How healthy is coffee?

For many people, a conscious lifestyle and losing weight has become a norm. For us as coffee lovers, there is the question of whether coffee fits within such a diet? Is coffee healthy or does it carry health risks? And in what way can you enjoy the most healthy coffee? In this blog you will find a comprehensive answer to these questions. The answers to these questions ultimately form the answer to the main question: 'How healthy is coffee really?'

What substances are there in coffee?
When you drink a cup of coffee, several substances enter your body. Roughly speaking, a cup of coffee contains over 800 different substances. Caffeine is the best known of these.

Other "known" substances in coffee are polyphenols, cafestol and kahweol. Some of these substances you don't want to take in too much of, we'll tell you more about this later. The substances in coffee can be divided into several groups. Many of these substances fall under the collective heading "active" substances. Coffee also contains carbohydrates, proteins and fats. However, the quantity is negligible. One cup of coffee contains less than 1 kilocalorie. By adding sugar and/or milk, however, you can increase the amount of carbohydrates.

Recommended quantity of the substances
Nutrition Centers recommend keeping it to no more than 4 cups of coffee per day. But how did they come up with this advice? Mainly with the amount of caffeine in one cup of coffee. A daily excess of caffeine can lead to health problems. By keeping it to a maximum of four cups of coffee per day, you can still enjoy the benefits that caffeine has to offer. The same advice states that adults should take a daily amount of 400 milligrams of caffeine. This amount of caffeine is equivalent to roughly four cups of coffee, but the type of specialty coffee does play a big role. Among other things, the strength and quantity of the coffee determine the number of milligrams of caffeine per cup. As long as you can keep your daily intake under 400 milligrams, coffee is healthy.

So which coffee is the healthiest?
As you undoubtedly know, you have a choice of many coffee specialties. From a strong espresso to a great latte macchiato (a combination of milk and coffee). However, the type of coffee does determine the amount of caffeine, kahweol and cafestol. This applies not only to the type of coffee, but also to the way you prepare the coffee. In other words, which technique and which device do you use to make a cup of coffee? When you use a coffee machine, you get a higher amount of kahweol and cafestol in comparison to a filter coffee machine. When you use a filter, a large part of the kahweol and cafestol clings to the filter, which means you ingest less. With a coffee machine, however, these substances have free passage and therefore end up in your cup of coffee in relatively large quantities. These substances cause high cholesterol levels. If you already have cholesterol problems, it is therefore extremely important to pay attention to them!

The coffee beans also play an important role. The coffee beans are grown in different parts of the world, whereby a distinction can be made between Robusta and Arabica coffee beans. The Robusta coffee beans contain a greater amount of caffeine than the Arabica coffee beans. This has to do with the way they are grown. Therefore, if you want to limit the amount of caffeine, it is best to choose Arabica coffee beans.

Positive effects of coffee
Nutrition Centers have indicated that coffee also has some positive health effects if you stay below the maximum recommended amount. So when you drink a cup of coffee, you get a certain amount of caffeine in your body. This caffeine, according to several studies, makes you concentrate better, you are more alert and you obtain more energy. So drinking coffee is definitely beneficial for your productivity and mood, among other things. For this reason it is also a good choice to enjoy a cup of coffee while working!

But that's not all; coffee has even more health benefits. In fact, research has also shown that coffee protects the brain from aging, protects you from diabetes and prevents the clotting of blood. So by drinking a few cups of coffee daily, you can protect yourself from various diseases and disorders. Some researchers claim that coffee even reduces the risk of cancer, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. Finally, it has also been shown that a few cups of coffee a day is beneficial for losing excess pounds. The coffee causes the energy consumption in the body to be higher, so your body burns fats faster. These fats are used and consumed in an efficient manner, so you can get rid of the excess pounds faster.

You can only enjoy the above benefits if you drink coffee in moderation. You can read what that means in concrete terms in the concluding section of this blog.

How much coffee is healthy?

Two things have emerged from this blog:

- An excessive intake of coffee can cause health problems

- The right intake of coffee can bring positive effects

So what exactly do we mean by an excessively high intake? It is basically anything above four cups of coffee per day. Studies have shown that you can enjoy the benefits mentioned earlier as long as you don't drink more than four cups of coffee. If you do drink too much coffee, however, it has the opposite effect. This is when you start to experience health problems and can actually become addicted to coffee. Too much caffeine can cause restlessness, sleeping problems, chronic headaches and anxiety, among other things. So drink coffee in moderation and enjoy the positive effects of the delicious drink!