5 Lesser-Known Health Benefits of Coffee

Many, many people are addicted to caffeine. It’s actually one of the most regularly consumed drugs in the world. And that’s fine, because most people just get their caffeine fix by drinking coffee. And a cup or two of coffee every day isn’t going to do a whole lot of damage. rnPlus, there’s a lot of benefits to drinking coffee. It will help you wake up, it will give you a nice jolt of energy when you need it and it’s got a great, unique taste. These are the benefits that everybody is well aware of, but what you probably don’t realize is that all of that stuff is barely scratching the surface. That’s all just productivity and alertness, coffee actually has some long-term health benefits and a lot of people are completely unaware of them. Drinking coffee can make a huge difference to your brain and your body in the future if you drink it every day. Of course, you shouldn’t drink it to excess, but that morning cup of coffee has some awesome health benefits. Here are five of them for you to think about:

1. Prevents Cognitive Decline

Coffee will help you maintain your focus, that’s no secret, but it does for your brain than just a short-term memory and concentration boost. As you get older your cognitive abilities are naturally going to decline. This is unavoidable for the most part but coffee can help you minimize the effects. People who drink coffee regularly are less likely to end up with serious cognitive issues when they’re older such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The main cause of Alzheimer’s is the build up of something known as beta-amyloid plaque in the brain. Caffeine is high in polyphenols, which are a structural class and have an antioxidant effect on your body. The plaque mentioned earlier happens because of inflammation in your brain, and antioxidants such as polyphenols help to keep inflammation under control.

2. Reduces Risk of Diabetes

Coffee is good for keeping away Type 2 Diabetes specifically. Unfortunately, there is more people suffering from Type 2 Diabetes nowadays than there ever was before. And a good chunk of the ones who don’t have it would be classed as ‘pre-diabetic’, meaning that they are on the cusp of the disease of they don’t change their lifestyle. Diabetes is manageable, but it’s also incurable and can get very, very serious if it isn’t kept under control. The reason why it’s effective in this regard is because of a diterpenoid molecule present in coffee beans called cafestol. Cafestol has been proven to increase the secretion of insulin in the body, even from just a small dose of it every day. It also helps control the amount of glucose in the bloodstream, which is one of the factors involved in your blood sugar getting too high. Each cup of coffee will decrease your chances of getting diabetes by a whopping 7%. It’s hard to argue against your daily cup after hearing those statistics.

3. Fights Depression

The first mouthful of coffee on a Monday morning that pumps life into you and makes you forget about the horror of having to leave your bed might just feel like a cure for depression. But you might be surprised to find out that it has actually been known to be effective in reducing the symptoms of this condition. Of course it’s only really useful if you are suffering from mild or moderate depression and so it’s not going to work as an actual cure. Still though, the chemistry makes sense. Depression is thought to be caused by low-serotonin levels in the brain and when the neurotransmitters responsible for producing it are inactive. Caffeine activates a number of the neurotransmitters in the brain which result in increased energy and alertness, the same principle applies to serotonin. It will also act as a psychostimulant and increase your motivation, which is something that you lack a lot of when you’re depressed.

4. Helps With Weight Loss

In a similar vein to what I said about diabetes, the impact of caffeine on your blood sugar can help you keep your weight under control. By regulating your sugar levels, you are less likely to crave sugar if you drink coffee every day and so it will be easier for your to avoid junk food. Caffeine will also increase your metabolic rate which means that you will burn more calories while you are resting. The important thing to note here is that coffee can actually cause you to gain weight too if your entire coffee consumption comes from coffee shops. These kinds of products tend to have quite a bit of added sugar and flavourings and can lead to the opposite of the desired effect. My advice would be to make sure that most of the coffee you drink you make at home. It can still taste great if you are using the right beans. Here’s a guide from Homegrouds to the best beans out there from that you should take a look at.

5. Packed With Antioxidants

I touched a little bit on this earlier, but it really shouldn’t be understated. With the amount of antioxidants present in coffee, it’s actually one of the healthiest things you can add to your diet. If you’re unfamiliar with the term and aren’t sure what antioxidants actually are, they’re your body’s defense mechanism against ‘free radicals’. These are reactive molecules which are toxic byproducts of oxygen and will attack your body in a wide variety of ways. The fact that our body is basically being attacked by something that comes from the gas we require to exist is a bit unsettling, but it’s not something you should be scared of. And that’s because out body will disarm these free radicals with antioxidants. If you replenish the antioxidant count in your system then on the regular, your body will be better prepared. You can build up a defense system against these aggressive toxins and drinking coffee every day will contribute to that.

Conclusion

It’s probably not good to have any kind of addiction, but you could be addicted to a lot worse things than caffeine. So if you were feeling guilty about not being able to function during the day without drinking coffee, don’t be, it’s really not that much of a problem. It’s actually probably more of a good thing overall.