Do you also look forward to your daily cup of coffee to give you energy and productivity boost?
Over 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed daily worldwide — at the workplace, during coffee breaks, in events, to start their mornings, and to connect with others.
But coffee is much more than just a convenient beverage to give a quick start to your mind and body. Your daily cup could have remarkable positive effects on your health and wellness – if you consume it safely (more below).
Keep reading this blog post, and you’ll discover the top 11 health benefits of coffee and how integrating quality coffee beans and professional coffee machines into your lifestyle could drastically improve your health.
The Top 11 Health Benefits of Coffee
Coffee has several health benefits backed by a multitude of science-backed advantages that make it an excellent addition to your healthy lifestyle. Many studies are done on coffee revealing that for most people, moderate coffee drinking can offer major benefits like:
- Increased Energy and Focus
- Enhanced Athletic Performance
- Supported Weight Management
- Reduced Disease Risks
- Elevated Mood
- Liver Protection
- Heart Health
- Increased Longevity
- Lower Diabetes Risk
- Brain Health Support
- Lower Cancer Risk
Read on as we go into more detail about each one.
1. Elevated Energy and Focus
We’ll start with the most obvious benefit that generally has you reaching for your morning elixir: elevated energy and mental alertness. The caffeine in coffee blocks a sleep-inducing chemical, adenosine, allowing stimulating neurotransmitters like dopamine to take over. Just one 226-gram cup contains around 95 mg of caffeine, which is enough to increase your alertness level by 8.9% on average.
When you need an afternoon lift, coffee is the ideal beverage that restores your productivity level. Additionally, as your alertness level increases due to coffee, you regain focus.
2. Enhanced Athletic Performance
You will see commercial coffee machines at various sports institutions, for instance, golf clubs.
Pre-workout caffeine supplements are common among athletes, but coffee offers similar perks. When you take caffeine, it reduces perceived exertion during intense exercise or play while increasing endurance capacity up to 12%.
So, have a cup of coffee before hitting the gym, your weekly sport, or the nature trails. Not only will you power through exercise more easily, but you just might beat personal records along the way.
3. Supported Weight Management
If you’re someone who is conscious about their weight, coffee is here to help you.
Several studies link consuming coffee leads to easier weight control. Coffee helps you in boosting up your metabolism and could alter how your body stores fat via effects on blood sugar regulation and fat cell hormones like adiponectin.
But remember, you shouldn’t add too much sugar and cream, which can defeat the purpose of weight management. Also, if you’re actively looking to lose weight, prioritise black coffee or add just a splash of milk with less sugar to get the advantages of drinking coffee for weight loss.
4. Reduced Disease Risks
Another major reason to increase coffee in your daily routine is its ability to reduce the risks of several critical diseases. For instance, if you consume coffee significantly, it can cut risks for diseases like stroke and Alzheimer’s.
Similarly, each daily cup of coffee can lower the chance of you having type 2 diabetes by 7%. Coffee has several antioxidants and anti-inflammatories that are beneficial in preventing such diseases.
5. Elevated Mood
Do you need an emotional lift? Pour yourself a comforting mug of coffee. One major study found that 2-3 daily cups can cut depression risk by over 50% while reducing the suicide risk, too.
If you have some mental health issues, coffee is a friend for you. The caffeine in coffee will boost your mood-regulating neurotransmitters and reduce stress hormone levels as well.
6. Liver Protection
Here’s a lesser-known benefit: coffee can protect your hard-working liver, lowering risks of serious conditions like fatty liver disease and cirrhosis.
You can take both regular (recommended by experts) and decaf, which have protective effects. So, replace happy hour with coffee to avoid alcohol’s impact while still getting antioxidants.
7. Heart Health
There are several studies that show moderate coffee intake can reduce the risk of heart disease (good for your cardiovascular health). Additionally, drinking coffee regularly also lowers stroke risk by a significant percentage.
Though the exact mechanisms aren’t fully understood yet, coffee clearly offers cardio-protective effects for your body.
8. Increased Longevity
With so many benefits of coffee we have already discussed, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that coffee can help you live longer. Those drinking 1 cup daily had a 12% lower risk of premature death, while 4+ cups boosted the longevity benefit to 16%.
By helping to fight chronic disease risk, coffee could help you live healthier and longer.
9. Lower Diabetes Risk
About 5.6% of Ireland’s population is fighting diabetes, and this number is only growing. As touched on earlier, coffee reduces type 2 diabetes risks for you significantly – up to 30% lower if you drink 2-3 cups daily.
Coffee has various effects on sugar metabolism and insulin sensitivity, and it helps you prevent diabetes.
10. Brain Health Support
As your age increases, cognitive decline will generally happen. The good news is, higher coffee intake can reduce Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease risks.
The antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances present in your coffee protect delicate neural tissue and help you keep healthy brain function.
11. Lower Cancer Risk
Higher coffee consumption is also linked to minimally lower risks for certain cancers like melanoma, prostate, endometrial, and liver.
Coffee has antioxidants which counter DNA damage that can trigger tumour growth. You can consider coffee an ally. However, as explained earlier, use cream and sweeteners modestly.
Have Some Coffee, But Not Too Much (Tips To Safely Enjoy Coffee)
While coffee clearly delivers some remarkable health benefits to you, the catch is to not take it excessively. Most research links benefits: you can have 3-5 cups per day (226 grams each cup), or 400 mg of caffeine — and that’s the maximum.
Consuming excessive caffeine routinely can cause some unpleasant side effects like insomnia, indigestion, rapid heartbeat, and even muscle tremors in sensitive people.
Here are tips to safely enjoy coffee as part of a healthy lifestyle:
- You should prefer black coffee or add conservative amounts of milk, nut milk, or creamer – less than 30 calories per tablespoon worth.
- Sweeten lightly with zero-calorie stevia or some honey or pure maple syrup if needed.
- Avoid heavily sweetened bottled and coffeehouse coffee and tea drinks – these pack hidden health pitfalls.
- Talk to your doctor about specific consumption guidelines if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications that interact with caffeine.
Most important of all: you should brew your daily cup with only fresh beans and filtered water using professional coffee machines like Cuco offers. A quality machine will optimise flavour and minimise bitterness for the full positive experience of lingering over a cup with your friends.
To Sum Up
You can now see why coffee is far more than a convenient beverage that offers a quick boost of energy. The range of positive effects coffee delivers makes it easy for you to answer the question: is coffee good for you? Yes.
From providing energy to powering through exercise and playing more easily and comfortably, fighting disease and elevating your mood, coffee has your back.
So brew up your next steaming cup, knowing it both tastes delicious and is packed with goodness for your body and mind