The French and Mediterranean people drink coffee every day, and the evidence is that we should too. Despite the controversy that swirls around it, the research data show that this common morning eye-opener is very healthy for you.<\/p>\n
The catch?<\/strong> Coffee is just like all other foods and drinks, a little is very health for you, but overconsumption makes that very same substance bad for you. The health, or ill health, of this drink is not a function of the coffee or tea itself. It comes down to whether you use it or abuse it.<\/p>\n But first, let\u2019s clear out the old myths.<\/strong> Although caffeine was traditionally associated with cancer, according to Harvard\u2019s Walter Willett, \u201cduring almost 2 million person-years of follow-up … consumption of caffeinated coffee or tea with caffeine or caffeine intake was not associated with the incidence of colon or rectal cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the most recent concern you might have heard brewing. If you have a cup of coffee, you\u2019ll stimulate cortisol production that will cause you to develop excess belly fat, memory problems, mood disorders, sleep disturbances, and you\u2019ll have a depressed immune system to boot. However, one Canadian research group showed that for people who drink 1-3 cups per day, there\u2019s actually no detectable increase in cortisol production.<\/p>\n Maybe the confusion arises because of how each research team did their studies. For example, a 2002 study in Psychosomatic Medicine showed that you could get a rise in cortisol by taking a 500mg pill of caffeine. In a similar study, researchers actually injected caffeine intravenously into experimental animals, and then showed spikes in cortisol and also in their anxiety levels.<\/p>\n Caffeine pills?<\/strong> Intravenous injection in lab animals? The real-world relevance here is strained, to say the least \u2013 especially when there is so much evidence that coffee and tea consumption of 1-2 cups per day has terrific health benefits. Just try to refrain from popping caffeine pills and injecting it straight into your veins, and you\u2019ll get all the health benefits without the potential harmful consequences.<\/p>\n Keep it small and you keep it healthy.<\/strong><\/p>\n But what\u2019s the limit? How much is too much?<\/p>\n Scientists at Athens University in Greece showed that once you drink about 500 milliliters per day of coffee (1\/2 liter), you really begin to produce health problems. \u201cWe have shown that caffeine acutely increases aortic stiffness and wave reflections,\u201d report the researchers in the June 2005 issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, (Vol. 81, No. 6, 1307-1312). “Which may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease,” they conclude.<\/p>\n This accords with a similar study showing that about 500 ml per day is the approximate threshold at which cortisol can be produced in your body.<\/p>\n And \u201cup to 3 cups per day\u201d seems to be the upper limit. After analyzing data on 126,000 people over 18 years, Harvard researchers have found that 1-3 cups of coffee per day reduces the risk of diabetes by 54% in men, and 30% in women. This must be due to the fact that coffee improves your insulin sensitivity.<\/p>\n In fact, in a 2004 study of more than 900 healthy elderly Swedish adults who drank up to 3 cups of coffee daily, researchers found increased insulin sensitivity of 0.16 units for each cup of coffee consumed. This is confirmed by two studies, one in Finland and another in New York, showing an inverse relationship between diabetes and coffee consumption (as one goes up, the other goes down).<\/p>\n Other benefits?<\/strong> Regular coffee consumption can reduce your likelihood of getting Parkinson\u2019s disease by 80%, of getting colon cancer by 25%, liver cirrhosis by 80%, and liver cancer by 30%.<\/p>\n So go ahead and have a little cup (decaf is just fine) to start your day and finish your lunch. It\u2019s not only good for you, it\u2019s pleasant too!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The French and Mediterranean people drink coffee every day, and the evidence is that we should too. Despite the controversy that swirls around it, the research data show that this … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[494],"tags":[418,476],"class_list":["post-2751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-caffeine","tag-health"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-In","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2287,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2287","url_meta":{"origin":2751,"position":0},"title":"Aspirin versus Coffee? The bowels of a gut reaction","author":"Will Clower","date":"October 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Coffee consumption reduces colon cancer, and it doesn't matter if its caffeinated or not\u00a0(... if you're anal retentive about your colon cancer, check out the study cited below).But, a new study is touting high doses of aspirin as a way to accomplish the very same thing. So. Aspirin pills every\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_HAl9r2q_-j0\/TMGvwf_Yn1I\/AAAAAAAACw0\/Aj1pyAW33SI\/s320\/CoffeePoster.bmp","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7979,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=7979","url_meta":{"origin":2751,"position":1},"title":"Is Caffeine Okay For Me or Not?","author":"Will Clower","date":"January 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Here\u2019s the issue. An amazing 80% of adults take some kind of caffeine each day mainly in the form of coffee and tea. But caffeine is an addictive drug that can contribute to a raft of side effects including anxiety, insomnia, loose stools, blood pressure spikes, heart palpitations, and rebound\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Woman with funny face holding a cup of coffee","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Woman-w-funny-face-w-coffee-mug.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Woman-w-funny-face-w-coffee-mug.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Woman-w-funny-face-w-coffee-mug.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Woman-w-funny-face-w-coffee-mug.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Woman-w-funny-face-w-coffee-mug.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2606,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2606","url_meta":{"origin":2751,"position":2},"title":"Coffee and Health","author":"Will Clower","date":"March 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Is coffee good for you? What are the limits of coffee consumption?This is a nice summary article from WebMD. 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,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5367,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=5367","url_meta":{"origin":2751,"position":3},"title":"Energy Drinks Worse for Your Heart Than Caffeine Alone: Study","author":"Will Clower","date":"May 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"(via Reuters) Drinking 32 ounces of energy drink is associated with potentially harmful changes in blood pressure and heart function that are beyond those seen with caffeine alone, according to a new study. There are more than 500 energy drink products on the market, and their increased popularity is matched\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6675,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=6675","url_meta":{"origin":2751,"position":4},"title":"Healthy Drinking? Yes, and here are the healthiest drinks","author":"Will Clower","date":"November 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"When listing healthy drinks, first let's exclude the liquefied salad slurry, where you toss in peanut butter, berries, whatever's going bad in the veg drawer, and a sprinkle of flax seeds or whatever. Yes, that sludge is actually healthy for you, but peanut butter, flax, and kale are not drinks,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/tea-coffee-cocoa.jpg?fit=1200%2C444&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/tea-coffee-cocoa.jpg?fit=1200%2C444&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/tea-coffee-cocoa.jpg?fit=1200%2C444&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/tea-coffee-cocoa.jpg?fit=1200%2C444&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/tea-coffee-cocoa.jpg?fit=1200%2C444&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2683,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2683","url_meta":{"origin":2751,"position":5},"title":"Too Much Caffeine???","author":"Will Clower","date":"October 22, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Too much caffeine -- and it's likely you don't know just how much caffeine is in each drink -- poses a potential health risk to the teens and kids they are marketed to. This, according to Dr. Roland Griffiths, a caffeine researcher.He says that while there are no known effects\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2751"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3746,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751\/revisions\/3746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}