Coffee - Friend, Foe or Something in Between?

Most people love the smell of coffee in the morning. Maybe it’s because the aroma is so evocative of the ritual of starting a new day. Or maybe it’s because some folks are addicted to the mild mood elevation a cup of joe provides. But coffee has been receiving a lot of press in the last couple of years about its health benefits, or lack thereof.

This kat is going to attempt to set the record straight about whether our little breakfast bean is good for you or something to be avoided. First a little background.

Coffee Beanology

Coffee is one of the world’s most widely consumed beverages. It’s estimated over two-thirds of the world’s population consumes coffee on a daily basis. This equates to billions and billions of people sucking down coffee bean drinks every day.

In North America and Europe alone the brewing of coffee is responsible for a truly staggering one third of all tap water consumption. Who knew?! Coffee beans are extracted from coffee berries, which flower from several species of small evergreen bushes grown in places like South America and Southeast Asia.

Coffee beans are often cultivated alongside other crops like corn, rice, and other beans. Once they ripen, the berries are picked, dried, and then roasted. The next step is, well, you already know that part, right?

Studies of how coffee affects health or illnesses are tough to interpret because the way the beverage is prepared and consumed varies widely. There is a virtual cornucopia of compounds and chemicals in coffee. Here are a few of them and how they affect the body.

Pro and Cons to Stopping the Yawns  

• Caffeine is a naturally occurring alkaloid in coffee beans. The stimulant caffeine works psychoactively to temporarily change perception, mood, and consciousness. It also has positive effects on alertness, work performance, and general mental state. Two prospective studies have reported moderate coffee consumption also significantly reduces the risk of suicide. I don’t know how they determined that last benefit, but overall coffee pulls off these psychoactive sleights of hand by blocking two adenosine receptors (A₁ and A_2A) in the brain. The effect this chemical has on the body is one of generally stimulating the central nervous system (CNS).

• Boiled coffee beans contain fair amounts of two of the four diterpenes, cafestol and kahweol. Some studies have tied these compounds to higher levels of bad LDL cholesterol and elevated total cholesterol. The upshot is most of these little buggers are removed when a simple paper coffee filter is used. I mean, who boils their coffee anymore except for hobos?

• Our beloved java juice also contains chlorogenic acid. This compound has exhibited antioxidant activity in vitro, but not in vivo.

• Older epidemiological studies have consistently shown that caffeinated coffee lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes. But an interesting development lately is research showing even decaffeinated coffee seems to have this effect, which obviously suggests it isn’t caffeine alone keeping that dreaded diabetes at bay.

• Consumption of coffee also decreases the risk for neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease in men, but oddly not in women. Another shot to the fairer sex is high caffeine intake raises the risk for Parkinson’s in women who are on estrogen replacement therapy. At this point doctors aren’t sure what’s in coffee or caffeine that causes the increased risk.

• Other studies have shown coffee lowers the risk of liver diseases, including cancer and cirrhosis. Researchers aren’t clear on what’s at work and more studies are also needed to nail down the coffee/caffeine connection here as well.

• More vague still is the evidence for the idea coffee drinking lowers colorectal cancer risk. Some studies say there’s proof, others have found little to support the claim.

• It also isn’t clear whether coffee or caffeine consumption directly affects cardiovascular disease. But there is proof that caffeine consumption causes blood pressure to rise and elevates homocysteine levels in the body; both of which are risk factors for cardiovascular problems.

Coffee Cup Pried from Cold, Dead Hands

In the end, evidence to support either a paws up or down on coffee is lacking. In fact, some of the research is positively contradictory. The takeaway, as with so many other things we eat or drink, is it’s probably okay to consume coffee in moderation. That means 350-400 mgs per day, the equivalent of three to four cups.

There is no conclusive information that really swings the medical benefit question either way. This kat is going to go out on a limb and say it’s okay to enjoy the occasional cup of java. Just don’t become one of the perpetually wired hoi polloi seen sneaking in and out of Starbucks. A good rule is to apply what Greek philosopher Epicurus said, “Be moderate in order to taste the joys of life in abundance.”

Unless you have a hangover or haven’t gotten enough sleep. Then you’ve got my permission to pound down the grounds.