Is caffeine bad for you? Only if you drink too much. Two new studies weigh the pros and cons of drinking caffeine.
Are you pounding back more than four cups of coffee a day? New research says that you might be shortening your life span (under 55s drinking more than 28 cups a week didn’t live as long as those who drank in moderation).
But that doesn’t mean coffee/caffeine is bad for you! In fact, drinking it in moderation has a long list of possible health benefits.
The latest news is that drinking a moderate amount of caffeine might be good for your liver. It may help prevent non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Caffeine caused a reduction in fat in the liver by encouraging metabolism of fatty-acids.
Past studies on coffee/caffeine (tea is often mentioned, but I guess in America we’re pretty coffee centric) have shown that it could increase your risk for glaucoma, improve Parkinson’s symptoms, decrease skin cancer rates, lower your risk of suicide, delay Alzheimer’s, boost learning and memory, and on and on…
So if you want to drink coffee or tea, great! Just mind how much. Are you dependant on it? Does one cup have no (energizing) effect? Can you skip a day? Most of the benefits have to do more with the antioxidants and flavonoids in coffee and tea rather than caffeine, so don’t think that you have to get yourself ‘juiced’ to reap the benefits.
As an aside, you can benefit by occasionally abstaining from any drug you choose to do (of which caffeine is certainly one). You’ll reset your body so you need less to get the effects, and you’ll learn a lot about what kind of habit you’re building based on how bad withdrawal is and if you even have the willpower to quit.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. We love feedback!:
