Is coffee good or bad for you? 4 things to know about your favorite morning beverage
When I discuss intermittent fasting, I emphasize that when fasting, you cannot consume anything other than black coffee, unsweetened tea, or water. In response, some readers question coffee as a recommendation and point out that it is bad for your health.
Is it?
That depends on a number of factors. One obvious factor is flavoring which transforms a cup of coffee into an expensive luxury item. For example, when you add a whipped cream topper, syrups, flavor shots and swirls, etc., you can easily add hundreds of garbage calories to your coffee and a strong case can be made that it’s potentially harmful to your health. Thus, as is true with most things in life, moderation when it comes to “fancy” coffee is best.
Here's what else to know:
Is coffee bad for you?
Admittedly, in the past coffee had an “iffy” reputation as possibly being harmful to health. Epidemiological (population-based) studies suggested that heavy coffee consumption may contribute to heart disease. Such studies suggested a relationship, but at times the research was not as rigorous as it should be, especially when it comes to statistical analyses. For example, while some early research found heart problems associated with heavy coffee drinking, they did not take into account that many of these folks smoked cigarettes, and they tended to particularly enjoy smoking while having their coffee. Thus, if the heavy coffee drinkers in these studies were less healthy, was it due to the coffee or other factors, such as smoking?
Another often cited problem is the caffeine in coffee stimulates the release of adrenalin which can temporarily elevate blood pressure. If blood pressure is a problem, it’s best to stay away from caffeine found in coffee and many other food products. The same is true if you are especially sensitive to the effects of caffeine and it makes you jittery or prevents sound sleeping. In addition, some medications conflict with caffeine.
Chances are good you already know if you should avoid caffeine. If you are not in this group, what is the verdict on drinking “regular” coffee? Most nutrition experts are OK with it and recommend no more than three to five 8-ounce cups per day, and no more than 400 mg of caffeine. However, if you jazz up your coffee with lots of sugar and fatty creamer, you are essentially transforming it into a type of “fancy” coffee with lots of harmful calories, and less consumption is better.
What are the health benefits of coffee?
On the positive side of the ledger, not only is coffee unlikely to be problematic for the vast majority of the population, but there may actually be health benefits. Some research suggests that even though coffee may elevate blood pressure temporarily, it protects the heart, according to a 2022 study in the "Journal of the American College of Cardiology," which reported that for folks diagnosed with heart disease, drinking three cups of coffee daily reduced the risk of death from heart attack and stroke. MRIs showed that the hearts of coffee drinkers functioned better, plus the size of the heart was healthier.
Coffee may also reduce the risk of liver disease which includes liver cancer, Type 2 diabetes, and even Parkinson’s disease. More research is needed, of course, but it appears that the potential health benefits of coffee may extend beyond fully blended coffee to decaf. However, the concentration of healthful ingredients may be reduced in decaf.
What makes coffee healthy?
Experts point to the high concentration of so-called “bioactive compounds, including antioxidants” that promote health as one reason coffee is healthy. Antioxidants counteract the damage caused by free radicals the body produces continuously as a byproduct of using oxygen to drive metabolism. In addition, bioactive compounds may improve the health of the gut microbiome (healthy bacteria that aid digestion and increase the power of the immune system).
A 2021 study in the journal "Nutrients" reported that coffee also boasts lots of phytochemicals, plant-based chemicals that we are just beginning to appreciate as health promoters. Among other things, coffee phytochemicals may be anti-inflammatory and boost insulin sensitivity, and combined these factors reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
What about the brain? A 2021 study in the journal "Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience," reported that coffee drinkers with an average age of 70 years and who displayed no memory problems at the start of a 10-year study experienced less “cognitive impairment.” Cognitive impairment is when there is trouble remembering, concentrating, learning new things, or even making simple everyday decisions.
However, a caution flag was raised when studying the effects of coffee on the brain. Excessive coffee consumption of more than five or six cups a day may harm the brain, and cognitive impairment may worsen. Again, moderation is best, so don’t overdo it.
Can drinking coffee help you live longer?
Health professionals seem positive overall on the potential benefits of drinking coffee in moderation. Black coffee is best for intermittent fasting, while modest flavoring is acceptable in general.
There is still much we don’t know about coffee, but there appears to be general agreement that there are biologically active components in coffee that do good things in the body. How many such components is unknown, but some experts suggest the number could go as high as 100.
Given the potential health benefits, can drinking coffee help you live longer? The answer could possibly be yes, as some research evidence suggests that coffee lowers the risk of dying from any cause. And even if it doesn’t, there also is evidence that coffee can improve your mood and reduce the risk of depression, thus improving the quality of the years you live.
Reach Bryant Stamford, a professor of kinesiology and integrative physiology at Hanover College, at stamford@hanover.edu.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Is coffee good or bad for you? What are the health benefits of coffee?
