Coffee and Health

Is coffee good for you? What are the limits of coffee consumption?

Early studies linked coffee to cancer. This connection, though, was later shown to be confounded by cigarettes … those who drank coffee often smoked as well.

When you subtract out the smoking, the carcinogenic effect was removed as well. So there is nothing to fear from (moderate) coffee consumption.

The question is … what in the world does “moderate” mean. The data vary depending on the study, but studies suggest that you can consume between 3 and 6 cups of coffee per day. At this amount, you would get the health benefits without it becoming a health liability.

3 to 6 cups per day seems like an aweful lot to me. Who drinks that much coffee?

Keep in mind, too, that we are all individuals, and the effect of caffeine on your system will vary. If you are sensitive to the effects of caffeine, don’t feel like you have to drink it. In fact, DECAF coffee had a stronger correlation with the reduction of colon cancer than regular coffee.

Why is that? It’s not clear, but stay tuned as more data comes in and we learn more about America’s favorite morning beverage.