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Friend or Foe? Health and Coffee - The Facts

 
“I don't have a problem with caffeine, I have a problem without it”
                                                                               -Anonymous


It’s always been a popular debate amongst people: Is coffee good or bad for your health? It will not surprise you to learn that many people have researched it, and they continue to research it today.


 

Recent research suggests that it is almost certain that drinking coffee reduces the risk of “heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, pneumonia and influenza, and intentional self-harm”, (according to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2015).

The effect coffee has on cancer is yet to be revealed, and the previous concerns about a link between coffee and lung cancer was actually due to the fact that people drink coffee regularly were more likely to smoke regularly too.

 

 

The most famous effect coffee has comes from caffeine. Caffeine basically replaces adenosine, the chemical which makes you feel tired and sleepy, by blocking the adenosine receptors in your brain. This way, caffeine helps you keep awake longer than you would normally be, but your brain gradually gets used to it and builds more adenosine receptors. As a result, you need more caffeine to get the same effect, and you will feel more tired than you used to feel when you are out of caffeine.

 

 

 

Caffeine is addictive, but in order to be lethal you would need to drink more than 150mg for every kg of your weight. This is basically impossible as to intake this amount a typical adult would need over 70 cups of coffee at once. So, in reality, nothing stops you from drinking coffee whenever you need a boost.     


Caffeine makes your body creates more adrenaline, which increases heart pumping and blood pressure, and it even opens up the air path. The reason of the health benefits of drinking coffee mentioned above are mainly due to this effect.

  

 

Some also says that coffee is one of the top 5 foods which works as an antioxidants, which slows down the ageing process.


So all in all, coffee may be addictive, but we all knew this already. It’s not harmful, it wakes you up and it’s good for your health. Look out of your window, it’s getting warm. It’s time to go out and enjoy spring with your favorite recipe.

 


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