A look at coffee…

It’s the reason many of us get up in the morning. The afternoon pick-me-up that never lets you down. The hot steamy brew on your morning commute or the rich slow sip to enjoy over weekend catch-ups with friends.

I myself believe you can get away with most things in life as long as you can moderate it. Balance is key. So with coffee here to stay, exactly how much and how often is drinking our favorite beverage OK?

Coffee can be dated back as far as the 15th century and the coffee bean itself is thought to have originated in Ethiopia but the earliest substantiated evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree was in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen, spreading soon to Mecca and Cairo then the rest of the Middle East, South India, Persia, Turkey, and Africa. Coffee then spread to Europe, Southeast Asia and then to America, despite bans imposed by religious leaders in Mecca and Cairo, and later by the Catholic Church.

Today, more than 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed in the world every day.

The active ingredient in coffee is, of course, caffeine which is a stimulant and the most commonly consumed psychoactive substance in the world. Also found in soft drinks and energy drinks, caffeine works in your brain by blocking the effects of an inhibitory neurotransmitter called adenosine. By blocking the inhibitory effects of adenosine, caffeine prevents us from feeling tired, increases neuronal firing in the brain and the release of other neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine. 

Several sources recommend it is safe for an average adult to consume anywhere from 350 to  400 milligrams of caffeine a day. And that’s roughly the amount of caffeine between 3 – 4 cups of home-brewed coffee and about 1 – 2 barista-made coffee at your local coffee shop. Any other drinks containing caffeine will vary. 

Like anything, each person is different and we all have varying levels of sensitivity to caffeine and medications such as the contraceptive pill may also impact how quickly your body is able to metabolise caffeine. So it’s important that we look out for symptoms that can be telling us we are having too much.

Some of the short term symptoms you could experience from consuming too much caffeine are: 

• Stomach upsets
• The jitters
• Racing heart
• Restlessness
• Insomnia 
• Headaches 

As long as we are not having too much caffeine, there is a surprising amount of benefits. Some are said to be:

• Warding off type 2 diabetes
• Warding off Alzheimers
• Warding off Parkinson’s Disease
• Increasing stamina
• Nutrients like magnesium, vitamin b2, b5 and b3
• Helping to fight depression
• Lowering the risk of cancer
• Antioxidants including hydrocinnamic acids and polyphenols

One myth I have heard time and time again is that coffee can cause dehydration, but all of the research I have done suggests that caffeine-containing beverages as part of a normal lifestyle doesn’t cause fluid loss in excess of the volume ingested. While caffeinated drinks may have a mild diuretic effect, meaning that they may cause the need to urinate, they don’t appear to increase the risk of dehydration.

In conclusion, considering that coffee consumption has quite a number of health benefits, including increased mental ability, alertness, and performance, some people can easily overdo it and become addicted. 

Consider:

• Switching to decaf coffee (which contains a much smaller amount of caffeine) if you are experiencing increased stress, adrenal fatigue or chronic fatigue so that you are still receiving the benefits of coffee without as much caffeine 
• Minimising the amount of sugar you put in your coffee as you might be eliminating any of the overall health benefits through increased sugar intake
• Avoiding caffeine after 2 pm to minimise its impact on your sleep (and even earlier if you are sensitive to caffeine

So, I believe it’s best to drink coffee in moderation while monitoring the effect on our bodies and minds. We should know our own limits or tolerance and adjust accordingly.