Is Coffee Good for Your Health?

Starting last year, I began drinking coffee on a regular basis. First, it began with the occasional drink from Starbucks or Dunkin and eventually became a Keurig k-cup each morning. My primary reason for drinking coffee was to stay awake on mornings where I felt drained, especially after late nights finishing assignments. Now, I look forward to having a cup each morning and trying it with different flavors of non-dairy milks like almond or oat milk. Coffee is an essential part of many peoples’ morning routine, which begs the question of whether or not it is actually beneficial to your health. Though it does provide a noticeable boost in energy, are the temporary benefits worth the risk of a caffeine addiction and other negative side effects?

Coffee can be a potent source of caffeine, which works to bind adenosine receptors in the brain, effectively boosting energy levels after its consumption. However, this energy boost comes with a price. The surplus of energy that coffee provides can often lead to restlessness and even dependence when consumed too often. For those with anxiety or panic disorders, this restlessness can escalate to much higher levels of anxiety. Combined with the stressful environments, coffee is often consumed in (work and/or school), it can worsen the problem of anxiety in many and even induce panic or anxiety attacks. With the frequent consumption of the drink, dependence also becomes an issue. As with other addictive substances, a tolerance to caffeine can be developed through daily or regular consumption. The amount of coffee per day needed to cause dependency varies from person to person, but the symptoms experienced by those with dependencies remains fairly consistent. In the case of caffeine withdrawal, these symptoms can include: fatigue, headache, cravings, and difficulty concentrating.

Though coffee consumption does come with many adverse effects, recent studies have shed light on the positive aspects of the drink. “Moderate coffee consumption,” or the amount of caffeine considered safe to drink on a regular basis, is defined as 2-5 cups per day. This range leaves a significant amount of room to have a healthy consumption of coffee, without experiencing the negative effects linked to dependency or withdrawal. Caffeine is also known to have several key differences from other addictive substances. Caffeine consumption is often easier to self-regulate and has a much lower level of addictiveness than of other substances, making it much easier for the average person to manage symptoms of dependency. Coffee is also linked to lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, liver and endometrial cancers, and depression. This surplus of positive side effects, combined with the large range in which it is possible to consume the drink in a safe manner, proves coffee to be a much safer healthier drink than often thought. 

With this information in mind, the question still remains: is coffee actually good for your health? Personally, I love coffee and find that the positive impacts it has on my well being typically outweigh its downsides. On mornings where I haven’t gotten enough sleep or am feeling unmotivated, coffee gives me the temporary boost I need to keep going. In this sense, it is almost essential to take into consideration the impacts on mental wellbeing in the broader picture of “health.” Being able to remain awake and engaged on difficult mornings can be a significant contributor to mental wellbeing for many. With both the negative and positive impacts of coffee taken into account, coffee’s impacts on our health depend almost entirely on individual experience. While coffee may cause anxiety or restlessness in some, it can have considerable positive impacts on others abilities to remain engaged and involved in the world around them. So, with that being said, I will continue to enjoy and incorporate coffee in my daily routine.

By Celia Hughes