Coffee addiction?

Most of us grab a cup of coffee in the morning when we get up or go to work while others have this beverage throughout the day whether we brew it traditionally or use Keurig or go to our favorite Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Caribou, or local coffee shop but do you know about the health benefits of coffee? News stories always tend to contradict how important coffee is to your health but there are some basics that probably will not change. Anything in excess is always not going to be good plus if you add the caramel or added sugar to it, you’re health benefits are going down significantly so make smart choices when drinking your favorite coffee beverage as though you may be wanting that caffeine spike, you may also at the same time be sabotaging your health by adding all the extras to it.

One of my first posts talked about buttered coffee that is consumed by many keto drinkers as well as those who want to get their MCTs in for the energy but coffee by itself can give you that boost due to it being caffeinated. Did you know that this bitter caffeine component is actually a way for the coffee plant to deter other animals from encroaching on its territory or rather it is a self-defense mechanism for the plant. Typically, a cup of black coffee has 100 milligrams of caffeine so consuming 3 or 4 cups a day is probably safe but again don’t overdo it. Today, caffeine can be found in multiple products for the energy boost it gives individuals but for it to show up in various products, it has to be masked or coated with something so that when you bite into the product or consume the drink, the bitter taste doesn’t overwhelm you—this is why you see so many energy drinks with caffeine that taste good.

Many of us brew coffee at home and use beans but did you know the bean is the seed from the coffee cherry fruit. During cultivation and harvest of this seed to give you the beans you brew, a lot of waste is left behind as the remainder of the fruit is not used so you now have companies like Wize Monkey (https://www.wizemonkey.com/) who harvest the leaves of the coffee plant for tea and therefore not only eliminate food waste but also help the local economy where the coffee bean is harvested. I’ve tried their tea and it definitely tastes great, has antioxidants, and only slight caffeine.

With the basics of coffee out of the way, let’s talk about the health benefits of drinking coffee. As mentioned earlier, the best way to drink your coffee to reap all its benefits is black. By adding cream, sugar, and other extras, you are actually making the body process all those extras first before it can process coffee nutrients. Some of the benefits of drinking coffee include less likelihood of heart disease, better protection against liver failure, and possibly pain reduction after a workout but the one benefit that I like is that coffee drinkers tend to be happier and social versus non-coffee drinkers—there is limited data on this but a casual observer can see the popularity of Starbucks and other local joints that invite the consumer to sip there so there must be some truth to this benefit, right? It’s important to keep in mind that all benefits of coffee are totally dependent on your lifestyle and activity level and how you take your coffee so sometimes the impact won’t be seen right away or at all.

As always be aware of how coffee affects you because for some it can cause headaches while others it may result in an urge to go to the bathroom. Plus, if you are nervous about the caffeine impact or have any sort of heart or blood pressure issue, decaffeinated coffee might be a better option but always ask your doctor what’s best for you. Nonetheless, enjoy your coffee if you drink it!

Disclaimer: this is an opinion post and should not be taken as an endorsement or lack of for any product by me or my employer.