The debate about coffee and whether or not it is healthy has been going on for years. Growing up I was always told that coffee had negative side effects such as growth stunting, caffeine addiction and even diabetes. All of those things sound awful and convincing enough to keep anyone from drinking the hot beverage. Today however, almost everyone I talk to drinks coffee as if they needed it to survive! So, is coffee truly harmful or helpful for the human body?

As a child I could never understand why so many adults drank coffee. To start, it is extremely bitter and has a very strong scent to it. Combine those two factors and the fact that kids were generally told to stray away from the dark drink and that’s enough to keep a child away. A few years later however I started to notice more and more people drinking coffee. Starbucks started building more and more stores, Dunkin Donuts began to sell their own coffee in bags to the public, even McDonald’s started advertising their own blend of coffee on TV commercials! If coffee was supposed to be so bad for people’s health, why did everyone start drinking it as if it were liquid gold?

It is estimated that 154 million American adults, or 75% of the U.S. population, drinks coffee. Loftfield, The Journal of Nutrition) Of those 154 million, 49% of them report drinking coffee daily. (Loftfield, The Journal of Nutrition) Each of those every day consumers reportedly drink around one to three cups each day. If almost half of our nation’s population can consume coffee every day, surely coffee can’t be entirely bad for our bodies. The truth is, coffee can bring many benefits so long as you make sure to drink it in moderation.

Coffee is not just popular in America. Coffee is the second most traded product worldwide, only outshined by oil. Approximately 250 coffee farmers in 50 different countries are involved in the production of making and selling coffee. Coffee did not even make it to the America until the mid 1600s and was not popular until after The Boston Tea Party. (Hawkins, Good Housekeeping)

Starting with the most obvious benefit to drinking coffee is the caffeine boost it brings with it. Caffeine is notorious for boosting the neurotransmitter Dopamine. Dopamine is responsible for blocking adenosine receptors which usually tell your brain it is time to go to bed when they are not being blocked by Dopamine. This can be extremely helpful on those busy Monday mornings while you are struggling to keep your head up in class or pay attention to your boss during a big meeting at work. The downside to caffeine’s kick start is that drinking it in the afternoon or night time can cause you to have trouble sleeping peacefully at night, thus making you even more tired the next morning and requiring even more coffee to drink. Just like everything else in the world, there is a time and a place for coffee.

The suggested time to drink coffee is typically an hour after waking up, or right before you start exercising. Noon is the “cut off” point due to coffee’s effect on sleep, however some people like to have a coffee later in the day to relax. If you are looking to enjoy coffee’s taste in the afternoon but do not want to keep yourself up at night decaffeinated coffee is an excellent alternative. Decaffeinated coffee does have caffeine in it, but a much smaller dosage. Decaffeinization processes vary around the world. The United State’s standard for decaffeinated coffee is 97%, leaving the consumer 3% of the caffeine with all of the rich taste they desire. 

Another seemingly small benefit to coffee is the effect it can have on people is the effect it can have on a person’s workout. Typically working out is seen as a chore that people do in order to keep themselves in shape and to promote physical health. Naturally this means that not everyone truly enjoys going to the gym every day. The energy boost mentioned in the paragraph before helps combat any feelings of lethargy and makes going to the gym a little bit easier. People are more positive and complain less when they have the energy to do so. Dr. Michael Duncan, from Coventry University in the United Kingdom, states that after drinking coffee his test subject’s manual dexterity improved allowing them to perform physical activity more efficiently. 

Personally, I love having a cup of coffee before I go play basketball at the gym. I feel more alert and responsive to my surroundings. I of course also find myself all over the place as well thanks to the caffeine. If coffee was not such a dehydrating diuretic I would almost consider bringing a bottle of it to the gym instead of water!

Caffeine also has a very slight effect on a person’s metabolism. While slightly speeding up your metabolism, caffeine may also curve your appetite. Studies show that after a person has enjoyed a nice cup of coffee they are more willing to go do some sort of activity, be it exercise or even desk work, than find themselves eating a meal. I find myself drinking coffee right before I start doing any assignments I have, so I would argue that caffeine can improve productivity.

Personally, I have found that after drinking coffee my mood improves greatly. The commonly overused phrase “Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my coffee.” can be repetitive and annoying, but also accurate. While some people can call themselves “morning people” I have never been and never will be someone who is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when I wake up for class. Coffee assists myself and many other people in getting us through the day.

Over 17.5 million people in the U.S. today suffer from some form of depression. Studies have shown that coffee can help lower the risk of depression by 20% in adults. (Abroya, YouTube) Also, people who drink coffee at least once a day are 53% less likely to commit suicide. (Abroya, YouTube) While it may seem to be a silly thing to consider, coffee can actually save lives! 

One rumor that floated around a lot when I was a child was that if a young person drank coffee before they had finished growing then they would stunt their growth. Since I was a child I believed said rumor and almost anything else that an adult told me. Years later however I began to question if coffee actually had an effect on a young person’s growth patterns. Was what my parents told me true or was it just a little white lie to keep me, their hyperactive child, from drinking more caffeine and driving them crazy all day?

 Caffeine itself has no real effect on a person’s ability to grow. While the rumor that coffee can inhibit a young person’s growth pattern is false, the people who do prefer to drink the slightly bitter beverage might not grow as well as the one’s who do not. If a person chooses to drink coffee over other healthier alternatives such as water or milk, then they might not be receiving the adequate amount of calcium needed for their bones to grow. So while caffeine can not stunt a person’s growth, perhaps drinking coffee instead of the alternative choices does stunt growth.

Another negative rumor that people have conjured up about coffee is that it can increase a person’s risk for heart attacks or strokes. In Dr. Sakimura’s article on coffee’s effect on the heart, she references a Harvard study which indicated that people who drank three to five cups a day were less likely to die prematurely and were also less likely to suffer from any kind of heart attack or stroke. The reason why is because caffeine stimulates your blood vessels, thus allowing blood to move more freely and prevent any kind of clotting that could cause damage to your body. Dr. Sakimura does however recommend that people who have a history of heart arrhythmia or strokes do not consume coffee because of the effect caffeine has on blood pressure levels and heart rate.

Drinking a ridiculous amount of coffee, such as 6 or more cups, can bring about high blood pressure, so obviously a person must monitor how much they are drinking and at what times they are drinking. Adding in any sugars or sweeteners may also increase blood pressure levels. It is recommended that people with high blood pressure limit their intake of coffee and other caffeinated beverages or even avoid them all together. 

While coffee can bring about high blood pressure, there are still others that can effect it even more. Sodas have a ridiculous amount of simple sugars in them and almost half of the caffeine as coffee. The only time a person should enjoy a soda is with a meal. Another beverage that effects blood pressure levels is the energy drink.

Energy drinks are one of coffee’s major competitors for quick boosts of energy. Energy drinks can contain up to 500mg of caffeine in them. While this may seem like energy drinks have the upper hand on coffee, don’t be fooled. The University South Florida’s assistant professor of nutrition, Dr. Lauri Wright says that “A healthy adult can consume up to two 2 energy drinks a day, but I don’t recommend them for people 18 or under.” (Altshul, Huffington Post) 500mg is a ludicrous amount for any person to consume in one sitting! At 500mg caffeine has been reported to cause nervousness, irritability, insomnia, stomach aches, muscle tremors and irregular heartbeats. The average brewed cup of coffee contains roughly 95mg of caffeine. Dr. Josh Axe, founder of the Exodus Health Center, says that four cups of coffee a day is the limit for the average human. Clearly coffee is the better choice for a quick pick-me-up. The only other alternative that Dr. Axe recommends to drinking coffee is herbal teas. 

Herbal teas do not seem to have any negative effects on people, even though they are the less popular choice for caffeinated beverages. Coffee is the most popular drink for people looking to get a quick jolt of caffeine, however caffeinated teas are on the rise. I believe the reason why tea is not as popular as coffee is the lack of flavor it has compared to coffee. The lack of flavor however is not entirely because teas are “weaker” than coffee. While coffee is a generally rich drink, many people add cream, sugar or different flavored syrups to their coffee. Most herbal teas are consumed with half the sugar that a coffee is given, and therefore might not appeal to the majority of people. 

 The main reason coffee is so much more popular than tea is the flavors that big coffee chains throw into it. One example that fits this statement well is Starbucks. Starbucks can add a multitude of flavors, toppings, mix-ins and whatever else you ask of them into a person’s drink. While these additions may make your drink taste sweet and delicious, they can make your coffee extremely unhealthy. Everyone loves a little sweetness in most of their food or drink, but there is a limit as to how much should be applied.

A less known benefit to drinking coffee is the positive effects it has on certain types of cancer. Coffee intake can reduce the chances of a person being diagnosed with colon cancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer, endometrial cancer, oral cancer and melanoma (skin cancer.) Coffee has many bioactive components in it such as caffeine, cafestol, kahweol and chlorogenic acid. Caffeine itself can prevent oxidative DNA damage while cafestol and kahweol are both anticarcinogenic, meaning they both inhibit the effects that cancer cells can bring. Studies have shown that chlorogenic acid can confer an anti-tumor effect on the body’s cells. Coffee will not kill cancer anytime soon, but it can be extremely helpful in preventing any new cases of cancer.

One of the major negative side effect that comes with drinking coffee every day is it’s link to type two diabetes. The average cup of coffee can contain anywhere between 15 to 30 grams of sugar in it. Multiply that by the average amount of cups the average American drinks a day and you are looking at 60 to 120 grams a day. While not as massive an intake as an energy drink, that can still be a large amount for one person to take in every day. All the sugar inside America’s favorite morning beverage has a direct link to higher blood-pressure and increased risk for type 2 diabetes. There are roughly 285 million people in the world with type 2 diabetes. Among those 285 million, America has the third most of any country with 28.6 million people diagnosed. Too much consumption is obviously bad for you, but the same can be said about nearly every other food or beverage.

Coffee is a popular beverage worldwide, and while it has been proven to be a healthy drink it can be harmful if not consumed responsibly. The key to coffee drinking is moderation. Moderation, along with smart choices as to what you put into your coffee, will keep your body healthy and running smoothly. I hope that this paper has properly informed you about how you should be drinking coffee. Keep this information in mind and coffee can be a great source of energy to help get you through your day!
