Representing possibly the most popular hot beverage in the world, if we don’t consider tea, coffee has always held a special place in the hearts of people who enjoy it daily.  

Its curious combination of a unique taste with the fact that it gives you a neat little legal high, so to speak, is what many nations across the world have accepted with open arms into their culture and even cuisine. (There are many deserts made out of coffee out there.) 

Indeed, everyone in the world has heard about macchiato, cappuccino, ness coffee and a range of other variations on this base beverage made out of coffee beans. Latest, the western world has been taken by the storm by a rich array of tall cups full of what many would describe as sheer joy in a cup. What’s more, many restaurants, food chains, and coffee houses have even made quite a name for themselves thanks to their special sort of coffee. (Looking at you Starbucks.) 

Now, not everyone can be necessarily said to be on board with these coffee-related tall cup developments, as many people consider this shift to be more about a certain growing global gluttony for sugar than appreciating coffee itself. Be that as it may, whether, in this shape or another, it looks as though coffee is here to stay.

Other than the part where you enjoy a hot cup of coffee and get your morning or mid-day boost of caffeine in this way, there’s also another aspect of this beloved beverage – the one related to how coffee affects our health. 

In this article, we’re going to talk about both positive and negative effects of drinking coffee, as well as discuss the question of whether or not the folks who don’t drink coffee take it up just on the merit of its health benefits. 

Right then folks, without further ado, here’s the deal. 

Positive Health Effects of Drinking Coffee 

 

1) Reduced Risk of Alzheimer’s 

According to a 2009 study from the University of Florida, drinking coffee regularly during your 40s and 50s can reduce the risk of you developing Alzheimer’s disease to up to 70%.  

The thing is, if you infuse yourself, so to speak, with three to five cups of coffee during the aforementioned period in your life, once you hit 70, the risk of you developing Alzheimer’s will go down in percentage. 

There’s a catch though – the coffee does need to be strong and contain plenty of caffeine, otherwise, some sort of a weaker coffee that tastes like coffee but doesn’t deliver the necessary caffeine punch won’t be as effective, if at all. So, if your family has a history of this disease, consider drinking coffee a bit more during your mid-life period – just make to consult your physician before you embark on this sort of caffeinated journey.

2) Lower Risk of Suicide 

Of course, we’re not saying that a suicidal person should just have a cup of coffee and that everything will be hanky dory. Having suicidal thoughts is a series mental problem, which requires immediate medical attention, so if you happen to have these thoughts, seek help right away. Coffee won’t be able to fix it just like that. 

As far as suicide and coffee are concerned, the idea that this beverage cuts down the risk of taking your own life stems from the observed statistics. Perhaps this is the case because people who drink more coffee experience more stimulation because of all the extra caffeine they’re getting, or there’s some other correlation, but the numbers suggest that people who regularly drink coffee have about 45% less risk of committing suicide than the folks who don’t drink it. 

3) Lower Risk of Various Oral Cancers 

The list of perceived health benefits of drinking coffee keeps getting longer and longer.

Namely, coffee’s been found to have a positive effect with several oral cancers spanning the mouth and the oral cavity region, as well as including the upper throat. 

If coffee drinkers who are suicidal are 45% less likely to commit suicide, the percentage of coffee effectiveness for these cancers goes to 50%. As with the two entries above, caffeine seems to play an important role in this equation, because consuming decaf coffee, or some other alternative coffee-based concoctions sans the caffeine won’t produce the same protective results.  

4) Lower Risk of Stroke 

Another study performed by both US, and Swedish scientists in 2009 and 2011, respectively, found that drinking coffee reduces the risk of stroke in older women. The amount of coffee you need to drink to get to this place of 20 to 25% reduced risk of stroke would be one or more cup daily.

Also, there was a study in Sweden a year earlier in 2008, which found similar results related to a reduced risk of stroke and coffee in older men, too. Again, it is probably the mood-boosting caffeine that plays a role in this stroke prevention.  

So, if you worry you fall into the risk group for stroke, consider taking up a habit of consuming coffee daily. (Make sure to consult your physician beforehand, of course.) 

5) Prolongs Life 

It’s not just mouth cancers and strokes that coffee can protect against. (To a degree.) 

A large, 10-year-long study has taken into consideration a wide variety of factors in the department of coffee drinking and health and how the two are related, where the results suggested that folks who regularly drink coffee (both regular and decaf count here, surprisingly) are less likely to, well, die. 

This comprehensive study was completed by the National Cancer Institute (a highly-esteemed health organization), and it included about 400,000 men and women ages 50 to 71. Among the diseases the folks who were included in this study were tested for, there are all sorts of heart disease, infections, strokes, respiratory problems, and common injuries. 

As far as the one about common injuries is concerned, the logic behind it may be that the folks who consume coffee regularly are less likely to get injured because they tend to be more alert thanks to all the caffeine they ingest. 

So, if you want to improve your quality of life by being more alert on a day-to-day basis you may want to visit a coffee shop regularly to get your stuff, so to speak. Even better, you might want to buy a high-quality coffee machine and then be done with it altogether. 

6) Protects Against Some Cancers

… but not all of them, though.

As our entry number 6, we’ve got yet another study on coffee drinking and health, this time conducted by the University of California.

In this research, the scientists discovered that drinking coffee reduces the risk of developing endometrial, as well as colon cancers, to an extent. Some other similar studies found that ingesting this beverage can reduce the likelihood of liver cancers as well as prostate cancers.

This is probably because coffee is a well-known diuretic, which helps your bowels work like a greased clockwork, so to speak.

7) Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Even though coffee doesn’t outright prevent type 2 diabetes, there are certainly some indications that consuming caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee regularly can reduce the risk of you developing  type-2 diabetes. 

This may come across as a tad of a counter-intuitive conclusion because drinking coffee does raise the levels of glucose in people already diagnosed with diabetes. That said, even those people can continue drinking this beverage, provided that they switch to a decaf version of their favorite drink.

8) Lower Risk of Dementia 

This one goes hand in hand with entry number 1 – Alzheimer’s.

It seems that drinking coffee improves your cognitive prowess somehow. (Possibly thanks to the stimulation that caffeine causes.) Now, the same study that found that the risk of Alzheimer’s is reduced to up to 70% if the folks who are prone to it consume coffee regularly between the ages of 50 to 71, has also indicated that this beverage has the same effect on dementia. (Or lack thereof, rather.) 

Generally speaking, it seems that mental stimulation helps with both of these conditions, so whether it’s drinking coffee itself, or the resulting productivity boost that you get from it that helps in the long run, one thing is certain – drinking coffee is helpful with preventing mental disease in the old age. 

Therefore, if you have a family history of this disease, you may want to get aboard the coffee bandwagon, if you haven’t done that already. It’s delicious AND can reduce the risk of a mental disease once you’ve made it past a certain age. A win-win, for sure. 

 

Negative Health Effects of Drinking Coffee 

 

1) Heartburn 

One of the worst side effects of drinking too much coffee (other than the anxiety-related symptoms we’ll talk about in a minute) would certainly be the vicious heartburns you get from having this otherwise delicious beverage. 

The reason behind this annoying occurrence would be that coffee is a highly acid beverage, so people with weakened or damaged stomachs or intestine walls are exposed to the full force of coffee’s acidity. As a result, you may get diabolical heartburn whenever you drink coffee, which is a scenario where having a brief mental boost certainly is not worth writhing in agony for hours later. 

Unfortunately for the folks who do like coffee but have problems with heartburn all the time, switching to decaf coffee isn’t going to help, either. The only solution for these people is to quit coffee altogether, at least until you resolve your gastrointestinal issues.

2) Anxiety 

Here’s a couple of clear facts about coffee: 1) coffee is a diuretic, 2) coffee is acidic, and 3) coffee is a well-known stimulant. 

Now, to be precise, many people drink coffee precisely because it’s a stimulant (and that it tastes great), so there’s nothing wrong with drinking coffee and experiencing a stimulating effect of caffeine. 

That said, people who already have a naturally increased level of stimulation due to a mental disorder or a temporary increased level of anxiety should probably avoid drinking coffee until their symptoms resolve. If you continue drinking coffee as a habit even though you clearly shouldn’t because it aggravates your anxiety, you run the risk of having an anxiety attack or a panic attack due to too much stimulation. 

Of course, you probably won’t experience anything more extreme than that, but why even go there if you don’t have to?

3) Addiction 

Although you won’t be out on the street begging for money due to your brutal coffee addiction, it’s still true that coffee can indeed cause some addiction. The reason behind this would be the fact that addiction works in the following way – you get stimulated or relaxed by a certain substance (caffeine, in this case) and then your brain releases the feel-good chemicals, which then prompt you to continue ingesting the same thing to get the same ‘hit’ again.

Now, if you drink too much coffee regularly and then stop suddenly, you run the risk of experiencing withdrawal symptoms, which can be quite annoying for some people. (Headaches, irritability, changes in your bowel movements, etc.) 

So, if you think you may be addicted to coffee, all you need to do is decrease the amount you’re consuming. You don’t have to quit cold turkey, because overstimulation and heartburn are probably going to be the worst side effects of drinking too much coffee anyway. As far as you commit to gradually decreasing the amount of this beverage you take into your system, you can rest assured that you’ll be back on the right track in no time.

 

The thing is unless you have heartburn or severe anxiety, coffee is good for you, and when consumed in acceptable amounts can make you more alert, boost your mood, and even prevent some diseases down the road. The bottom line, when consumed in moderation, coffee can be yet another way to keep yourself energized, healthy, and ready to take on the next challenge that life throws at you.