7 health benefits of drinking coffee 🧘 ☕

Coffee is one of most widely consumed beverages in the world, and many people love it for its ability to boost focus and energy levels throughout a day.

People tend to have their cuppa in the morning, particularly when waking up, to kick start their day ahead, and get that nice boost of energy.

But coffee, you’ll be glad to hear, has an extensive list of potential health benefits

1. The obvious one, it boosts energy levels!

We all know that coffee contains caffeine, but is caffeine good or bad? When taken in sensible amounts, it has real wide benefits! Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant that is known for its ability to combat fatigue and increase energy levels. A small study found that consuming caffeine during a cycling exercise increased time to exhaustion by 12% and significantly reduced individual levels of fatigue in participants.

2. Supports heart health

As seen by our Instagram first the other week (you should totally follow if you are not already *wink*), drinking coffee can benefit heart health. One review found that drinking three to five cups of coffee daily sided with a 15% reduced risk of heart disease (boom!) and a 21% lower risk of stroke. Find out other stats about coffee and heart health at our Instagram page here.

In spite of those great statistics, caffeine can affect blood pressure levels so always be careful with your limit to your daily caffeine intake, especially if you suffer with issues relating to blood pressure.

3. Can help weight management

Sounds too good to be true… right? Some research shows that coffee helps gut health and alter fat storage, useful for weight management potentially. 

One review of 12 studies revealed that higher coffee consumption could be associated with lower body fat, particularly in men. Whilst another study showed high coffee intake was connected to decreased body fat in women. 

Additionally, another study found that people who drank coffee daily were 17% more likely to meet their recommended physical activity levels, with the extra energy helping people to increase their physical activity.

4. Could protect against liver conditions

Several studies propose that coffee could support liver health, protecting you against liver disease. It was found through a study that drinking two or more cups each day is related to lower rates of liver scarring and liver cancer in people who suffer with liver disease.

More research has revealed that the more a person drank coffee, the lower their risk of death from chronic liver disease, showing that coffee really does have real potential benefits to people’s health that could potentially save lives! 

5. May be connected to a lower risk of type 2 Diabetes

Consuming coffee on a regular basis has shown to be linked with a decreased risk of developing type 2 diabetes long term.

A review of 30 studies that found that each cup of coffee people consumed daily was associated with a 6% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. 

6. Shown to be linked to a lower risk of depression

There have been some studies that have found that drinking coffee could in fact correlate with a lower risk of depression.

One review of 7 studies actually found that each cuppa a person consumed per day corresponded to an 8% lower risk of depression.

Drinking at least four cups per day was found in a study to significantly lower risk of depression, compared to just having one cup of coffee a day.

7. May intensify athletic performance

A review of 9 studies outlined that drinking coffee before exercise (like a pre workout drink) improved people’s endurance and decreased their perceived physical and mental efforts, in contrast to a control group.

Coffee is often used by athletes looking to enhance their performance and boost energy levels for optimal results, but remember that all our bodies are different so be careful when researching what your favourite pro athlete is taking that works for them more than it will for your body. Be safe!

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We hope that you enjoyed learning about the potential health benefits to drinking our favourite brew!

Article inspired by Healthline