YOUR DAILY CUP OF JAVA

The morning cup of joe is something over 75% of Canadians have come to look forward to. It gives the brain an instant perk and gets the digestive tract going. But what are the health consequences and benefits of coffee? Caffeine is known to increase mental acuity, physical performance, reaction time, vigilance, visual processing and even improves mood.
Caffeinated beverages are known to interfere in the absorption of iron and can negatively impact bone health. Although caffeine is a diuretic, there is no measurable amount of fluid lost due to consuming coffee so in fact it does not lead to dehydration and can actually count as a hydrating fluid, but there are certainly better options. There are all kinds of coffees on the market and the way a bean is roasted will affect its’ flavour, aroma and bitterness. A dark roast will contain less caffeine than a medium roast coffee.

Health Canada recommends no more than 4 cups of coffee per day, a total of 400-450mg caffeine. Intakes above this amount may negatively affect performance and mood and effects are stronger in the elderly. If you are pregnant or lactating you should keep this to 300mg or less as caffeine does cross the placenta and too much may increase risk of miscarriage and low birth weight.

There is research showing that something other than caffeine may reduce the risk of Type II Diabetes in coffee drinkers. Experts hypothesize it could be the magnesium in coffee. Coffee may also reduce the risk of galls stones, Parkinson’s disease and liver cancer. Recent research found that alcoholics who also drank coffee had less incidence of alcoholic cirrhosis (fatty tissue on the liver).
On the other hand, there is evidence that some of the oils in coffee such as terpenes may increase total and LDL cholesterol levels. These oils do not pass through the filter in filtered coffee so only un-filtered coffee from espresso, Bodums or percolators would make coffee with these cholesterol raising oils. Greater than 6 cups of coffee per day was associated with this increase in cholesterol. However, don’t blame your high cholesterol on coffee. Many lifestyle factors, dietary choices and genetics play a role. So if you smoke, eat high saturated fat foods, don’t exercise and there is a history of heart disease in your family, you should certainly be looking at more than cutting out the coffee.
What you put in your coffee also makes a difference. If you add cream and sugar you could be making your non-caloric beverage a 100+kcal drink. If you get blended coffees and the larger sizes you could be consuming 600kcal or more.
Some people find that drinking coffee can irritate the stomach and cause gastric upset. Now there is a new coffee, Folgers Simply Smooth, which is free of the bitter harsh tastes some burnt coffees have and also contains fewer phenols which tend to cause irritation to the stomach.

The Bottom Line: If you drink coffee, do it in moderation, consider sticking to more filtered coffee if you have a high risk of heart disease and watch what you add to your coffee.