COFFEE - A Friend or a Foe?

"I can't start a day without it!"

"If I stop drinking coffee, I'll die!"

"There's no other drink for me than coffee!"

I wasn't a coffee drinker at all until my friend introduce me to the stuff. And then, "Wow! It taste great! It keeps me alive!". You know, the smell that perks me up before I take a sip, and ofcourse the flavor itself, makes it my favorite beverage. Since then, I can't imagine a morning without a delicious cup of coffee. Nonetheless, I always feel slightly guilty about drinking it, you know, in a "it's so good, it must be bad".There are, ofcourse, risks and benefits of drinking coffee.

Aside from containing important antioxidants, polyphenols, proteins and fiber, coffee's main ingredient is caffeine which is the source of the most controversy.

RISKS (Why is coffee bad for you?)

Adrenal Functions, Hormonal Impacts, and Nutrient Absorption

You can feel the effects of caffeine in your body within a few minutes of ingesting it and stays over a few hours. While in your body, caffeine affects the following hormones:
adenosine – can inhibit absorption of adenosine, which calms the body, that can make you feel alert in the short, but may cause sleep problems later.
Adrenaline – caffeine injects few adrenaline in your body casing a temporary boost, but possibly making you fatigued and stressed later. If you take more caffeine, you end up spending the day in an agitated state making you jumpy and edgy by night.
Cortisol – can increase the level of Cortisol, the "stress hormone" in your body , which can lead to toher health consequences

Hydration

Regardless of the preparation, coffee is also a known diuretic, which limits the body’s ability to absorb water. For every cup of coffee a person should drink at least the same amount of water to make up the difference.

To Decaf or Not to Decaf?

Switching to decaf is not always the safer choice. One commonly used chemical in the decaffeination process is Methylene Chloride, which some argue is unsafe, even at the levels touted as safe by the FDA.

Even Ethyl Acetate, used in the most commonly, and ‘natural decaffeination’ touted process, is a manufactured chemical that mimics the naturally occurring one. Water and CO2 decaffeination are the safest, with no byproducts, but are much less commonly used.

Pregnant and Nursing Mothers

Studies have indicated a link between consumption of over 300 mg of caffeine per day by expectant mothers and low birth weight, miscarriage, and some birth defects.

In addition, a fetus or infant’s liver is not developed enough to process caffeine and so it remains in the body for up to 4 days. Therefore, nursing mothers should avoid caffeine as well.

BENEFITS (Why is coffee good for you?)

It protects your heart


Moderate coffee drinkers (1 to 3 cups/day) have lower rates of stroke than noncoffee drinkers, an effect linked to coffee's antioxidants. Coffee has more antioxidants per serving than blueberries, making it the biggest source of antioxidants in American diets. All those antioxidants may help suppress the damaging effect of inflammation on arteries. Immediately after drinking it, coffee raises your blood pressure and heart rate, but over the long term, it actually may lower blood pressure as coffee's antioxidants activate nitric oxide, widening blood vessels.

It diverts diabetes

Those antioxidants (chlorogenic acid and quinides, specifically) play another role: boosting your cells' sensitivity to insulin, which helps regulate blood sugar. In fact, people who drink 4 or more cups of coffee each day may have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to some studies. Other studies have shown that caffeine can blunt the insulin-sensitivity boost, so if you do drink several cups a day, try mixing in decaf occasionally.

It boosts your brain power

Coffee might help your mind as much as your body. One study found that sleep-deprived rats were much calmer after simply inhaling roasted coffee beans. It is also believe to reduce the risk of having Parkinson's disease due to the high levels of antioxidant contains in the coffee. Those antioxidants may ward off brain cell damage and help the neurotransmitters involved in cognitive function to work better.

Your liver loves it

OK, so the research here is limited, but it looks like the more coffee people drink, the lower their incidence of cirrhosis and other liver diseases. One analysis of nine studies found that every 2-cup increase in daily coffee intake reduced liver cancer risk by 43 percent. Again, it's those antioxidants-chlorogenic and caffeic acids-and caffeine that might prevent liver inflammation and inhibit cancer cells.


The Verdict on caffeine

With potential negative and positive health consequences, caffeine can be your friend, but in controlled doses. Here’s what you should remember about caffeine:

• Don’t Take Too Much - Because of the health risks associated with higher levels of caffeine, as well as the risk of physical dependence that can come with four cups of coffee or more each day, it’s wise to limit your caffeine intake.
• No Caffeine After 2pm - Because sleep is important to proper physical functioning, and caffeine can stay in your system for 8 hours or longer, you should cut off or limit your caffeine intake to the first part of the day to ensure that your sleep isn’t disrupted.
• Enjoy Caffeine With Physical Activity - Caffeine is best ingested before exercise—that way your performance is enhanced and the stress-management benefits of exercise can keep you healthy and feeling less stressed throughout the day.

So have you decided, to drink or not to drink coffee? Is it a friend or a foe?