Reading a newspaper with a cup of coffee is a relaxing pastime, and our stores abound with a variety of organic and locally roasted options for coffee beans.
Being a certified functional medicine practitioner and holistic doctor, I often get asked whether drinking coffee is safe. As a perennial lover of coffee, I have done extensive research on the topic, and am happy to report that for most people, moderate consumption of caffeinated coffee is not only safe but in many ways beneficial.
According to the FDA, up to 400 mg of coffee a day is safe. This is an equivalent of roughly four 6-ounce cups. Of course, most people don’t even drink that much.
The Science Behind Coffee and Your Health
A caffeine molecule behaves just like adenosine — another molecule that acts as a depressant of our central nervous system. By binding to adenosine receptors, caffeine makes us perk up and have an improved ability to focus.
The science behind coffee drinking and improved metabolism is abundant. For example, Circulation journal published a review of 36 long-term observational studies that looked at the relationship of coffee and cardiovascular health. There were many promising findings: Up to 3.5 6-ounce cups of coffee a day has decreased risk for heart disease by 15%, has decreased the risk in heart attack survivors for the next heart attack by 40%, and has decreased the risk of death by any cause by 18%.
Of course, there are some exceptions to this benefit. For example, a popular paleo coffee-making technique that involves adding butter to the cup of coffee will surely increase the risk for high cholesterol. Also, unfiltered coffee, such as what you would get from a French press or Turkish cezve — a small long-handled pot designed specifically to make Turkish coffee — contain cafestol and kahveol, two compounds that have been shown to increase cholesterol and triglycerides.
Coffee and Brain Health
Another coffee health benefit worthy of mentioning is that it slows down cognitive decline and prevents Alzheimer’s dementia development. This benefit seems to stem from caffeine decreasing the inflammation in the brain tissue by attaching to the adenosine receptors and positively affecting the tau protein, which, like amyloid, has been sited in recent dementia research. For instance, a study done at the University of California demonstrated that having a cup of coffee has significantly improved a score on the cognitive test in seniors. And according to the American Cancer Society, drinking coffee has also been associated with decreased risk for prostate, liver, uterus, oral and throat cancers.
So, next time you are having a cup of freshly brewed coffee at your local coffee shop, know that you are not only supporting local business.
You are improving your health.
