Coffee Health Risks and Benefits
Coffee is among the most frequently consumed beverages in the world. There
are both benefits and risks to consuming this popular beverage. Are there health benefits to drinking coffee?
Health benefits to drinking coffee:
Some scientific studies take into account factors of participants involved (age, gender, overall health, physical activity, etc.) (2). Once these factors are accounted for, it's easier to identify the effect that the variable in question--coffee, in this case--has on the participants’ health. Recently, many such studies have shown that drinking coffee may have health benefits:
Drinking 3-4 cups of coffee per day may decrease the risk of colorectal cancer by up to 24%, according to 3 recent meta-analyses (2)
The Nurses' Health Study revealed that women who drank 4+ cups of coffee per day were 25% and 30% less likely to develop endometrial cancer compared to women who only drank 1 cup per day and no cups per day, respectively (2)
The same study also revealed that regular coffee drinkers were less likely to develop skin cancer (2)
Studies from around the world--including Norway, and Japan--showed that drinking coffee reduced the risk of developing liver disease (2)
Other health conditions for which regular consumption coffee appears to have some protective benefit against include Type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and even suicide (1, 2).
Risks to Drinking Coffee:
Some studies do suggest risks to drinking coffee. Drinking 2-3 cups of coffee per day may decrease a woman's chance of getting pregnant by a third, and increase her chance of having a low birth-weight baby by half (2). Excessive coffee intake (5-10 cups daily) has been linked with heart disease in 2 meta-analyses (1). According to the Nurses' Health Study, regular coffee consumption in women over age 65 has been associated with an increase incidence of hip fractures compared to non-coffee drinkers of the same age (2).
Learn More at Our West Hartford Office!
Coffee drinking remains a personal choice. If you live in the West Hartford area and are looking for some guidance, contact our chiropractic team today to learn more about our nutritional counseling.
How many cups of coffee do you drink daily?
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