Coffee is probably the most tasty and popular beverage and one of the best source of antioxidants together with vegetables and wine.
The main ingredient of coffee is caffeine the most popular psychoactive substance in the world.
Is it good or bad for our health?
In the past years, coffee and caffeine were the victims of incorrectly accuses, that they could harm our health. Through the years, science proved that the benefits for our health are many and too important.
That doesn’t mean that we can drink coffee without a limit. As everything in life, too much coffee and caffeine can cause the opposite than the needed result.
Do I drink more coffee than normal?
First of all, there is no normal in drinking coffee. The signal to reduce the caffeine you take every day, is when you notice one of the following short-term symptoms:
List of symptoms of overdose caffeine intake
- Fast heartbeat
- Muscle tremors
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Insomnia
- Restlessness
- Dizziness
- Upset stomach
Keep in mind that Coffee is not addictive at all, so you can reduce the quantities of caffeine without any difficulties. The only symptoms you may have when you stop drinking coffees, are some light headaches in the morning and difficulties to wake up. These may last only for a couple of weeks.
How much caffeine contains a cup of coffee?
The content of caffeine varies from cup to cup. If we can set a general rule for this and according to the USDA, 1 cup of coffee, which is approx. 8fl oz or 237gr, contains 94.8mg of caffeine.
So, every 1fl oz contain 11.8mg of caffeine, or for every 100gr made coffee, 40mg caffeine.
What is the daily safe limit in coffee consumption?
According to studies and many sources the daily safe limit in coffee consumption is 4-5cups, which is about 400mg of caffeine. This limit is for adults without any health problems.
However, this limit is just a safety limit for constant daily coffee consumption. If you rarely drink more than this limit, you will not have any serious health problems, except that it will not be easy for you to sleep for some hours.
Does coffee helps you live longer?
The effects of caffeine to the human body is determined genetically and that means that the effects varies from adult to adult and there is no general rule.
To be honest most people exceed this safety limit of 4-5 cups without any problem and in the graph below you can see how the death risk is reduced when drinking coffee. It is taken from a 13 years statistical study:
Coffee drinkers have highly reduced risk of many diseases. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information the risk is reduced as follows:
- 7% lower risk for Type 2 Diabetes for each cup of coffee daily.
- 44% decreased risk for Liver Cancer by drinking 2 cups per day.
- Up to 84% lower risk for Liver Cirrhosis by drinking 4 or more cups of coffee daily.
- Up to 65% decreased risk for Alzheimer’s disease with 3-5 cups per day.
- 20% lower risk for all the kinds of Depression with 4 or more cups daily.
And Coffee drinking is also linked to a
- Reduced risk of Parkinson with 4 or more cups daily.
Finally…
Unlike we knew in the past, Coffee and Caffeine have the ability boost our health and in general is totally safe to consume.
The best and safest daily coffee consumption, is 4-5 cups per day for healthy adults.
In other cases this consumption may vary, for example in case of pregnancy the daily consumption should be minimized down to 1-2 cups per day or should be avoided completely.
People who may have any kind of sensitivity in caffeine, should visit their doctor for an expert’s advice.