It is a proven fact that coffee is the chosen drink for over 75% of the world’s population. There are many reasons that one loves coffee; whether it is the taste and smell, its natural ability to give your body a nice jolt of energy, or its ability to help a partygoer get over their hangover. With a drink this popular, many find it hard to believe that coffee has any benefits. Which leads us to some common debates over our beloved coffee: Is this caffeinated beverage that so many of us love and cherish doing any good for us?
Caffeine
The one key factor ingredient of coffee – caffeine, has been proven to help with mild headaches, sore muscles, fatigue, and help wake up over half the world’s population. There is one unknown that caffeine is unable to do: help with continuous weight loss. The major point hindering point in weight loss is caffeine’s capacity of promoting improper sleeping habits. Our bodies need sleep to help control our appetites (by the release of a chemical known as cortisol).
When the body has been deprived of a proper deep sleep, one finds they have a heightened urge to eat, and crave food more. Drinking too much caffeine can also cause one’s body to lose key fundamental nutrients (like sodium, the vitamin B1, potassium, and magnesium). The U.S. FDA has also sent out warnings that diet pills (there was a time) containing caffeine were a hoax and that there were no added benefits of having caffeine in diet pills.
Improved metabolic rate
The American Society for Clinical Nutrition conducted a study that has proven a distinguishable rise of the bodies metabolic rate (or fat oxidation for you nutrition savvy readers) of normal and obese weighed persons when they consumed caffeine. It has also been proven that any one person, who drinks any amount of caffeine that is consistent to their total body mass, will have a small percentage of increased metabolic rate. Let it also be known that any coffee drink that included hydroxycitric acid, bitter orange peels, and chromium help increase the metabolic rate by over 25%.
Long term associations
Caffeine has effects on a person’s mood, blood sugar, and even a person’s bones. Caffeine consumers must be careful with their caffeine intake, and learn all possible side effects caffeine has on one’s personal long term health.
- For ones mood, caffeine confuses our body’s Gamma-aminobutyric acid, the transmitter that regulates our sense of well-being. Even with the slight “energetic” feel, once the feeling fades, it leaves us feeling more stressed, making us want more to get the happy feeling back.
- For blood sugar, caffeine makes the body release sugars, which if not used for some form of physical activity, converts directly into insulin making ones blood sugar sky rocket. Once sugars are turned to insulin, anything that is unused will be turned into fats. Although it has been proven that coffee drinkers have a lower risk for contracting Type 2 diabetes.
- For your skeletal structure, caffeine has yet to be been proven on whether or not it fully leads to bone loss, but caffeine is a well know diuretic (this is what makes the human body secrete minerals with our urine). Too much caffeine can lead to a loss of urinary calcium, which is easily overcome by adding more vitamin D and calcium to ones diet.
Caffeine is a double sided sword when it comes to health benefits; but like any other stimulant or drug, moderation in one’s consumption can help keep one safe from harm. All good things come with side effects, and caffeine is no exception. Keep in mind the varied health factors and relay your consumption to your doctor.
The post is authored by Davis Miller. Davis is nutrition and weight loss expert. Visit his site for kofiemachine kiezen and Koffie op het werk.
About the Author: Carleen Pruess Coulter
