The Health Benefits of Drinking Coffee
You may love coffee for the jolt you get from its caffeine, but there are several other compounds in these magical beans that can benefit your health. For starters, coffee contains B vitamins, potassium, riboflavin, polyphenols, and antioxidants that have anti-inflammatory effects (i.e., they protect your cells from damage). Believe it or not, coffee is one of the best sources of antioxidants in the American diet.
If you are someone who drinks coffee purely for your morning jolt of caffeine, you won’t be surprised to learn that caffeine is a natural stimulant and can make you feel more energetic. What you may not have known is that caffeine can improve memory, mental function, and mood. Caffeine can even enhance reaction times, endurance, and performance during competition or exercise.Those who have had coffee before a workout can attest to its energizing abilities ;)
I can’t promise you that 3-5 cups of coffee daily will help you beat Steph Curry in a game of one-on-one basketball. What I can tell you is that recent studies have found that people who consume 3-5 cups of coffee daily are less likely to develop:
Type 2 diabetes.
Heart failure.
Parkinson’s disease.
Liver disease.
Colorectal cancer.
Dementia.
Symptoms of depression.
It’s important to know that “how” you take your coffee can negatively impact the health benefits described above. Popular additives that can work against these benefits include things like artificial sweet syrups and shelf-stable coffee creamers filled with sugar, inflammatory vegetable oils, and carcinogenic ingredients like carrageenan that can turn this calorie-free beverage into a decadent (and unhealthy) dessert. For context, a 16 oz Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino has 51 grams of sugar, 15 grams of fat and 370 calories.
Our suggestion? Buy freshly roasted, high-quality, organic whole bean coffee. Grind it just before you brew your morning cup of java. After you’ve had your first sip, let us know if you think it needs anything extra. We may be biased here at Class IV, but we have a pretty good idea of what your answer will be.
Happy brewing!
