Only you can decide whether or not you should
give up your morning coffee.
Coffee is not just one of the world's most popular beverages, but its stimulant compound caffeine is also one of the most researched psychotropic substances.
Thousands of scientific studies have been conducted on caffeine's effects on the body. The majority of recent research suggests that moderate use is generally safe and may even benefit your health. When compared to no daily coffee consumption, a meta-analysis of 40 studies involving over 3.85 million people published in 2019 in the European Journal of Epidemiology found an association between drinking two to four cups of coffee daily (considered moderate consumption) and lower rates of all-cause and cause-specific death.
According to a large body of studies, moderate daily coffee use has been associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, some cancers, heart disease, depression, gallstones, Parkinson's disease, and potentially even late-life dementia. Caffeine also enhances alertness, focus, and athletic performance. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, moderate consumption is defined as 3 to 5 eight-ounce cups per day or an average of 400 milligrams of caffeine. "Coffee can be part of a healthy diet," according to an analysis of 112 meta-analyses of observational studies published in the Annual Review of Nutrition.
So, what is it about coffee that you don't like? For the most part, the answer appears to be very little. However, some people are more sensitive to the caffeine in coffee than others, and drinking coffee can have significant adverse side effects that should be considered. Here are some of the harmful side effects of drinking coffee regularly to be aware of.
1. Poor sleep and its detrimental effects.
The fact that your 3 p.m. coffee break energizes
you enough to get you through the rest of the day is due to brain chemistry.
Caffeine, the stimulant compound that gives you a boost of energy, works by
temporarily blocking receptors in your brain from recognizing adenosine, a
central nervous system depressant. The longer you stay awake, the higher your
adenosine levels climb in your brain, decreasing alertness and boosting sleep.
On the other hand, caffeine prevents this from happening, which is why if you
consume it late in the day, you can have trouble falling asleep.
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, caffeine has a half-life of around 5 hours, which means that if you drink a cup of coffee with 100 milligrams of caffeine, you'll still have 50 milligrams in your body five hours later. According to research published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, drinking coffee within six hours of bed lowered sleep time by one hour.
That's why most sleep specialists advise against consuming caffeine afternoon. The quantity of caffeine left in your bloodstream can reduce the amount of slow-wave and REM sleep you get, which are necessary for physical recovery and memory consolidation. It's also generally known that poor sleep quality and insufficient sleep duration are linked to weight gain, greater incidence of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.
Is it true that caffeine is so unhealthy for
you? According to science, the following are the adverse effects of caffeine
consumption.
2. Panic attack.
According to studies, people with anxiety and
panic disorders should avoid consuming caffeinated coffee unless they have
developed a tolerance for it. In one case-controlled study published in
Depression & Anxiety, it was discovered that consuming 400 to 480
milligrams of caffeine caused panic attacks in 48 percent of individuals with a
panic disorder diagnosis.
3. Jitters, higher blood pressure, and increased
heart rate.
The effect of coffee on blood pressure is still
under research. Some studies suggest that coffee has little impact or may even
lower blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels and enhancing blood flow. In
contrast, others show that too much caffeine might cause anxiety, high blood
pressure, and an elevated heart rate in some people. After a few large coffees
on an empty stomach, many of you have experienced the "caffeine
jitters."
"Whereas low-dose caffeine causes arousal,
slight euphoria, and slight euphoria, high-dose caffeine causes anxiety,
irritation, and general mental discomfort—a completely different kettle of
fish," Bertil B. Fredholm, emeritus professor of pharmacology at
Karolinska Institute in Sweden, told Chemical & Engineering News.
4. Heart attack & stroke.
According to Harvard Health Letter, because coffee
use raises blood pressure and homocysteine, an amino acid linked to arterial
damage, there may be an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, especially
in persons who don't drink coffee daily.
However, most research links moderate coffee drinking to lower risk. The European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, on the other hand, was the first to relate the brewing process to heart attacks and longevity.
In a statement from the European Society of Cardiology, research author Dag Thelle, a senior professor at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, states, "Unfiltered coffee contains substances that increase blood cholesterol." "Using a filter removes them, reducing the risk of heart attacks and premature death."
Diterpenes are oily substances in coffee prepared
in a French press, Turkish coffee, and other boiled coffees that haven't been
filtered. According to studies, paper or cotton-nylon filters are the most
effective filters for trapping cholesterol-raising substances.
5. Pregnancy problems.
Caffeine consumption has been linked to fetal
growth slowed, birth weight loss, and an increased risk of miscarriage.
"Caffeine crosses the placenta and affects
the heart rate of your kid," explains Jennifer Ashton, MD, ABC News Chief
Medical Correspondent. Caffeine in small amounts has been proven safe; the
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that women limit
their caffeine intake to 200 mg per day—roughly two 8-ounce cups of coffee.
However, new research published in JAMA Open Network in March reveals that even tiny levels of caffeine consumed daily
during pregnancy may impact fetal growth. The study looked at the link between
self-reported caffeine use, blood concentrations, and newborn body measurements
at the National Institutes of Health's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The study discovered that kids
born to mothers who drank the caffeine equivalent of around a half cup of
coffee per day were smaller and lighter in weight than babies born to women who
did not.
The answer is that it is entirely up to you. Overall, research on caffeine's health effects suggests that most individuals can drink coffee safely and may even be beneficial to their health. However, it may be in your best interests to limit your use in some circumstances.