How Much Coffee Per Day Is Healthy

Morning coffee, is there anything better to start your day with? Most of us practically live on coffee, especially during the week where we try and squeeze as much productivity as possible into our day. However, recent research done by South Australia university has shown that drinking too much coffee can increase the risk of heart disease by up to 22%. 

So how much coffee per day is healthy? Well, the researchers have shown that drinking 1 to 2 cups a day will benefit your health, whereas people who drink 6 or more cups of coffee per day increase their chances of heart disease and high blood pressure complications.

The research sampled 347,000 people at the ages of 37-73 from a UK database, and its main goal was to sample if a certain gene that enables faster caffeine digestion also allows a healthy increased coffee consumption.

Once the research concluded the results where very much conclusive, even when having the caffeine gene drinking 6 or more cups of coffee a day will result in a higher risk of heart disease. Meaning that even duo the caffeine absorbed faster it has the same impact on the body. Too much of it is bad for us.

For better accuracy, the data gathered had to be calibrated so it could be measured and evaluated equally across the board. By that, we can get a clear picture of our coffee habits, and learn how to consume it in a healthier and safer way. 

What is the amount of Coffee in One Cup

When it comes to cup size there isn’t any consensus, people like to drink in different sizes and shapes. However, a unified unit and what the researchers used is a cup size of 8 ounces (236 ml) or just to be clear a short cup on Starbucks. 

This size might seem small for many of us who got used to drinking larger size cups. But drinking coffee should be under control as this stimulant has many different effects on our body, some of which you might want to limit.

One cup of coffee (8 ounces) will increase body functions such as elevated heart rate, increased blood flow, higher brain alertness, and in general, will make you feel energetic. Those effects will dissolve after some time, but usually, there won’t be a noticeable difference in feeling between a small cup and a large one. So you might just drink a small cup every couple of hours as the effect won’t matter but the size will (in regards to our health). 

How much Caffeine there is in One Cup of Coffee

The research has shown that in a normal cup of coffee there should be between 70 to 140 milligrams of caffeine. Caffeine amount varies thanks to different mixtures of coffee and the rost strength itself. 

As the amount of caffeine can change from one supplier to another, keeping a moderate coffee consumption is recommended. 

In general, the total daily caffeine consumption for adults should not exceed 400 milligrams as it might generate unwanted body processes.

Coffee is just another caffeine source that should be consumed in moderation. Healthwise caffeine in high quantities harms mainly the blood system, which is the body’s equivalent for highways. Harming blood vessels can cause long term problems in many other important systems that rely on a constant supply of nutrients and oxygen.  

Not all Coffee Consumption is bad but has some Health Advantages 

Coffee can be good for your body too. The only thing to remember is keeping its consumption to no more than 2 or 3 cups a day. Now with the knowledge from this thorough research, we know how caffeine contributes to our health and wellness.

In addition to the obvious coffee drinking advantages energy boost, higher focus levels, and yawn prevention in the following hours to lunch, there are some cool health benefits. Those benefits were tested and compared with a non-coffee drinking group and have shown that drinking coffee is indeed contributing to people’s health.

First of all, coffee contains high antioxidants levels that protect our body from an outer toxic environment rich with free radicals. Those free radicals are associated with inflammation, fatigue, low immune system, allergies, organs damage, DNA damages, mental problems at times and the list goes on. Higher cancer risk was noted also among some research and antioxidants have shown significantly cancer occurrences reduction.

Secondly, coffee increases metabolic rate in the body, benefiting weight loss, mobilizing nutrients faster, and clearing toxic faster. In addition, it has been shown that it can even improve athletic performances and prevent free radicals from going wild while doing intense sports activity (where the body then manufacture the as result of high physical body stress).

Thirdly, coffee lowers the risk of having type 2 diabetes, this fact is based on 17 different pieces of research done around the world sampling 470,000 people. In fact, those researches have shown that in some cases the risk was lowered by 67%. The more coffee people consumed the lower the risk of diabetes went. However too much coffee will increase other health hazards, so keep that in mind.

Fourthly, coffee has a strong impact on the brain as its active ingredient, caffeine, increase neuronal activity which practically makes us smarter for a while, it also prevents neuronal degrading. Caffeine is related to a lower risk of dementia, Alzheimer, and Parkinson. It also catches the serotonin(the layback attitude neurotransmitter) receptors, hence the “up and going” reaction after drinking coffee.

And lastly, coffee reduces the risk of heart disease by 22% for moderate drinkers (2-3 cups a day) compared to the heavy drinkers (more than 6 cups a day). In addition, drinking 2 cups of coffee lowers heart disease rate compared to non-coffee drinkers by 7-11%.

Sure there must be many more health benefits to coffee drinking then we can include here, and some might still elude researchers, but the bottom line is that moderate coffee consumption will be beneficial healthwise. 

Why you shouldn’t Drink more than 6 Cups of Coffee

Like all good things that must be kept within reasonable boundaries, so does coffee consumption. The point this research has shown is that people shouldn’t drink more than 6 cups of coffee if they wish not to increase any disease progression.

In other words, drink coffee but keep it balanced, and if you feel like boosting your energy up in the middle of the day, well, take the stairs this will surely get your heart rate up and ready for a couple more hours at work.

Health-related symptoms from excessive coffee drinking are extensive and involve all body systems.

Starting with mild symptoms of headache, anxiety, agitation, ear tinnitus (ringing) and an irregular heartbeat (tachycardia) that occurs when drinking too much coffee. Those are usually considered by many as a result of a hard day at work and with the tendency to overlook. However, they can be signs of serious future health issues and therefore should be taken under consideration.

What can become of those symptoms are many problems that people will sometimes have to deal with for the rest of their lives. From nervous system diseases such as insomnia, nervousness, and restlessness. To digestion problems such as upset stomach, nausea, and vomiting.

For those who drink coffee for the sake of taste, and there are many coffee taste lovers and had gone way beyond their 2-3 cups of regular coffee a day and “just can’t live” without the 4th cup might perhaps consider having a dicaffeine cup as their 3rd or 4th. 

In the past, there was a claim that dicaffeine is bad but the technology today have developed significantly in that field either. So yes, in general, I would less recommend it but for those who really need it, this can be a fair compromise. 

The conclusion 

Drinking coffee can be good and sometimes even great if kept in the right amounts. Abusing coffee consumption for higher alertness can cause a wide range of health problems, and as such should be used moderately. The right balanced consumption will benefit one with better health, which even compared to non-coffee drinkers improves health. 

So yes, have some coffee if you may, don’t hesitate. But just remember that coffee isn’t only for waking up but can help you achieve health goals for better or worse. Remember to use it wisely, balanced for your own personal physical bodily needs, just like any other thing in life and this will help you keep a higher level of wellness too.