Health Benefits Of Coffee
Coffee isn’t just tasty and energizing — it may also be extremely good for you.
In recent years and decades, scientists have studied the effects of coffee on various aspects of health. Their results have been nothing short of amazing.
Here are 7 reasons why coffee may actually be one of the healthiest beverages on the planet.
1. Coffee Can Make You Smarter
Coffee doesn’t just keep you awake — it may also make you smarter.
The active ingredient in coffee is caffeine, which is a stimulant and the most commonly consumed psychoactive substance in the world.
Caffeine works in your brain by blocking the effects of an inhibitory neurotransmitter called adenosine.
By blocking the inhibitory effects of adenosine, caffeine actually increases neuronal firing in the brain and the release of other neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine.
Many controlled studies have examined the effects of caffeine on the brain, demonstrating that caffeine can temporarily improve mood, reaction time, memory, vigilance and general brain function.
2. Coffee Can Help You Burn Fat and Improves Physical Performance
Caffeine, partly due to its stimulant effect on the central nervous system, both raises metabolism and increases the oxidation of fatty acids.
It can also improve athletic performance in several ways, including by mobilizing fatty acids from the fat tissues.
In two separate meta-analyses, caffeine was found to increase exercise performance by 11–12%, on average.
3. Coffee May Drastically Lower Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is a lifestyle-related disease that has reached epidemic proportions. It has increased 10-fold in a few decades and now afflicts about 300 million people.
This disease is characterized by high blood glucose levels due to insulin resistance or an inability to produce insulin.
In observational studies, coffee has been repeatedly associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. The reduction in risk ranges from 23% all the way up to 67%.
4. Coffee May Be Extremely Good for Your Liver
The liver is a remarkable organ that carries out hundreds of vital functions in your body.
It is vulnerable to modern dietary pitfalls, such as consuming too much alcohol or fructose.
Cirrhosis is the end stage of liver damage caused by diseases like alcoholism and hepatitis, where liver tissue has been largely replaced by scar tissue.
Multiple studies have shown that coffee can lower your risk of cirrhosis by as much as 80%. Those who drank 4 or more cups per day felt the strongest effect.
5. Coffee Is Loaded With Nutrients and Antioxidants
Coffee isn’t just black water.
Many of the nutrients in the coffee beans do make it into the final drink, which actually contains a decent amount of vitamins and minerals.
One cup of coffee contains:
6% of the RDA for pantothenic acid (vitamin B5)
11% of the RDA for riboflavin (vitamin B2)
2% of the RDA for niacin (B3) and thiamine (B1)
3% of the RDA for potassium and manganese
It may not seem like much, but if you drink several cups of coffee per day then it quickly adds up.
But that’s not all. Coffee also contains massive amounts of antioxidants.
