Is Coffee Healthy?

I'm sure you've all come across articles that say "scientists found that eating an apple a day can help you live up to 135" or something like that. I admit, in my childhood I took such information as the truth. However, over time, faith in all-powerful scientists who know exactly what to eat and what not to eat has been shaken.

I distinctly remember reading an article once that said red wine helped you live longer. As evidence, it cites observations of elderly people in France who drink a lot of red wine and live longer than in countries in Africa or Asia. The article listed specific African and Asian countries for comparison, but I don't remember it now. I only remember that this information immediately made me wonder if it was really just a matter of wine.Or maybe the difference in pension provision and access to quality medicine should be taken into account here?

Then I came across various articles. Some claimed that red wine is good for the cardiovascular system, and others that wine increases the risk of a heart attack. Over time, I was surprised to find that such articles with opposing opinions can be found about any food product. This made me think that actually scientists cannot reliably investigate the effect of a food product on a person's organism, because it is impossible to carry out a pure experiment, because a person will still consume something else at this time.

And Now About Coffee

Recently, my daughter asked me if children can drink coffee. I answered her honestly that I don't know.

When I was a child, it was believed that children should not drink coffee. At that time, there was an opinion that coffee raises blood pressure and can harm not only children, but also adults. Later, when I was a student, I discovered that I did not like coffee and preferred tea. Everything changed when I started working at work.

And now, after the child's question, I became curious: is coffee harmful, useful or neutral for the human body? I decided to find out what the same studies of scientists, who often have the opposite opinion, say.

In 1991, the WHO included coffee in the list of possible carcinogens, and in 2016 it was denied, because studies showed that coffee is not only not associated with an increase in the risk of cancer, but on the contrary, it reduces the risk of certain types of malignancy. Or maybe the big coffee traders just won😉?

Research on the Positive Effects of Coffee

EurekAlert writes that scientists studied the data of 1 million 185 thousand people, and also analyzed 30 related scientific studies that were devoted to the connection of coffee with metabolic diseases. The findings indicate that drinking 3-4 cups of coffee a day reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25% in women and men.

A study conducted by Johns Hopkins University found that giving study participants a caffeine pill correlated with better performance on memory tests.

A large study of nearly 500,000 British adults published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that those who drank at least two to three cups of coffee a day — and as many as eight cups — were "about 10 to 15 percent less likely to die." Obviously, this is nonsense, because those who drank a lot of coffee could simply afford it and probably had better financial security.

A study of 12,583 people published in the Journal of the American Association of Medical Directors found that those who drank four or more cups of coffee a day were twice as likely to avoid frailty by age 70.

A Canadian study published in 2017 in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience found that phenylindanes, chemicals produced during the coffee roasting process, may stop the build-up of two toxic proteins in the brain that have been linked to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

Coffee can strengthen DNA, which sometimes breaks. For four weeks, scientists observed healthy men, some of whom drank black coffee, and some - water. Initially, the same number of spontaneous DNA breaks was observed in the two groups. Then, among those who drank only water, an increase in the number of breaks was noticed, and among those who drank coffee - a decrease. The difference was 27%.

In another study, scientists followed 45,000 men for 12 years and took into account what beverages they consumed (coffee, tea). Among the participants, 757 people suffered from gout. As a result, it turned out that increasing the consumption of coffee reduced the risk of developing gout. Decaffeinated coffee was less effective in this case, and tea had no effect at all.

At the Institute of Dental Sciences in India, scientists conducted a study and collected data from all patients who consumed coffee. It turned out that those who drink about three cups of black coffee a day have the least problems with their teeth. But sweeteners, cream and milk completely deprive coffee of its antibacterial properties.

According to research, two cups of coffee after a workout eases muscle soreness. In this experiment, participants drank coffee after performing eccentric exercise. After an hour, they were asked to rate the intensity of pain sensations on a scale from 0 to 100. It turned out that caffeinated coffee significantly reduces pain sensitivity.

A study by Singapore scientists confirmed that drinking two or more cups of coffee a day can reduce the risk of developing liver cirrhosis by about 66%. Other researchers have found that drinking coffee can also reduce the risk of cancer, and that decaffeinated coffee lowers liver enzymes in the blood.

Caffeine helps prevent gallstones. This was confirmed by a study in which scientists observed the consumption of coffee and the formation of gallstones in 46,000 men for 10 years. Another study involving women produced similar results.

An analysis of 18 studies (total number of participants – 457,922 men) confirmed that each cup of coffee consumed reduces the risk of developing diabetes by approximately 7%.

According to research, coffee protects against heart failure. The key word is "moderate". This usually means two cups a day.

Researchers at Cornell University have found that chlorogenic acid, a powerful antioxidant found in coffee, reduces retinal cell death caused by hypoxia (lack of oxygen) or oxidative stress (cell damage from oxidation). The effect of chlorogenic acid was also tested on mice with damaged optic nerve. The results were the same.

Research on the harmfulness of coffee

Coffee has a negative effect on the effect of medicines. The researchers studied the behavior of alendronic acid (a remedy for osteoporosis) when taken with water and other drinks. It turned out that black coffee and orange juice weaken the absorption of the drug by 60%. And the effect of thyroid drugs decreases by 55% if you drink them with coffee.

Coffee can make acid reflux worse. One of the symptoms of acid reflux is heartburn. Coffee has extremely high acidity. Once in an acidic environment (gastric juice), it causes the muscles of the esophageal sphincter to relax. And this can cause or aggravate heartburn. According to some studies, coffee increases the level of acidity in the stomach, stimulating the production of the stomach hormone gastrin. And this causes the secretion of gastric juice. Coffee can also work as a laxative.

Coffee complicates the work of platelets. In 2008, researchers studied the effect of coffee and caffeine on platelets. Study participants consumed coffee or caffeine capsules and water. In those who drank coffee, the ability of platelets to stick together decreased. And in those who received only caffeine, the properties of platelets did not change.

Coffee can cause osteoporosis. Calcium is necessary for bone health, and caffeine reduces its absorption. With each cup we drink, we lose about 4-6 mg of calcium. According to scientists, caffeine leads to an accelerated loss of bone mineral density among older women.

Caffeine increases cravings for fruit juices, sodas, and other sugary drinks (which are addictive in their own right). This was confirmed by a randomized controlled trial conducted by Australian scientists.

Italian researchers analyzed data from more than 1,200 patients aged 18 to 45 with first-degree hypertension. Those who drink a lot of coffee are at risk of developing high blood pressure (the risk increases fourfold). In people who consume a moderate amount of coffee, the risk increases three times.

Researchers from the University of Alabama discovered that coffee relaxes the bladder. Consumption of more than 200 mg of caffeine per day leads to urinary incontinence.

Instead of a Сonclusion

😮 It's a lot of information, isn't it? At first, if you read about the benefits of coffee, it seems that it is some kind of healing elixir. But when you move on to the next chapter, it becomes less healing.

Personally, like most people, I really like coffee and I don't spend a single day without it. However, sometimes I feel like I'm better off skipping a coffee or two because it really messes up the acidity in my stomach and gives me heartburn.

In a word, it is impossible to unequivocally say whether coffee is useful or harmful. It is just a drink and should be consumed in moderation.