A Healthy Cup of Coffee

You love your cup of joe in the morning, right? In fact, if someone asked you to live without it, do you think you could manage day after day? Probably not.

Fifty-four percent of Americans over the age of 18 drink coffee every day, averaging 3.1 cups per day at 9-ounces per serving.

While coffee has somehow earned a bad reputation over the years, emerging research shows it does more harm than good. Although there is a catch: a healthy cup of coffee is caffeinated and best enjoyed black without sugar.

• Diabetes. Studies have found that daily dedication to a cup of black coffee over the long term can lower your risk of type 2 diabetes.^{1, 2}

• Heart disease. Coffee won’t lower your risk of heart disease or stroke, but it doesn’t increase your risk either, as previously believed.^3,4

• Liver cancer. Coffee has been shown to slow the rate of progression of liver cancer and cirrhosis in recent studies.⁵

• Melanoma. A study of more 400,000 people found that coffee consumption was linked to a lower incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers.⁶

In many cases researchers are uncertain what it is about coffee that produces these “healthier” outcomes for a majority of subjects. There is speculation that caffeine may play a role. Experts are quick to point out that more is not better when it comes to coffee consumption. Limit your intake to two to three cups per day without cream, sugar or artificial sweeteners. Add-ons such as these can drastically change the benefits of coffee consumption, introducing unnecessary calories, sugar and processed ingredients to your daily menu.

It is also important to remember that too much coffee may lead to nutrient deficiencies. Coffee acts as a diuretic flushing valuable nutrients right out of your system. Caffeine in coffee can also act as a binding agent, reducing absorption of crucial minerals, like iron and calcium. A balanced diet and supplements can help support a coffee drinker’s nutrient intake, but timing matters – don’t wash your supplements down with a cup of coffee.

If you’re low on energy and maxed out on coffee, vitamin B12 is a key vitamin in the body’s energy production process. Supplementing B12, along with herbal ingredients, like green tea leaf extract, can give help boost energy production in the body without caffeine.

References

1.       Huxley R, Lee CM, Barzi F, Timmermeister L, Czernichow S, Perkovic V, Grobbee DE, Batty D, Woodward M. Coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and tea consumption in relation to incident type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med. 2009 Dec 14;169(22):2053-63.

2.       van Dam RM, Willett WC, Manson JE, Hu FB. Coffee, caffeine, and risk of type 2 diabetes: a prospective cohort study in younger and middle-aged U.S. women. Diabetes Care. 2006 Feb;29(2):398-403.

3.       de Koning Gans JM, Uiterwaal CS, van der Schouw YT, Boer JM, Grobbee DE, Verschuren WM, Beulens JW. Tea and coffee consumption and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2010 Aug;30(8):1665-71.

4.       Lopez-Garcia E, Rodriguez-Artalejo F, Rexrode KM, Logroscino G, Hu FB, van Dam RM. Coffee consumption and risk of stroke in women. Circulation. 2009 Mar 3;119(8):1116-23.

5.       Muriel P, Arauz J. Coffee and liver diseases. Fitoterapia. 2010 Jul;81(5):297-305.

6.       Loftfield E., et al. Coffee Drinking and Cutaneous Melanoma Risk in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. J Natl Cancer Inst.