Ms. Liu is 42 years old this year. She is a junior high school teacher. She is usually under great pressure at work and often needs to stay up late to prepare lessons. In order to refresh herself, she can only drink coffee. At most, she can drink 5 cups of coffee a day.
Last week, she fell to the ground when she got up in the morning. Her right side landed on the ground first, and she felt a sharp pain in her clavicle. She went to the hospital for a check-up and was diagnosed with a clavicle fracture, and she also suffered from osteoporosis. This surprised Ms. Liu. She just fell down, how could she have a fracture? And osteoporosis, isn't it a disease that only the elderly will get?
After understanding her past history, the doctor believed that Ms. Liu suffered from osteoporosis, which was related to her long-term and large-scale drinking of coffee. The caffeine in coffee can cause the body to decalcify. In addition, Ms. Liu's diet is irregular due to work, and there is a problem of insufficient calcium intake. Under the combined effect of the two, osteoporosis is induced.
A cup of coffee in the morning is a standard for many young people nowadays. Many people even regard coffee as a "life-extending artifact" and cannot do without it. Drinking coffee regularly may bring these benefits to the body.
1. Refresh the mind and relieve fatigue
When people are tired, a large amount of adenosine is secreted in the brain, and caffeine can combine with adenosine to block the fatigue signal sent by adenosine. In this way, the brain cannot know the signal transmitted by fatigue substances, and naturally will not feel tired.
2. Help digestion and promote defecation
The acidic substances in coffee can promote the production of gastric acid, bile, and pancreatic secretions, promote gastrointestinal peristalsis, and can also relieve indigestion to a certain extent. In addition, studies have found that coffee can stimulate distal colon movement, enhance the body's defecation response, and prevent and treat constipation.
3. Reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes
A study published in "Food and Health-Consensus of Scientific Evidence" pointed out that drinking coffee in moderation can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. The International Diabetes Federation and other organizations directly regard black coffee as part of dietary health and recommend that diabetic patients drink it in moderation.
4. Reduce the risk of liver disease/liver cancer
Scientists from the University of Southampton and other institutions have published a study in "BMC Public Health" that analyzed the relevant data of more than 495,000 subjects who regularly drink coffee in the UK Biobank and conducted a 10.7-year follow-up.
The results showed that compared with people who do not drink coffee, the risk of chronic liver disease, chronic or fatty liver disease, and death from chronic liver disease in subjects who consumed coffee decreased by 21%, 20%, and 49%, respectively. Researchers said that cafestol and cafestol in coffee have been shown to prevent chronic liver disease in animals. And the greatest benefit is drinking 3-4 cups of coffee a day.
5. Reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease
A study published in the journal Impact Factor by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee followed 6,467 women for more than 10 years and found that women over the age of 65 who consumed high levels of caffeine could reduce their risk of dementia, which is roughly equivalent to drinking 2-3 cups of coffee a day (about 230ml/cup).
There has always been a lot of controversy about the relationship between coffee and health. Some people say that drinking coffee can cause heart disease, some say that the caffeine in coffee can make people addicted, and some say that drinking coffee can cause osteoporosis. Which of these statements is true and which is false?
Rumor 1: Drinking coffee is not good for cardiovascular health
Caffeine can increase nerve excitability, leading to faster heart rate, vasodilation, respiratory rate and gastrointestinal motility. Especially for people who are intolerant to caffeine, they will have symptoms such as panic, palpitations, dizziness and discomfort after drinking coffee. The higher the concentration of coffee, the more obvious the symptoms. However, for people who have a long-term habit of drinking coffee, if there are no symptoms, there is no need to worry.
On the contrary, a study at the 2021 European Heart Disease Annual Meeting stated that drinking half a cup to three cups of coffee a day can reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 17% and the risk of stroke by 21%.
Rumor 2: Drinking coffee can cause osteoporosis
It is undeniable that caffeine does increase the excretion of calcium in urine and the secretion of calcium in the small intestine, and the oxalic acid in coffee will bind to calcium and inhibit calcium absorption. However, we cannot talk about toxicity without considering the dosage. Long-term high-dose (>300mg) coffee intake will increase the risk of osteoporosis. At least 3 to 4 cups of coffee are required every day. Most people don't drink so much coffee.
A cup of coffee will cause the body to lose 2 to 3 mg of calcium, while 100 ml of milk contains about 100 mg of calcium. Drinking some milk while drinking coffee can completely offset the loss of calcium, so there is no need to worry too much.
Rumor 3: Drinking coffee is addictive
Coffee does bring a certain degree of addiction to the body, but it will not have a lasting effect on the body and mind during withdrawal. Studies have found that when more than 100 mg of caffeine is consumed daily, the body will become dependent. If the intake is stopped for 12 to 24 hours, the body will have symptoms such as difficulty concentrating, headaches, and anxiety.
However, this symptom will generally ease after 2 to 3 days and will not continue.
Rumor 4: Coffee can cause cancer
This statement mainly comes from the acrylamide component in coffee, which is produced during the baking process. In fact, acrylamide is not a rare substance and is found in all kinds of baked foods containing starch.
In addition, acrylamide has only been found to cause cancer in large amounts in animal experiments, and the amount that humans can ingest through food is less than 1% of the experiment. Not to mention that the results of animal experiments cannot be directly converted to humans, and there is no need to worry too much about the dosage alone.
Although drinking coffee is not as exaggerated as causing cancer, there are also many precautions when drinking it. Doing these points will be healthier.
1. Choose to drink black coffee
Try to choose black coffee without adding anything when drinking coffee. This type of coffee will have a distinct bitter taste, and milk can be added appropriately to neutralize the bitterness. Try not to drink instant coffee and fancy coffee on the market, because they all add a lot of white sugar and non-dairy creamer, and drinking such coffee is very unhealthy.
2. It is best to drink in the morning
American neurologists have calculated that the best time to drink coffee is 9:30~11:30 in the morning. Drinking coffee at this stage can make the interaction between cortisol and caffeine in the body reach the best state. Note that it is generally not recommended to drink coffee on an empty stomach or after dinner, otherwise it is easy to palpitate and affect normal sleep.
3. Don't drink more than 3 cups a day
Zhong Kai, director of the Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center, said that healthy adults are generally not recommended to drink more than 3 cups of coffee a day. Generally, there is 100mg of caffeine in 150ml of coffee, and the daily intake of healthy adults should be 210~400mg, so it is appropriate to drink 3~5 cups a day, but it is best not to exceed 3 cups to avoid excessive caffeine intake.
4. Special groups should drink with caution
Professor Yu Kang from the Department of Clinical Nutrition at Peking Union Medical College Hospital published an article reminding that pregnant women, children under 12 years old, patients with digestive system diseases such as gastric disease/gastroesophageal reflux, patients with cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension/arteriosclerosis/coronary heart disease, and gout patients should drink coffee with caution.
