What if your favorite habit was better for you than you ever imagined?
These days, coffee is more popular than ever before. In fact, coffee consumption has increased by five percent since 2015. This could be due to many factors, including the stress-inducing state of the world in the past few years.
However, there's some good news: even if you are drinking coffee due to stress, you might be doing your body a favor. That's because there are many health benefits to drinking coffee that the average caffeine lover knows nothing about!
What are the benefits of drinking coffee? And what are the things you can do to make each cup of coffee that much healthier? Keep reading to discover the answers!
How Much Coffee Should You Drink?
Our guide is going to walk you through the health benefits to drinking coffee. First, though, you should know that you can have too much of a good thing. Therefore, making your coffee healthier begins with controlling how much coffee you drink.
How much coffee should you drink, then? For most people, the recommended amount of coffee is two to three cups per day. This gives you room for a morning "perk" up as well as coffee at lunch.
Why avoid drinking more coffee than that, though? It has to do with that ingredient every coffee drinker loves: caffeine. While caffeine is great, getting too much of it is bad for your body (though you can always get more health benefits by drinking decaf later in the day).
It's important to know you can undo the health benefits of drinking coffee by drinking too much caffeine. But if you moderate your consumption each day, you can enjoy all the awesome benefits and none of the pesky drawbacks.
Drinking Your Coffee At the Right Time
Most of us have our first cup of coffee in the morning. However, if you need the energy or are dealing with a particularly stressful task, you may be tempted to drink coffee throughout the day.
As we noted before, nothing is wrong with grabbing a second cup of coffee when you really need that boost. But we'd strongly recommend not drinking any coffee after 2:00 pm.
The reason is simple: caffeine too late in the day may be enough to disrupt your sleep. And tossing and turning all night instead of getting to sleep would be bad enough. Keep in mind, though, that a sustained lack of sleep can cause a whole range of other health issues.
Once again, you want to avoid creating health problems because this would undermine the health benefits of coffee that you are hoping to enjoy!
The Brand of Coffee Matters
One truth that every coffee drinker learns is that not all coffee is created equal. The coffee brands you buy and consume play a major role in the taste of the coffee itself. However, you may not realize that the brand of coffee you buy may affect how healthy the coffee actually is.
Why is that? In short, many coffee beans have been sprayed with chemicals such as synthetic pesticides. When you drink coffee made from these beans, then you are bringing those chemicals and pesticides into your body.
The jury is still out on just how dangerous these chemicals really are. With that said, we don't want to find out firsthand! And by getting organic coffee, you can enjoy healthier sips without having to worry about what you might be secretly putting into your body.
How to Make Your Coffee Even Healthier
Adding ingredients to your coffee sometimes feels a bit like a gamble. Sometimes, it's a tasty and healthy addition such as cocoa or cinnamon. Other times, it may be a dangerous addition, such as artificial creamer.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could have it both ways? To make your coffee taste better and get many awesome health benefits, all in one swoop?
That's exactly what happens when you add The Good Stuff to your coffee. One spoonful of this is enough to make your coffee taste better than ever. But the benefits don't stop there!
The Good Stuff also provides healthier skin, better joint health, and lower inflammation. Plus, it's far more convenient to use The Good Stuff rather than relying on expensive and potentially harmful coffee additions such as sugar or artificial creamer.
As we like to say, The Good Stuff makes your coffee healthier than before. But coffee is already surprisingly healthy for your body. If you don't believe it, keep reading to discover the many health benefits!
1. Longer Life
Ever ask yourself what the basic goal of living healthy is? For many people, the answer is simple. Living a healthier lifestyle helps them to live a longer life.
And if you want to live longer, coffee is a necessary part of the equation. According to a recent study, coffee drinkers (whether caffeinated or non-caffeinated) live longer than those who never drink coffee!
The exact reasons for this are not yet clear, but it has something to do with the coffee itself and not just the caffeine. And while science has not yet figured out why this is, it's reassuring the know that drinking coffee on a regular basis is helping us to lead longer, fuller lives.
2. More Energy
Some of the health benefits to drinking coffee are a bit more obvious than others. For example, caffeine provides a boost of energy when you really need it. This is because coffee is chock full of stimulating caffeine.
As we touched on before, too much caffeine can be bad for your body. But caffeine in moderate amounts can enhance adrenaline production and provide the energy you need to fight off fatigue. Of course, drinking coffee late in the day may mean you're fighting off fatigue when you really need some sleep!
If you needed one more reason to love the caffeine in coffee, here it is: caffeine helps your brain boost dopamine levels. This is why caffeine helps to make you a bit happier each day.
3. A Quick Memory Boost
Most of us have memories of drinking coffee when studying for major tests back in school. Back then, you might have been drinking coffee just to stay awake. However, students and non-students alike benefit from the memory boost that comes with a good cup of coffee.
How does this work? Those who drink coffee get a quick memory boost because the caffeine helps provide a much-needed surge in their brain's overall activity.
Before you get too excited, this doesn't mean that coffee magically makes us smarter. However, it can enhance memory and reaction times when you need it. That's why so many of us turn to coffee when we are working on a major project that needs our full attention!
4. Awesome Antioxidants
Earlier, we mentioned how cocoa contains helpful antioxidants. However, coffee contains far more antioxidants than cocoa or even green tea. To put things in perspective, coffee beans are full of antioxidants, and even more antioxidants develop during the brewing process.
Why are antioxidants so important? They help to fight inflammation, chronic disease, arthritis, and more!
In fact, many of the benefits of drinking coffee that we are going to review have to do with the high level of antioxidant content. Since consuming antioxidants is one of the best ways to improve your health, it's reassuring to know that you get plenty of antioxidants one cup of coffee at a time.
5. Lower Your Diabetes Risk
Developing diabetes is a scary thought for people all around the world. Once you develop Type 2 diabetes, it changes your life and lifestyle in some very profound ways.
Because of this, many people try to reduce their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in the first place. And consuming coffee on a regular basis is an easy way to do so.
According to a 2018 study, those who drink multiple cups of coffee each day are at a lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The exact reason for this is unknown, but it may have something to do with how coffee helps protect your pancreas and also helps your body break sugar down.
6. Reduce the Risk of Heart Issues
It's important to focus on your heart health, especially as you get older. After all, when you have a weak heart, it can cause many major issues throughout your body.
And, you guessed it: regular coffee consumption helps you reduce the risk of heart issues. For example, drinking coffee each day helps to reduce your risk of developing heart disease. It can also decrease your risk of heart failure significantly.
On top of that, coffee helps lower your blood pressure. This can help reduce your risk of developing hypertension with every sip!
7. Coffee Can Reduce Body Fat
Whether it's bikini weather or not, most of us look in the mirror and come to a conclusion: "I need to lose weight." And you may be surprised to discover that coffee helps to reduce body fat.
According to a 2019 study, those who drank coffee on a regular basis also had lower body fat. This correlation was particularly strong among men.
If that's not enough, coffee can also improve how your body stores fat. This means dealing with unwanted body fat may be as simple as brewing yourself another cup of coffee.
8. Prevent Cognitive Decline
As we get older, the specter of cognitive decline just gets scarier and scarier. If you've ever seen someone deal with Alzheimer's, for example, it can be frightening to see how much that transforms a person.
Coffee can help prevent cognitive decline and help you ward off things like Alzheimer's. But getting the full effects may depend on how much coffee you drink.
For example, a recent study discovered that those who drank at least three cups of coffee a day reduced their odds of developing Alzheimer's and dementia later in their lives by 65%!
When researchers tried to see if alternatives such as soda or green tea were effective, they came up empty. Once again, the health benefits seem tied to the coffee itself and not just the caffeine.
9. Help Fight Cancer
In addition to cognitive decline, many of us live in fear of cancer as we grow older. If nothing else, getting older means that you will see more and more people suffer from and succumb to different forms of cancer.
Drinking coffee helps to ward off cancer, but it seems to be most effective with particular kinds of cancer. For example, men who drink coffee improve their odds of warding off prostate cancer. And women who drink four or more cups per day can reduce their chances of developing endometrial cancer.
As with many of the health benefits of drinking coffee, this has to do with the high level of antioxidant content inside the beverage. And coffee remains one of the best and tastiest ways to increase your consumption of antioxidants.
10. Lower Your Risk of Depression
Compared to external threats such as cancer, it's easy for depression to sneak up on us. In fact, many don't realize they suffer from depression until it starts causing major consequences in their relationships and even their jobs.
If you're worried about developing depression, then coffee may be your best defense. Over the course of many different coffee studies over the years, one consistent finding has been that coffee drinkers have much lower rates of depression than non-coffee drinkers.
This probably has to do with the fact that coffee helps our brains produce more serotonin and dopamine. These are the "feel-good" hormones that your body craves. And when you feel good each day, you are far less likely to become depressed.
11. Enhance Your Liver Health
Even if you're not much of an alcohol drinker, it's important to keep an eye on your liver health. Those who don't drink may be exposed to toxins or suffer from things like diabetes or obesity that can lead to liver disease. And liver disease could lead to potentially deadly developments such as cirrhosis.
Fortunately, it doesn't take much coffee to reduce your risk of developing liver disease. According to a 2019 study, a single cup of coffee per day may reduce your risk of liver disease by 15%. And drinking four cups of coffee per day can reduce your risk of liver disease by a whopping 71%
As an added bonus, regularly drinking at least two cups of coffee can also reduce your risk of developing liver cancer by 43%. If you're worried about your overall liver health (and you should be), then coffee is one of the best ways to protect yourself!
12. Enhance Your Physical Activity
It's an open secret that coffee gives us more energy to complete physical activities. It's one of the reasons many of us drink coffee in the morning: to get the energy to make it out of the house in the first place!
However, one surprising discovery is that coffee can actually enhance physical activity. And this is particularly important for those who work out on a regular basis.
As usual, it all comes down to drinking coffee in moderation (in this case, too much coffee may dehydrate you). But a little bit of coffee can help you fight off fatigue as you work out. And it can also strengthen muscle contractions and even reduce the pain you may feel while working out.
Put it all together and coffee can help you work out for longer and more intense sessions. This is great news for any gym lovers who fear they may have reached a plateau with their current workout regimen.
13. Prevent Gout
Out of all the health ailments we have discussed, gout may be the sneakiest. Nobody ever thinks they're going to get gout...right until they get the official diagnosis.
For both men and women, regular coffee consumption is critical in fighting off gout. In general, the more cups of coffee you drink per day, the greater your protection against gout will be.
This health benefit follows an interesting trend. In previous studies, participants have benefited from reduced chances of developing gout regardless of whether it was decaf or not. Drinking decaf coffee in the afternoon and even at night can help you enjoy some of these health benefits while avoiding the jitters and sleeplessness that come from caffeine.
14. Reduce the Risk of Parkinson's
Alzheimer's is not the only cognitive issue that coffee can help protect you from. As it turns out, regularly drinking coffee can also reduce your risk of developing Parkinson's disease.
A study in 2020 determined that those who drink coffee on a regular basis have a significantly lower risk of developing Parkinson's. And even if you already have Parkinson's, coffee can help slow down how it spreads.
This is crucial because there is no cure for Parkinson's disease. The best we can do is to try to avoid it or slow down its progression. And coffee is one of the most effective ways to do both.
15. Weight Management
Previously, we noted how coffee consumption can reduce how much body fat you have. But did you know that coffee can help out with weight management in other ways as well?
First, coffee boosts your metabolism. This alone helps you avoid gaining weight. Second, you may find yourself eating less because coffee helps to suppress your appetite.
Third, and finally, coffee consumption helps to improve your gut health for the better. At the end of the day, drinking more coffee may help you lose weight. And if you already struggle with being overweight, coffee can help with the heart problems and risk of diabetes that sometimes come from being overweight.
Unlock the Health Benefits of Drinking Coffee Today!
Now you know more about the different health benefits of drinking coffee. But do you know who can make your next cup of coffee even healthier?
Here at For Wellness, we sell coffee full of healthy antioxidants as well as healthy snacks and a performance supplement for your coffee.
