Has anyone ever told you to lower you coffee intake? To put down that second (or third) cup of joe? Many people assume that due to caffeine being a stimulant, coffee simply cannot be a healthy drink. Those who believe their morning coffee fix has no redeeming health benefits, get ready for a shocking fun fact: coffee does have health benefits. So grab your morning cup or afternoon fix and get ready to appreciate that cup of coffee even more.
Improved Energy Levels
The fact that coffee improves people’s energy levels should come as a shock to no one. Due to the caffeine within our favorite drink, coffee typically boosts energy and helps the consumer feel less tired. Due to the increased dopamine in our brains, coffee helps us to feel happier, smarter, and more able to handle life. Coffee has also been known to improve brain function in the forms of increased memory, mood, reaction time, vigilance, and overall cognitive function.
Essential Nutrients
Some may not believe it, but coffee does actually contain many of the essential nutrients humans need for a healthy life. One cup of coffee holds 11% of our recommended daily allowance of riboflavin, 6% of our pantothenic acid, 3% of our manganese, 3% of our potassium, 2% of our magnesium, and 2% of our daily niacin. Some of these may not sound like much, but few coffee drinkers limit themselves to one cup a day so these nutrients can quickly add up.
Protects Against Health Risks
Coffee has been known to help protect against quite a few illness and diseases, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia, Parkinson’s, Type II Diabetes, depression, and certain cancers (liver and colorectal). While there are many ways to help prevent Alzheimer’s and Dementia (healthy eating, exercising), coffee has shown to lower your risk by 65%. Parkinson’s is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, after Alzheimer’s, and coffee can help lower risk of Parkinson’s by 32-60%. Similar to the other two diseases, those who drink coffee have a 23-50% lower risk of developing type two diabetes. Along with the other health benefits, those who drink four or more cups of coffee a day have a 20% lower risk of becoming depressed. Coffee really can help you stay healthy! *myth to debunk: coffee does not cause heart disease and can even lower the risk of a stroke*
Can Help Improve Physical Performance and Weight-loss
Caffeine has quite a few benefits when it comes to physical performance. Caffeine helps increase the adrenaline levels in blood and gets our bodies ready for more intense physical activities, it can help improve physical performance by 10-12%. Caffeine also helps the body break down/burn fat and boosts our metabolic rate, which can help with weight loss.
So the next time someone tells you to put that coffee down, kindly update them on all the health benefits you’re gaining by consuming that cup of joe. Maybe once they know the benefits, they’ll grab coffee with you!
