While I am not one of those people who need a cup of coffee in order to start functioning in the morning, I do enjoy my daily cup. I usually turn to coffee in the afternoon, after lunch. My days at college have made me tolerant of numerous variations of the beverage and as a result, I can drink pretty much every type of coffee you can think of and of various strengths. Having said that, I could not help but sometimes wonder whether coffee has some benefits to our health. You always hear the negatives, such as the effect on blood pressure and heart rate, but are there any positives? Well, I did some research and stumbled upon some quite interesting articles answering that very question.

According to an article published on eatright.org, coffee in moderate amounts can lower the risk of Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, and can even act as an antitoxin. It gets even better! Apparently, coffee contains nutrients that your body ingests every time you drink a cup. Granted, it is a small number of nutrients, but they are there never the less. Wanting to know more, I did some further research and came across an article written by Robert H. Shmerling, MD, and published by Harvard University.

Shmerling noted that the World Health Organization has changed its stance on coffee in recent years: “In a June 2016 report, the WHO officially lifted coffee from the list of potentially carcinogenic foods.“. In addition to the benefits which were named by eatright.org, Dr. Shmerling noted that studies have shown coffee drinkers may have a reduced risk of uterine and liver cancer, cirrhosis, and gout.

The article goes on to say that, right now it is unclear where exactly the healthy aspects of coffee originate from as many studies done on the subject do not distinguish regular coffee from de-caf. What is clear however is that longstanding beliefs about coffee posing a danger to consumers are likely exaggerated.

The other side of the medal

All of what you have read so far assumes that you drink coffee in moderate amounts, meaning 1- 3 cups a day at the most. The WHO may have done something quite unusual and encouraging by taking coffee off the list of potentially carcinogenic foods, but that does not mean that there are no risks in consuming the beverage. Our bodies react differently to caffeine and negative side-effects are a possibility especially if your coffee consumption exceeds the mentioned amount. According to Shmerling, people drinking coffee excessively may experience sleeping problems, jitteriness, frequent urination and anxiety. In addition to this, as mentioned in the eatright.org article, the addition of larger amounts of sugar may bring its own risk as well.

So what is the takeaway?

As Shmerling noted, while there may not be a specific scientific reason behind why you should not drink coffee in moderate amounts, there are still risks involved. It is important to respect what your own body tells you as it will let you know when enough is enough.

Finally, if you have never had a cup of coffee before and after reading this article, you want to, be smart and safe about it. Similarly, if you have tried and didn’t like it, there is no reason to push yourself further. However, if you are a current consumer, this article should be welcome news, but should not serve as encouragement for you to drastically increase your coffee consumption.

Now, please excuse me, my coffee is getting cold.