The Great Coffee Debate; Myth or Fact?
I. M. Kapuwa, MD.
Coffee may taste good and get you going in the morning, but what will it do for your health? According to Frank Hu, MD, MPH, PhD, nutrition and epidemiology professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, there is certainly much more good news than bad news, in terms of coffee and health. A growing body of research shows that coffee drinkers, compared to nondrinkers, are less likely to have type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and dementia, have fewer cases of certain cancers (melanoma, prostate cancer), heart rhythm problems, strokes and computer-related back pain.
Caffeine myth or caffeine fact? It's not always easy to know. Chances are you have some real misperceptions about caffeine. For starters, do you know the most common sources of caffeine? Well, maybe two of the sources are not too hard to name -- coffee and tealeaves. However, did you know kola nuts and cocoa beans are also included among the most common caffeine sources? Caffeine contents can also vary from food to food depending on the type and serving size of a food or beverage and how it is prepared.
Caffeine content can range from as much as 160 milligrams in some energy drinks to as little as 4 milligrams in a 1-ounce serving of chocolate-flavored syrup. It is very important to note that even decaffeinated coffee is not completely free of caffeine. Caffeine is also present in some over-the-counter pain relievers, cold medications, and diet pills. These products can contain as little as 16 milligrams or as much as 200 milligrams of caffeine. In fact, caffeine itself is a mild painkiller and increases the effectiveness of other pain relievers.
It is worthy to note that people with sleep issues or uncontrolled diabetes should check with a doctor before adding caffeine to their diets, as should pregnant women, as there is some concern about caffeine's effect on fetal growth and miscarriage. In addition, some of the latest research seems to say that our genes may be responsible for how we react to coffee, explaining why some of us need several cups to get a boost while others get the jitters on only one.
According to CNN, the coffee debate is one of the age-old medical flip-flops: First coffee's good for you, then it's not, then it is – Now, you get the picture?
However, to stay completely healthy with your coffee consumption, it is advisable to avoid packing it with calorie-laden creams, sugars, and flavors. Also, how you brew it has health consequences. Unlike filtered (drip brewed) coffee, the French press, Turkish coffee or the boiled coffee popular in Scandinavian countries fail to catch a compound called cafestol in the oily part of coffee that can increase your bad cholesterol or LDL (low-density lipoprotein). Studies have shown that regular consumption of boiled coffee increases serum cholesterol by 8% in men and 10% in women. Moreover, be aware that a cup of coffee in most of these studies is only 8 ounces; the standard "grande" cup at the coffee shop is double that at 16 ounces.
Nevertheless, as you know, the news on coffee has not always been positive. The argument over the merits of your daily cup of favorite beverage dates back centuries. Let’s take a look at the timeline.
1500's headline: Coffee leads to illegal sex
Legend has it that Kaldi, an Ethiopian goatherd, discovered coffee after he caught his suddenly frisky goats eating glossy green leaves and red berries and then tried it for himself, but it was the Arabs who first started coffeehouses, and that's where coffee got its first black mark.
Patrons of coffeehouses were said to be more likely to gamble and engage in "criminally unorthodox sexual situations," according to author Ralph Hattox. By 1511, the mayor of Mecca shut them down. He cited medical and religious reasons, saying coffee was an intoxicant and thus prohibited by Islamic law, even though scholars like Mark Pendergrast, believe it was more likely a reaction to the unpopular comments about his leadership. The ban didn't last long, says Pendergrast, adding that coffee became so important in Turkey that "a lack of sufficient coffee provided grounds for a woman to seek a divorce."
1600's headline: Coffee cures alcoholism but causes impotence
As the popularity of coffee grew and spread across the continent, the medical community began to extol its benefits. It was especially popular in England as a cure for alcoholism, one of the biggest medical problems of the time; after all, water wasn't always safe to drink, so most men, women, and even children drank the hard stuff.
Local ads such as one in 1652 by coffee shop owner Pasqua Rosée popularized coffee's healthy status, claiming coffee could aid digestion, prevent and cure gout and scurvy, help coughs, headaches, and stomachaches, even prevent miscarriages.
But in London, women were concerned that their men were becoming impotent, and in 1674 The Women's Petition Against Coffee asked for the closing of all coffeehouses, saying in part: "We find of late a very sensible Decay of that true Old English Vigour. ... Never did Men wear greater Breeches, or carry less in them..."
1700's headline: Coffee helps you work longer
By 1730, tea had replaced coffee in London as the daily drink of choice. That preference continued in the colonies until 1773, when the famous Boston Tea Party made it unpatriotic to drink tea. Coffeehouses popped up everywhere, and the marvelous stimulant qualities of the brew were said to contribute to the ability of the colonists to work longer hours.
1800's headline: Coffee will make you go blind. Have a cup of hot wheat-bran drink instead
In the mid-1800s, America was at war with itself and one side effect is that coffee supplies ran short. Enter toasted grain-based beverage substitutes such as Kellogg's "Caramel Coffee" and C.W. Post's "Postum" (still manufactured). They advertised with anti-coffee tirades to boost sales. C.W. Post's ads were especially vicious, says Pendergrast, claiming coffee was as bad as morphine, cocaine, nicotine or strychnine and could cause blindness.
1916 headline: Coffee stunts your growth
While inventions and improvements in coffee pots, filters, and processing advanced at a quick pace throughout the 1900s, so did medical concerns and negative public beliefs about the benefits of coffee.
Good Housekeeping magazine wrote about how coffee stunts growth. And concerns continued to grow about coffee's impact on common ailments of the era, such as nervousness, heart palpitations, indigestion, and insomnia.
1927 headline: Coffee will give you bad grades, kids
In Science Magazine, on September 2, 1927, 80,000 elementary and junior high kids were asked about their coffee drinking habits. Researchers found the "startling" fact that most of them drank more than a cup of coffee a day, which was then compared to scholarship with mostly negative results.
1970's and '80's headline: Coffee is as serious as a heart attack
A 1973 study in the New England Journal of Medicine of more than 12,000 patients found drinking one to five cups of coffee a day increased risk of heart attacks by 60% while drinking six or more cups a day doubled that risk to 120%.
Another New England Journal of Medicine study, in 1978, found a short-term rise in blood pressure after three cups of coffee. Authors called for further research into caffeine and hypertension.
A 38-year study by the Johns Hopkins Medical School of more than a 1,000 medical students found in 1985 that those who drank five or more cups of coffee a day were 2.8 times as likely to develop heart problems compared to those who don't consume coffee. But the study only asked questions every five years, and didn't isolate smoking behavior or many other negative behaviors that tend to go along with coffee, such as doughnuts. Or "Doooonuts," if you're Homer Simpson.
Millennium headline: Coffee goes meta
Now begins the era of the meta-analysis, where researchers look at hundreds of studies and apply scientific principles to find those that do the best job of randomizing and controlling for compounding factors, such as smoking, obesity, lack of exercise and many other lifestyles issues. That means that a specific study, which may or may not meet certain standards, can't "tip the balance" one way or another. We take a look at some of the years. The results for coffee? Mostly good.
2001 headline: Coffee increases risk of urinary tract cancer
But first, a negative: A 2001 study found a 20% increase in the risk of urinary tract cancer risk for coffee drinkers, but not tea drinkers. That finding was repeated in a 2015 meta-analysis. So, if this is a risk factor in your family history, you might want to switch to tea.
2007 headline: Coffee decreases risk of liver cancer
Some of these data analyses found preventive benefits for cancer from drinking coffee, most showed drinking two cups of black coffee a day could reduce the risk of liver cancer by 43%. Those findings were replicated in 2013 in two other studies.
2010 headline: Coffee and lung disease go together like coffee and smoking
A meta-analysis found a correlation between coffee consumption and lung disease, but the study found it impossible to completely eliminate the confounding effects of smoking.
2011 headline: Coffee reduces risk of stroke and prostate cancer
A meta-analysis of 11 studies on the link between stroke risk and coffee consumption between 1966 and 2011, with nearly a half a million participants, found no negative connection. In fact, there was a small benefit in moderate consumption, which is considered to be three to five cups of black coffee a day. Another meta-analysis of studies between 2001 and 2011 found four or more cups a day had a preventive effect on the risk of stroke.
As for prostate cancer, a 2011 study followed nearly 59,000 men from 1986 to 2006 and found drinking coffee to be highly associated with lower risk for the lethal form of the disease.
2012 headline: Coffee lowers risk of heart failure
More meta-analysis of studies on heart failure found four cups a day provided the lowest risk for heart failure, and you had to drink a whopping 10 cups a day to get a bad association.
2013 headline: Coffee lowers risk of heart disease and helps you live longer
For general heart disease a meta-analysis of 36 studies with more than 1.2 million participants found moderate coffee drinking seemed to be associated with a low risk for heart disease; plus, there wasn't a higher risk among those who drank more than five cups a day.
How about coffee's effects on your overall risk of death? One analysis of 20 studies, and another that included 17 studies, both of which included more than a million people, found drinking coffee reduced your total mortality risk slightly.
2015 headline: Coffee is practically a health food
As a sign of the times, the U.S. Department of Agriculture now agrees that "coffee can be incorporated into a healthy lifestyle," especially if you stay within three to five cups a day (a maximum of 400 mg of caffeine), and avoid fattening cream and sugar.
Nutritional benefits of coffee
Calorie count: Regular black coffee (without milk or cream) has a very low calorie count. A typical cup of black coffee only contains around 2 calories. However, if you add sugar and milk, the calorie count can shoot up.
Antioxidants: Coffee is the number one source of antioxidants in the U.S., according to researchers at the University of Scranton. Joe Vinson, Ph.D., lead author of the study, said that "Americans get more of their antioxidants from coffee than any other dietary source. Nothing else comes close." Caffeinated and decaffeinated versions provided nearly the same levels of antioxidants.
However, there are some risks in consuming too much coffee. Drinking too much coffee can result in some very unpleasant adverse effects. According to a study by researchers at the University of Oklahoma, "caffeine can cause anxiety symptoms in normal individuals, especially in vulnerable patients, like those with pre-existing anxiety disorders." In addition, "caffeine use is also associated with symptoms of depression due to either a self-medication theory, or a theory that caffeine itself causes changes in mood."
Women who plan on becoming pregnant should be cautious. Researchers from the University Of Nevada School Of Medicine reported in the British Journal of Pharmacology that regular coffee may reduce a woman's chances of becoming pregnant.14
Once again, let’s go through the health benefits of coffee.
Coffee may protect against type 2 diabetes
Coffee may be protective against type 2 diabetes. Researchers at UCLA identified that drinking coffee increases plasma levels of the protein sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). SHBG controls the biological activity of the body's sex hormones (testosterone andestrogen) which play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes.
Coffee may help prevent Parkinson's disease
Researchers in the U.S. carried out a study that assessed the link between coffee consumption and Parkinson's disease risk. The authors of the study concluded that "higher coffee and caffeine intake is associated with a significantly lower incidence of Parkinson's disease".
Coffee may lower the risk of liver cancer
Italian researchers found that coffee consumption lowers the risk of liver cancer by about 40%. In addition, some of the results suggest that if you drink three cups a day, the risks are reduced by more than 50%.
Coffee may help prevent liver disease
Regular consumption of coffee is linked to a reduced risk of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a rare autoimmune disease of the bile ducts in the liver.
In addition, coffee consumption can lower the incidence of cirrhosis of the liver for alcohol drinkers by 22%, according to a study at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, California, USA.
Coffee may be good for the heart
Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard School of Public Health, concluded that drinking coffee in moderation protects against heart failure. They defined 'in moderation' as 2 European cups (equivalent to two 8-ounce American servings) per day.
So, is the great coffee debate ever going to be won?
Stay tuned. There's sure to be another meta-study, and another opinion. We'll keep you updated.
Source:
- CNN - http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/14/health/coffee-health/
- WebMD - http://www.webmd.com/default.htm
- MNT - http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/
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