8 Ways Drinking Coffee Can Benefit Your Health

Each year over 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed around the world. As one of the most popular beverages globally, there must be a reason beyond flavour that so many people choose to fill up their cup every morning with coffee.

While nothing compares to the smooth taste and rich aroma of a freshly brewed cup, many choose to drink coffee due to the benefits offered by coffee and the caffeine within each cup. Here are a few of the ways in which drinking coffee can provide benefits to your health.

Boosts Energy

This is one of the effects of coffee that you will likely be aware of. Coffee, and specifically the caffeine within it, has energy-boosting effects that can help fuel your day and give a much-needed jolt to wake you up.

Caffeine has been found to increase attention, help you to learn things faster and boost motor skills. After a cup of coffee, you may experience improved cognition, which explains why some of us only feel properly awake after a strong brew in the morning!

Source of Antioxidants

Did you know that a cup of coffee is a great source of antioxidants? In fact, it can provide us with more antioxidants than things like fruit, vegetables and green tea, which are all known for their antioxidant properties. Antioxidants are good for the body, as they help to prevent or reduce the cell damage that occurs in our bodies through oxidation.

Reduces Major Illness

Many studies have found links between drinking coffee and the reduced risk of developing some major illnesses and diseases. This includes heart disease, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s and gout.

Heart Health

A study published in PLOS Biology revealed that caffeine helps to improve the health and strength of the cells lining the arteries and veins, which helps to improve heart health. They recommend drinking four cups a day to promote the repair of cardiovascular cells.

Degenerative Disease

Likewise, research from the Krembil Brain Institute discovered that drinking coffee can help to prevent the onset of degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. This is due to compounds called phenylindanes, that were discovered in roasted coffee, which stop the proteins that cause degenerative diseases from merging.

Improve Life Expectancy

Drinking coffee has also been linked to a longer life expectancy. A study published in the European Journal of Epidemiology found that drinking two cups of coffee each day can increase life expectancy by up to two years.

Reduces Depression

A study from the Harvard School of Public Health discovered a positive link between drinking coffee and improved mental health, suggesting that drinking coffee can help to reduce feelings of depression.

The study found that those who drink four or more cups of coffee each day are 20 percent less likely to have depression than people who drink less than four cups of coffee. It is thought that this is because the caffeine in coffee helps to increase the amount of active serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is the chemical in our brains that impacts on our mood.

People suffering from depression should seek appropriate medical help, rather than rely on cups of coffee, though.

Helps to Reduce Cravings

Coffee is an appetite suppressant, meaning that it can help to reduce feelings of hunger for a little while. When used in combination with a balanced diet, coffee can sometimes be used to help with weight loss. So, if you’re fancying a bar of chocolate or bag of crisps, but you’re trying to be good, perhaps pour yourself a cup of coffee instead!

As well as helping to keep cravings at bay, the caffeine found in coffee also helps to boost energy in your body, even when it is resting! This means that it can help to increase the number of calories you burn when you are inactive.

Improves Memory

A study by PLOS One discovered that after drinking two cups of coffee, a person’s short-term memory is improved, with the brew also helping people to identify words and solve problems a lot faster than usual.

Likewise, John Hopkins University found that two cups of coffee have the perfect amount of caffeine to help boost your ability to remember new information by 10 percent. It seems that two is the golden number when it comes to how many cups of coffee you should drink!

Strengthens DNA

The European Journal of Nutrition released a study that found that the white blood cells of a coffee drinker are less likely to experience DNA strand breakage than people who don’t drink coffee. This study suggests that DNA is made stronger by drinking coffee.

If you want to enjoy the benefits that coffee can bring wherever you go, why not invest in an on-the-go coffee maker?!