![]() He says, “I totally agree with what the study says. ![]() Youngberg says that’s not a realistic amount for most people-in fact, one to two cups a day is the limit recommended by standard medicine-and likely reflects a subset of the population that is less prone to diabetes in the first place. And coffee contains phytochemicals, such as chlorogenic acid and trigonelline, that the body needs for optimal health.īut there’s a downside too, and studies promoting caffeine’s health benefits should be handled with care, says Wes Youngberg, a lifestyle medicine specialist and assistant clinical professor at Loma Linda University in the US.įor example, in the Harvard health study that showed a reduced risk of diabetes among coffee drinkers, he says it’s important to note benefits were found among those who were drinking at least six cups of coffee a day. Caffeine has also been shown to be beneficial in athletic performance, diminish asthma symptoms and protect against certain cancers. It reduces the risk of suicide and stroke (in older women) and assists long-term memory. Other studies have pointed out drinking coffee can have a protective effect against diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. One study demonstrating a connection between coffee drinking and bladder cancer, for example, showed a similar result between those who drank regular and decaffeinated coffee, indicating that another toxin present in coffee itself led to the higher risk. Most studies show little connection between caffeine and life-threatening diseases such as cancer and heart disease. The effects of caffeine can differ widely, depending on genetic predisposition and whether a person has built up a tolerance. When exposed to caffeine, the body also releases adrenaline, leading to a series of side effects ranging from dilated pupils to a faster heart rate, from increased blood pressure to a release of sugar from the liver into the bloodstream for an extra jolt of energy. Adenosine is responsible for the body’s urge to sleep or relax, but caffeine blocks its receptors, freeing the brain’s natural stimulants-dopamine and glutamate, specifically-to do their work, resulting in the increased alertness and wakefulness that mark caffeine’s reputation. Instead it masquerades as the naturally occurring compound adenosine, produced by neurons in the brain and found in every cell. “Caffeine is like the air,” write Bennett Alan Weinberg and Bonnie K Bealer in their book The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World’s Most Popular Drug. “You don’t see it and usually hardly notice it, but it’s there all the same, and it becomes part of you in a critical metabolic exchange that involves every cell in your body.” Benefits and risksĬaffeine does not affect the nervous system directly. Caffeine ends up affecting the entire set of bodily systems, from neural function to waste excretion, in ways that do not promote long-term health. Users develop a tolerance to it, requiring more and more to achieve the same effect and have difficulty-biologically and emotionally-withdrawing from it. ![]() ![]() The stuff is readily available and our culture, along with our bodies, seem to depend on it.īut in spite of its widespread acceptance (90 per cent of the world uses caffeine in some form) and some specific health benefits, caffeine is a drug. While we may not be ingesting more than previous generations of coffee drinkers, we’ve given an increasingly prominent role in modern life to lattes, cappuccinos and more recently, caffeine-laced energy drinks. More than half of Australians and New Zealanders depend on these rituals as an antidote for the morning “coma”-not to mention a cure for the afternoon “blahs” and extra fuel for late-night work projects or study. We write content for students, by students.The morning cuppa, the queues for coffee at local cafés, the breakfast cans of Diet Coke and energy drinks. Terps With Taste is run by the Student Nutritionist Team with University of Maryland Dining Services. ![]()
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