For many people, drinking a cup or two of coffee a day is as important as brushing their teeth or checking the news. In fact, in the UK alone, we drink an estimated 95 million cups of coffee every day, due to its great taste and energising capabilities. However, with so much conflicting evidence and controversy surrounding whether coffee negatively effects our health, we want to look at whether coffee can actually be a source of good.
Coffee Contains Essential Nutrients
According to Healthline, a cup of coffee contains:
Magnesium and niacin (vitamin B3): 2% of the recommended daily intake (RDI).
Manganese and potassium: 3% of the RDI.
Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5): 6% of the RDI.
Riboflavin (vitamin B2): 11% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI).
These nutrients help to maintain bone and heart health, keeps skin healthy, reduces the risk of diabetes and aids liver function among other benefits.
Coffee Can Help You Burn Fat
Caffeine can increase a person’s metabolic rate by 3-11%, helping the body to burn calories faster.
Caffeine stimulates the nervous system, which sends signals to fat cells encouraging them to break down.
As caffeine blocks the neurotransmitter adenosine, causing a coffee drinker to feel more awake, it’s been shown to improve exercise performance by 11-12%.
Coffee May Lower The Risk Of Cancer
Thought to be due to its rich source of antioxidants, multiple studies have suggested a link between drinking coffee and a reduced cancer risk. For example, it’s been found that coffee drinkers:
Have a 41% lower risk of developing liver cancer.
Have a 15% lower risk of having colorectal cancer.
Have a 60% lower risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Caffeine has also been found to inhibit protein growth in lung cancer cells, preventing cell growth and reproduction, and therefore lung cancer.
Coffee Can Boost Your Happiness
It’s not just the body that coffee can help with, but the mind too. You may already know that coffee can boost mood, due to increasing serotonin (26-30% increase), GABA (65%) and acetylcholine (40-50%) levels, but did you know that it’s also been linked to a reduced risk of developing depression? This is because caffeine can help to relieve depressive symptoms such as tiredness, loss of interest in once enjoyed activities, low mood and suicidal thoughts.
Clinical evidence includes:
4 cups of caffeinated coffee a day was found to reduce the chances of women developing depression by 20%, according to Lucas et al. (2011).
Ruusunen et al. (2010) in their study on Finnish men claimed a 77% risk reduction for heavy coffee drinkers.
Those who drink at least 2 cups of coffee a day scored lower on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, compared to those who drink only 1 (Pham et al., (2013)).
Coffee clearly has some beneficial effects, especially when it can help reduce the risks of cancer and depression. If you’ve been looking for a new coffee machine for your office, clinic or hospital, we recommend you check out our range of coffee machines, coffee beans, instant coffee and filter and cafetierie coffee. It could make everyone’s day.