Coffee: To Drink or Not to Drink?

You wake up to a blaring alarm with a terrible headache, groaning. Slamming the clock, you get up and stumble into the bathroom to get ready for the day. You walk to the kitchen, tired and frustrated. Instantly, you start to brew some coffee.

For many people, this is their morning routine – getting up and getting coffee from one place or another. Some can’t live without the caffeine and don’t function properly because of their addiction. The question is: how bad (or good) is coffee and the caffeine in it?

PROS

1. Coffee makes you more alert and helps you wake up. It stimulates the whole body, gets the heart pumping, makes your glands pump out adrenaline, and increases breathing rate and metabolism.
2. The energizing effects of the caffeine stay in your system for a while and kick in at full after an hour. This provides hours of relief from fatigue.
3. Caffeine aids aspirins in killing your pain
4. Moderate quantities of coffee aren’t too harmful – a cup a day won’t kill you
5. The increased metabolism you have 2-3 hours after coffee consumption helps you burn calories
6. Caffeine has been shown in multiple studies to increase performance and endurance in sporting events/exercise. The International Olympic Committee has even banned participants in their events with over 12 micrograms/ml of coffee in their urine (about 8 cups of coffee). Of course, pure caffeine is more effective than caffeinated coffee to increase performance.

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CONS

1. Eventually, a tolerance to coffee is developed and the effects of the caffeine aren’t as significant (your metabolism gets used to processing coffee). You become more and more addicted to the effects and require greater quantities to get that caffeine buzz.
2. Ingesting large amounts of coffee (2-6 cups, depending on age/size/gender) over a short period of time actually induces nervousness, stress, anxiety, nausea, upset stomach, impeded brain function, rambling thoughts/speech, irregular heartbeat, and increased urination
3. Caffeine is addicting. If you don’t drink something with caffeine in it for even a period of a day, you’ll be tired, depressed, distracted, irritated, and stressed.
4. If you consume too much caffeine, you’ll lose calcium from your bones which may lead to osteoporosis
5. Having too much caffeine (generally over 3 cups a day) while pregnant increases risk of miscarriage
6. Long-term consumption of coffee can lead to ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and erosive esophagitis. This occurs because coffee increases the production of stomach acid.

Remember that these effects vary depending on many factors – gender, age, weight, liver function, metabolic rate, and more. Coffee has many pros and cons, as you can see. The key is: don’t overdo it. Drink one cup a day (two at most) and you should be fine. If you ever want to quit, it’s best to reduce caffeine intake gradually so you don’t suffer the withdrawal symptoms.