The fact that coffee is the most commonly consumed drug in the world with approximately 80% of adults drinking it is not very surprising. For me, that is a surprise when I meet someone who doesn’t drink coffee at all. On the other hand, because of this, it should be common knowledge what effects coffee has on our body apart from the obvious one: it keeps us awake and alert. Luckily because of the love of coffee, it is not only the most consumed but the most widely studied substance at the same time, so we almost have every resource we need to get familiar with its effects.
How does caffeine work?
Of course, most of us drink coffee because of its caffeine content, as it enhances alertness and improves physical performance. How does it do it though? Coffee is a Central Nervous System stimulant, as it connects to adenosine receptors to our brain. Adenosine is a neurotransmitter responsible for the sleepiness we feel when our body is craving for a rest. Caffeine has a very similar structure to adenosine, so it blocks it from getting into the receptors by getting there first, and because of this it even allows dopamine to flow more freely. This results in us being more awake, powerful and less moody, but happy.
The good news about caffeine
Let’s keep on talking about the good news from coffee and caffeine. Studies have shown that regular caffeine consumption has many other not so clear benefits. Drinking coffee because of your daily workout can help to improve physical performance during endurance exercises. It can also provide improved performance on a range of different tasks, including vigilance, response times, information processing, but it is important to mention, that the improvements are quite small and don’t get better with more caffeine. Even more, moderate consumption can have good effects on your brain like decreased cognitive decline, lower risk of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and depression. Researchers have found that caffeine doesn’t only affect your brain but may help protect the lens of the eye against damage and can lower the risk of developing kidney stones.
Antioxidants and vitamins
This was all about caffeine so far but as we all know caffeine is not the only substance in coffee. In many cases, caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee has the same effects, which suggests that something else in coffee is involved in all these effects. Coffee has more than 1000 bioactive compounds, which leave their marks in our body but luckily, they have more benefit than harm. Among these, antioxidants are proven to have many benefits, as they sop up reactive molecules before they have a chance to harm sensitive tissue like blood vessels. Coffee also contains vitamins in small amounts like magnesium, potassium, niacin and choline. These compounds all together result in other benefits that we can get from coffee. A Swedish study showed that women who drank more than one cup of coffee per day had a 22 to 25 per cent lower risk of stroke compared with women who drank less.
Chlorogenic Acid the double agent
The second most potent compound in coffee is chlorogenic acid, which is like a friend who sometimes backbites you. This friend has many good attributes, like helps you to lose weight, saves you from inflammation and even protects you from dangers like type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Although, when you take a closer look, you realise that it harms your intestines because of its high acidity levels and can also cause stomach problems ranging from bloating, gas, nausea, and cramping. But don’t panic, you can avoid it, it is not an accident that Italians drink their delicious espresso after a nice fulfilling meal. Drinking coffee on a full stomach can cancel the acidity and leave you with a still stomach and all the benefits coffee can give you. Coffee can also help with constipation and digestion as it triggers Gastrointestinal (GI) tract muscle contraction and quickly removes waste soon after ingesting which helps you to get faster rid of your drowsiness after meals.
How much coffee is really good for you though?
Dietitians suggest that you should only consume coffee in a limited amount of 2-3 cups of percolated coffee or 4 cups of instant coffee (as it has lower caffeine content). It is a general guideline, but you should keep an eye on what your body is telling you, as tolerance level varies from person to person because of metabolism and genetics, and some people may experience the signs of overdose from a smaller amount. If you feel adverse reactions like heart palpitations, restlessness, anxiety, upset stomach or sleeplessness, then your body probably tries to tell you that you did a bit of overkill with your coffee consumption.
Furthermore, everyone who drinks coffee regularly can build up caffeine tolerance and might start to realise that the usual cup of coffee doesn’t give the same level of awareness as it used to do. It can lead people to consume more coffee over time and may pressure to cross the advised limits of daily coffee consumption. DSM-5 (“Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders“) even includes „Caffeine use disorder”, which refers to users who can’t stay away from caffeine, even though it might intensify their related health problems (like high blood pressure).
Many people don’t even realise that they are dependent until they can’t get coffee for a day and start to feel the effects of withdrawal. During this period, they might experience headaches, fatigue, irritability, drowsiness and difficulty with concentration. These side effects don’t make it impossible to skip coffee. If you are a regular coffee drinker and up to a challenge to try a day without coffee, it can be a very thoughtful experience. Although, choose a day when you don’t have too many things to do, so the symptoms won’t block you from productivity. The addiction can have many back-hangers, as it can leave its mark on your purse and it can leave you in big trouble when you don’t have access to a coffee machine when you need it. It doesn’t mean that anyone should stop drinking coffee but a re-weigh of coffee consumption can make no harm.
Some more interesting facts
Let’s finish this article with some more interesting facts about coffee. The coffee beans that you brew your coffee from consists caffeine because it acts as natural pesticide for the plant (Thank god!). It paralyzes and kills insects that attempt to feed on them. When you drink your daily brew all the caffeine in it gets absorbed. On the other hand, you need to wait 40 minutes until it gets to your intestine and gets absorbed, but it means that coffee nap truly works. After all of it gets absorbed the caffeine content of your blood peaks at 1-1.5 hours, but you may continue to feel these stimulating effects for up to six hours. Finally, we can bust a myth as coffee doesn’t draw water from your body, you don’t have to be afraid of that.
In conclusion, coffee has many benefits for our health, but its consumption can also carry some side effects and back hangers. It is not essential to drink coffee at all, everyone can themselves decide if they want to or not. The links between coffee and health are week and the vitamins and antioxidants can be obtained from other food sources, what is more, needed even if someone drinks coffee. Anyone who has a lower tolerance and experiences side effects and women during pregnancy should lower their coffee consumption. It is also important to mention to avoid pre-packed coffee drinks as their high sugar content may cause more harm than good.
References
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/285194#sources
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-the-effects-of-caffeine-on-the-brain-21842
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-980/coffee
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/what-is-it-about-coffee
https://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2015/11/coffee
https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-absorption
Coffee and Digestion: The Good, the Bad, and the Hard-to-Swallow
Foodaware 
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