On average, about 80% of adults take some form of caffeine every day, usually
from coffee, tea, soda, or energy drinks.
But does all that caffeine have any effect on your health, either good
or bad?
"While caffeine can give you a temporary mental and physical boost, its impact depends on how much you consume and the source," says Dr. Stephen Juraschek, an internal medicine specialist at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre.
A stimulating effect
Caffeine is a natural stimulant. Its main effect is on the central
nervous system, where it can increase alertness and provide a needed boost when
you are tired.
Caffeine's effect peaks within an hour after consumption, and the body
eliminates half of it within about four to six hours. Yet, how people react to
caffeine varies depending on their sensitivity and how quickly it is digested.
"This is why some people can get a jolt from a small cup of coffee,
while others can drink several cups and feel little, if anything," says
Dr. Juraschek. "It's also possible that your body can adjust to how it
reacts to caffeine the more you consume."
It's this variation that makes pinpointing caffeine's influence on health a challenge. Still, science has shown some intriguing findings.
For example:
Heart:
High doses of caffeine can temporarily raise your heart rate and blood
pressure, which may pose dangers for some people with heart disease. Yet
regular consumption does not disrupt your heart's rhythm enough to create the
dangerous irregular pattern known as atrial fibrillation, according to a study
in the January 2016 “Journal of the American Heart Association”.
Memory: Some research has suggested that caffeine may protect against dementia,
including Alzheimer's disease. One observational study in the Dec. 14, 2016,
issue of “The Journals of Gerontology, Series A” found that adults ages 65 and
older who took an average of 261 milligrams (mg) of caffeine a day (about the
amount in two to three 8-ounce cups of coffee) for 10 years reported fewer
dementia symptoms compared with those who consumed an average of 64 mg daily
(the amount in a little more than half-cup of coffee). Still, it's not
understood whether caffeine, or other nutrients in coffee like antioxidants or
some combination, is at play.
Erectile Function: Regular caffeine intake may improve erectile dysfunction (ED), suggests
a 2015 study in the journal “Plos One”. Researchers compared daily caffeine intake and
rates of ED in men who were part of the National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey. They found that
those who consumed daily caffeine equal to two to three cups of coffee were 42%
less likely to report ED compared with those who drank less, and that the
effect applied even to men who were overweight or had hypertension. The connection may be related to caffeine's
ability to increase blood flow, but more research is needed.
Exercise: Many studies have found that a jolt of caffeine can improve athletic
endurance and reduce fatigue. The
amounts often studied range from about 225 mg to 600 mg, taken about an hour
beforehand. Yet, much of the research
involves high-level athletes, and the type of exercise tends to vary, says Dr.
Juraschek, so it's not clear exactly how caffeine may help the average person. "Consuming some caffeine before hitting
the gym may work for some, but not for others," he says. "It doesn't
hurt to try but be realistic that it probably won't make a huge impact on your
results."
Lose the energy drinks Some research has shown that popular energy drinks can cause a
dangerous jolt to your cardiovascular system. A small study in the April 26,
2017 “Jama” found that healthy people who consumed a 32-ounce energy drink
that contained 320 mg of caffeine and 108 grams of sugar were more likely to
have an abnormal electrocardiogram after two hours and mildly elevated blood
pressure after six hours. |
Watch your intake
Overall, for most people, consuming caffeine poses no serious health
risk if taken within safe amounts, says Dr. Juraschek.
People who have never had a heart attack or keep their blood pressure
well controlled should consume no more than 400 mg per day, which is the amount
found in about four cups of coffee or up to 10 cups of black tea.
"This amount is considered safe and isn't linked to any long-term
effect on blood pressure or heart attack or stroke risk," says Dr.
Juraschek.
However, if you've had a heart attack or been diagnosed with heart
disease, you should keep your dosage to about half that per day, says Dr.
Juraschek.
Your source of caffeine matters, too. Coffee and tea are great because they also
contain some disease-fighting antioxidants, but you want to avoid stirring in
too much cream and sugar, which add extra calories and fat.
Also skip the fizzy energy drinks, or at least reduce your intake, as it
often contains very high amounts of caffeine in a single serving and is full of
sugar and other unhealthy additives.
What are the top health benefits of drinking coffee?
Your brew gives you benefits beyond an energy boost. Here are the top ways coffee can positively impact your health:
You
could live longer.
Recent
studies found that coffee drinkers are less likely to die from some of the
leading causes of death in women: coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and
kidney disease.
Your
body may process glucose (or sugar) better.
That’s the
theory behind studies that found that people who drink more coffee are less
likely to get type 2 diabetes.
You're
less likely to develop heart failure.
Drinking
one to two cups of coffee a day may help ward off heart failure when a weakened
heart has difficulty pumping enough blood to the body.
You are
less likely to develop Parkinson's disease.
Caffeine
is not only linked to a lower chance of developing Parkinson’s Disease, but it
may also help those with the condition better control their movements.
Your
liver will thank you.
Both
regular and decaf coffee seem to have a protective effect on your liver.
Research shows that coffee drinkers are more likely to have liver enzyme levels
within a healthy range than people who don’t drink coffee.
Your DNA
will be stronger.
Dark roast
coffee decreases breakage in DNA strands, which occur naturally but can lead to
cancer or tumours if not repaired by your cells.
Your
odds of getting colon cancer will go way down.
One in 23
women develop colon cancer. But researchers found that coffee drinkers, decaf
or regular, were 26 percent less likely to develop colorectal cancer.
You may
decrease your risk of getting Alzheimer's disease.
Almost
two-thirds of Americans living with Alzheimer’s Disease are women. But the
caffeine in two cups of coffee may provide significant protection against
developing the condition. In fact, researchers found that women age 65 and older
who drank two to three cups of coffee a day were less likely to develop
dementia in general.
You're
not as likely to suffer a stroke.
For women,
drinking at least one cup of coffee a day is associated with lowered stroke
risk, which is the fourth leading cause of female deaths.
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