Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world, and it is becoming integrated into the lives of China’s urban dwellers. There are usually a few coffee shops in lively neighborhoods, and the occasional aroma wafting out of the doorway makes hurried pedestrians slow down and even step in for a cup.
In addition to recreation, coffee is also an important beverage used by many people to refresh themselves, such as our group of doctors, there are many people need to drink two cups of coffee every day, in order to have plenty of energy to deal with the busy day.
As a “no coffee will die star”, I heard that many people drink coffee will have a headache, palpitations and other discomfort, I can not help but question: coffee is bad for health?
Drinking coffee is bad for your heart?
The composition of coffee is relatively complex.
In general, each cup of coffee contains caffeine, due to the type, brewing method and other differences, ranging from about 100 to 200 mg. Coffee also contains “diterpene alcohol”, “chlorogenic acid” and other active substances that can affect the physiological processes of the human body, not to mention the numerous new substances created by the “merad reaction” that occurs during the roasting of coffee beans.
1. Discomfort caused by caffeine
A large part of the effect of coffee is provided by caffeine. In addition to refreshment, most of the discomfort symptoms such as heart palpitations, headaches and insomnia that occur in coffee-sensitive people are caused by caffeine. It can slightly raise blood pressure by about 3 mmHg, while normal people have systolic blood pressure in the range of 90 to 130 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure of 60 to 90 mmHg.
However, caffeine is still a “low toxicity substance”.
From the data of mice experiments, it is assumed that for an adult weighing 60 Kg, the intake of about 10 g of caffeine would be “dangerous” – that is, the “LD50” commonly used in toxicology experiments to measure the toxicity of substances – and this This amount is equivalent to drinking 100 cups of coffee at once.
Obviously, there is no danger at all if coffee is used as a beverage. What you need to worry about when you drink 100 cups of water at once is probably the electrolyte disturbance caused by water poisoning.
The body is so tolerant to caffeine that if 200 mg of caffeine is consumed for 3 days, the body’s spontaneous countermeasures can counteract these cardiovascular effects of caffeine.
2. Alcohols in coffee affect cholesterol metabolism
In addition, some alcohols contained in coffee (cafestol, cafestol, etc.) can affect the metabolism of cholesterol.
Some studies have shown that drinking two months’ worth of prepared coffee (that is, espresso and fancy coffee commonly found in coffee shops) elevates the amount of cholesterol in the blood as well as the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) responsible for transporting cholesterol; whereas filtered coffee does not affect the amount of cholesterol in the blood.
Perhaps it is those substances in espresso that are extracted under pressure that cause these changes.
It is important to note here that cholesterol is not “unhealthy” for healthy people; it is also an essential substance for the body. Although many types of coffee may raise blood cholesterol levels a little, they do not cause dangerous “hypercholesterolemia”.
In fact, the risk of cardiovascular disease associated with high cholesterol is reduced by coffee consumption.
Studies have shown that for those who have already suffered from coronary heart disease, or even a myocardial infarction, drinking coffee does not affect their heart function at all, much less cause a new round of illness.
What about cardiac arrhythmias? Although many people will have palpitations and other transient discomfort after drinking coffee, but according to the latest research reports, coffee does not trigger several really dangerous arrhythmias, even for people who have had a myocardial infarction is also harmless.
Drinking coffee regularly is a healthy lifestyle
And here’s the great news for those from the “No Coffee, No Death Star” crowd: for decades, numerous studies have shown that regular coffee drinkers have shown considerable resistance to several major types of modern diseases.
For example, a 2012 epidemiological study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, which looked at 400,000 people over 14 years, found that people who drank at least one cup of coffee a day had an approximate reduction in the risk of suffering from deadly diseases – heart disease, respiratory disease, strokes, diabetes, etc. –The risk of those deadly diseases – heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes, etc. – dropped by about 10 percent. And with each additional cup of coffee, this risk was further reduced; for women, this “protective” effect was a little stronger.
However, coffee consumption does not protect against cancer.
In addition, if you also rely on smoking to refresh yourself, sorry, tobacco is the most notorious drug in the history of mankind, and the little protective effect of coffee is nothing.
In another summary study published in 2013 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers specifically analyzed the role of coffee in a variety of modern diseases. They found that drinking as many as 4 to 6 cups of coffee a day reduced the chances of developing type 2 diabetes by nearly 28 percent, while drinking just one cup reduced it by about 10 percent; in addition, coffee drinkers had a lower chance of myocardial infarction and sudden death due to coronary atherosclerosis, as well as a lower chance of developing chronic heart failure.
Although some people feel palpitations after drinking coffee, regular coffee drinkers have not been found to cause ventricular fibrillation, atrial fibrillation and other really dangerous arrhythmias, but rather, coffee reduces the likelihood of their occurrence.
For cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage and other diseases, drinking 1 to 3 cups a day can significantly reduce the risk of occurrence, and if you drink 4 to 6 cups, the reduction will be even greater.
The data also shows that there is a group of coffee fiends who drink more than 6 cups a day, their cerebral blood vessels – neither good nor bad, and the same as the average person.
There are even a number of studies that suggest that coffee has a role in warding off Alzheimer’s disease.
A few tips to take the worry out of coffee
Are you sensitive to coffee? Are you worried that coffee will cause calcium loss? Here are a few tips to help you enjoy coffee with confidence.
1, do not drink coffee when taking medication;
2. Drink decaffeinated coffee;
3. Do not drink more than 5 cups per day;
4. Drink small amounts of coffee for a week;
5.Add two tablespoons of milk to each cup of coffee;
6. Drink coffee while maintaining a healthy diet;
Caffeine is a “foreign” substance that enters the body and, like many other drugs, is metabolized by the liver; and many foods such as grapefruit juice, alcohol and various drugs can affect the liver’s ability to metabolize coffee to varying degrees.
Sometimes the liver’s ability to metabolize is inhibited, then the metabolism of caffeine will slow down, caffeine will stay in the body longer, and accordingly, its refreshing and cardiovascular stimulating time will be longer.
Therefore, people who are sensitive to coffee may need to be careful not to drink coffee while taking medication; alternatively, they can switch to a decaffeinated variety to drink.
I have seen people on the internet worrying about the loss of calcium due to coffee drinking, but in reality, this problem does not exist.
First of all, caffeine needs to be consumed in large doses, such as at least 5-6 cups of coffee per day, to really affect the metabolism of calcium ions in the kidneys.
In addition, the body possesses a strong adaptive capacity, and after a week of continuous consumption, the body’s tolerance to coffee is greatly increased.
Finally, the rate of calcium loss due to coffee is so low that the amount of calcium loss due to one cup of coffee can easily be offset by two tablespoons of milk. Therefore, people who like milk with coffee have nothing to worry about. And people who like black coffee, as long as the rest of their diet is healthy and balanced, there is no evidence that coffee can cause bone loss, osteoporosis and other health problems.
So is coffee a miracle drug?
As a reader of “Dr. Ding Xiang”, if you have read other health science articles before, you probably have the answer in your mind.
But if this is your first time reading our article, then I’m here to tell you clearly: there is no miracle drug in the world, and coffee is no exception, no matter how good it is! Don’t presume that you can get a healthy body and mind in exchange for one thing.
Maybe coffee works because people who like to take the time to make coffee for themselves know better how to take care of themselves; maybe what brings health is exactly the healthy lifestyle they have been maintaining, not the coffee itself.