Health Benefits: The Two Sides Of The Coffee Debate

There are only two other beverages that Americans drink more than coffee. There are many health benefits that we’re now accepting about coffee, but like most things, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.

Traditionally, coffee has been viewed as a bad thing, but the popular beverage seems to have upgraded its PR. Supported by many new studies, the health benefits of coffee have become increasingly uncovered.

But while we’ve come to the fact that coffee made be good for us, we still need to moderate how we consume it because there are negative effects to drinking too much coffee.

Too Much Coffee

The harm in coffee comes mostly from over-stimulation or consuming too much coffee. Peoples’ tolerance levels differ in this regard as those with low tolerance may even start to feel jittery after one cup. Other signs that you may have overdone include insomnia, nervousness, rapid heartbeat, and irritability.

Unhealthy Additions

The many in which you consume your coffee is also a significant contributing factor to how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ it is for you. If you’re flavoring your drink with tons of sugar and creams and drinking too much of it, it will have a negative effect that may outweigh the positive of a good cup or two a day.

Coffee boosts energy and helps you focus

Coffee promotes concentration and focus and giving you a useful energy boost in the morning to kickstart your day. That's because it's packed with caffeine. The effects can last around four hours. However, for the regular coffee drinker, Peter Rogers, who studies caffeine’s effects on behavior, mood, alertness, and attention at the University of Bristol, says this may not be the case because you build a tolerance for it over-time.

Coffee may improve long-term health

More than two cups of coffee per day may lower body fat in women.

A study from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey published earlier this year suggests that women who drink at least two cups of coffee each day may have lower body fat than women who don't drink coffee.