim it causes insomnia, restlessness, and toxicity. Good news for coffee lovers! The case for your favorite beverage is stronger now.
Studies indicate that coffee has several health benefits (most of which you haven’t heard of perhaps). Know from Eraofwe.com about who invented coffee so that you can thank them later!
Here’s a quick round up of how the right amount of coffee is good for our health. So, stop being guilty and grab that third cup!
1. Keep Diabetes at Bay
Various studies states that drinking 3 to 5 cups of coffee each day can be related with a reduced risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes and other heart diseases. Coffee is rich in minerals like chromium and magnesium, which can help control blood sugar levels in the body. Caffeine also helps impair glucose tolerance and reduces insulin sensitivity. This further helps lower the risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.
2. Live Longer…Hale & Hearty
Did you know that drinking coffee every day in the right proportion can make you live longer? A large amount of evidences suggest that regular consumption of caffeinated coffee may help reduce the risk of various chronic diseases like stroke, kidney diseases, coronary heart disease, diabetes, etc. Additionally, the risk of premature death in coffee drinkers is found to be 25% lower than non-coffee drinkers.
3. Coffee is a Perfect Energy Booster and Makes You Smart Too
We all know that caffeine is a great stimulant that helps increases energy levels and makes you feel less tired. The caffeine gets absorbed into the bloodstream from where it reaches your brain and blocks the neurotransmitter adenosine. This leads to an increased secretion of other neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine that has a stimulating effect on the body. At the same time, it helps spike the energy levels.
But a lesser known fact is that coffee may also help improve various brain functions like mood, memory, general mental abilities, reaction times, and vigilance.
4. Coffee Helps Burn Fat
Not a well-known fact, but coffee can help boost your metabolism rate by 3-11% – suggests several studies. In fact, many commercial fat-burning supplements contain caffeine, a substance you will find in coffee too. It is one of the most effective natural substances that aids in fat burning.
There are some other studies indicating that caffeine can help improve the process of fat burning by as much as 29% in lean people and 10% in obese individuals. Since caffeine helps improve the metabolic rate, you will feel fuller for longer. As such, you will feel less hungry and eat less. This will eventually help you lose fat.
5. A Powerhouse of Antioxidants
Coffee is rich in antioxidants, which is known to help improve heart health and also reduce the risks of infections. Drinking a cup or two of coffee every day can help ward off the risk of heart failure, especially when you are facing difficulties pumping sufficient blood to the body.
According to Joe Vinson, Ph.D., a lead researcher of a study performed on coffee at the University of Scranton, suggests that “Americans get more of their antioxidants from coffee than any other dietary source. Nothing else comes close.”
6. Helps Reduce the Risk of Cancer
Cancer is a major lifestyle disease today, affecting at least 1 in 5 people during their lifetime. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) further states that 1 in 11 women and 1 in 8 men die from this disease globally.
Lucky for coffee lovers, caffeine is widely studied and found to help alleviate the risk of cancer in men and women. One study suggests that coffee may lower the risk of having endometrial cancer in women by 25% and prostate cancer in men by almost 20%.
Additionally, researchers also found that coffee drinkers are less likely to develop basal cell carcinoma and colorectal cancer than non-coffee drinkers.
7. Your Liver will Love You
Very few coffee lovers know that both decaf and regular coffee may have a protective layer on their livers, helping maintain optimum enzyme levels that are crucial for your body. A group of Italian researchers have found that drinking coffee regularly within the healthy range may lower the risk of developing liver cancer by around 40%.
A lesser-known fact about coffee, right?
8. Coffee May Help Prevent Blindness
Rarely heard of before, but a research by Cornell University stated that coffee contains a strong antioxidant named chlorogenic acid. This particular antioxidant is known to prevent retinal degeneration and blindness. So, here’s one more reason why you should definitely love the latte art.
9. Your DNA Gets Stronger with a Cup of Coffee
A special variety of coffee – dark roast – may help reduce the breakage of DNA strands, which is a natural process. However, if your body cells aren’t capable of repairing the breakage of DNA, it can even result in tumors or cancer. Here, dark roast coffee plays an important role by decreasing the extent to which your DNA breaks. So, you can expect your DNA to be stronger over a regular cup of coffee.
The Final Words
It is true that coffee is good for your health, more than what you know. But before you jump and make merry over drinking coffee, it is important to understand that too much of anything is not good. Excessive consumption of caffeinated coffee may make you jittery and also cause anxiety, increased heart rate & blood pressure, and difficulty sleeping.
So, you should always drink coffee in an optimal amount to enjoy the deliciousness of your favorite morning beverage, while getting all the health benefits – and avoid the side effects.
Nina Smith 
Kim Marks