How Many Coffees a Day is ACTUALLY OKAY?
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There is this ongoing conversation about whether coffee is good for you or not. More often I come across people that are trying to “cut down their caffeine intake” or removing it completely from their lifestyle. My own roommate, when I met her, swore to only one cup a day in the morning (I have since converted her to two a day 😏). Let’s for a second put aside the people who cut down caffeine for the simple fact that they won’t be able to sleep at night (hey sis!), and focus on the ones who do it for health reasons.
Having read the book “How Not to Die” by Michael Greger, I could have sworn reading a section about coffee and how it is in fact not all that bad. Actually, I’m pretty sure he said it was downright good for you. Something about seeds and beans being a part of the essential food group for a healthy life…
So what is this misconnect, and why are some saying it’s healthy and others treat it like the juice of the devil? I was curious, and so I got into it. (BTW, I’m totally not writing this to defend my personal coffee addiction, nooo)
As a very first and simple step, I googled it. “How many coffees a day is good for you?” The answer?
“Evidence suggests that 4–5 cups of coffee per day is associated with the greatest health benefits. However, if you’re sensitive to caffeine, you should aim for lower amounts or avoid coffee altogether.”
Alright? 4-5 cups is WAY more than the average person drinks a day, so it’s likely you are already safe. Not let’s get into what it is about coffee that is healthy, and how we came to believe it is not.
Why People Think Coffee is Bad For You
For anyone suffering from anxiety, panic attacks, or ADHD, coffee is no friend. It also happens to be that just about everyone in today’s day and age suffers from one of the above. Life, work, working out, and the other million things on your to-do list cause anxious jitters as is, so why add onto it? Early negative conversations around coffee began with the simple mindset of “Oh, it’s so delicious, therefore it must be bad” (source) without having done any of the real research to back it up.
So there you go. That’s the main and only reason why people advise against coffee.
The Health Benefits of Coffee
Plenty of studies have proven over and over again that there are a plethora of health benefits to coffee. “The overall evidence has been pretty convincing that coffee has been more healthful than harmful in terms of health outcomes” - Frank Hu, chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Coffee doesn’t only contain caffeine, but antioxidants and other active substances that reduce inflammation. Studies done by Hopkins University showed that coffee drinkers are less likely to die from coronary heart disease, parkinson’s disease, stroke, diabetes, depression, and kidney disease (source).
Of course, like any and all things, too much of a good thing can be harmful. The only exception to that rule is probably water. Taken in excessive amounts, you can get an increased heart rate, raised blood pressure, and anxiety. So what’s the optimal number of cups to drink to reap the benefits and avoid the negatives? Go to about any source and they all say 3-5 cups is ideal.
