The Health Benefits of Coffee – Explained

There is a lot to love about coffee:

The aromas, the taste, and the nutrients all brewed up into a single cup is what makes coffee the most popular beverage in the world.

And with over 400 billion cups consumed on a yearly basis, coffee has become the focus of numerous studies that are reflecting some major health benefits for your everyday coffee drinkers. 

So how is your coffee helping you?

• Improves Energy Levels and Makes You Smarter

Well, the average cup of coffee will contain roughly 95mg of caffeine. This is important to know as caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant that gets absorbed into your bloodstream and goes straight to your brain. This caffeine then blocks off certain neurotransmitters and when this occurs, other neurotransmitters such as dopamine will then increase, leading to an improved firing of neurons. This implies that your brain is working faster thereby improving your energy levels and brain function.

• Improves Physical Performance

As we previously established, caffeine increases neuron activity in the brain which allows for neurons to send messages to the pituitary gland to stimulate the adrenal glands, which then produces adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline will then increase your heart rate, elevate your blood pressure and boost your energy supply. While cortisol increases sugar in your bloodstream, it improves your brain’s use of glucose and increases the availability of substances that repair tissues. In combination, this allows for improved and strengthened physical performance. 

• Helps Burn Fat

Caffeine is found in almost every commercial fat burning supplement out there, and for good reasoning – Caffeine stimulates the nervous system which in turn sends direct signals to the fat cells telling them to start breaking down fat. These fatty acids are broken down and then used as energy for us during our days, helping us turn fat into fuel. 

• Contains Nutrients

One cup of coffee contains a number of nutrients that humans require on a daily basis. 

Nutrients such as: 

• Vitamin B2.
• Vitamin B3.
• Vitamin B5.
• Manganese.
• Potassium. 
• Magnesium. 

Thus, drinking coffee allows you to access a number of nutrients at once and considering people drink large volumes of coffee, this means people are exposed to a higher percentage of nutrients.

• Contains Plenty Antioxidants

Coffee carries high levels of antioxidants. In fact, coffee contains more antioxidants than green tea and cocoa. Research reflects that there are roughly 1000 antioxidants present in unprocessed coffee beans and additionally,  hundreds more are produced during the actual roasting of the coffee beans.

But what do antioxidants actually do?

Antioxidants protect cells against the effects of free radicals. Free radicals damage cells and play a noticeable role in heart disease, cancer, and other medical conditions. Therefore drinking coffee exposes your body to a greater number of antioxidants and thus helps protect your body. 

Lastly, studies show that coffee also helps prevent the risk of:

• Type 2 Diabetes.
• Alzheimers and Dementia. 
• Parkinson’s.
• Depression.
• Liver problems. 

In essence, as I said, there is a lot to love about coffee.

From its taste to its smell AND now its awesome health benefits too!