Everything You Need to Know about the Health Benefits of Coffee

While we all know that coffee contains caffeine, many coffee drinkers don’t know that coffee is an excellent source of a number of healthful compounds. When you sit down with that cup of coffee, you’re actually giving your body a boost of good-for-you substances.

Coffee is an excellent source of Vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin. Riboflavin helps our bodies metabolize our food and convert what we eat into energy, and it assists in iron absorption too. One 8-ounce cup of coffee contains 11% of your recommended daily allowance of riboflavin.

Coffee is full of numerous antioxidants, including polyphenols, chlorogenic acids, and quinic acid. Antioxidants help decrease inflammation and prevent diseases by supporting our bodies in eliminating free radicals before they can damage cells. In fact, a cup of coffee can contain more antioxidants than a cup of tea or a glass of red wine.

Mark Inman, Director of Specialty Coffee at Mercon Coffee, says those antioxidants make coffee one of the world’s healthiest drinks. “It’s the one product that most men get all their antioxidants from,” he explains.

Click here to learn more from Mark about the potential health benefits of coffee and his sustainability work!

And maybe the most overlooked benefit of coffee is in its biggest ingredient—water! While caffeine is a mild diuretic, according to Harvard’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health, that effect “is offset by the total amount of fluid from coffee.” So while water is your best bet for hydration, coffee still gives you a boost of fluids!

Speaking of caffeine, you may be wondering…

If you’ve ever heard that you should limit your caffeine intake, you might assume that caffeine is bad for you, but actually, several studies suggest that there may be health benefits to drinking caffeinated beverages like coffee.

Ever wondered why coffee helps you wake up and stay alert? Caffeine blocks adenosine, a neurotransmitter that increases our sleep drive, or our need to sleep. By blocking adenosine, coffee makes us feel more alert, awake, and attentive.

That extra boost of energy can also help us be more active physically, which we know benefits everything from our mental health to our cardiovascular systems! And because caffeine is a stimulant, it may boost metabolism and speed digestion so that your body can eliminate waste more quickly.

And caffeine is actually considered an antioxidant, so it supports the elimination of free radicals from your body.

There is a huge body of research that shows the potential health benefits of drinking coffee. In fact, research suggests that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of early death and may live longer.

Here are just a few specific health benefits from coffee!

Numerous studies have suggested that coffee drinkers may have a reduced chance of developing type 2 diabetes. That may be because the polyphenols and minerals like magnesium can help to improve the body’s use of insulin in the body.

In fact, a metanalysis of studies on type 2 diabetes, which encompassed more than one million participants, found that participants who drank a single cup a day had an 8% lower risk, while those who drank six cups a day were at a 33% lower risk of developing the disease.

A study of more than 100,000 participants between the ages of 47 and 96 found that research participants who drank just two or more cups of caffeinated or decaf coffee a day were also less likely to develop colon cancer.

And coffee drinking may help improve results for people who have already been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. A study of 1100 patients being treated for colorectal cancer found that people who drank two to three cups a day were likely to live longer and have a slower progression of the disease.

The antioxidants and other compounds in coffee may reduce inflammation in the body; inflammation can lead to fatigue, pain, digestive problems, and an increased risk of infections.

One study found that when regular coffee drinkers gave up their brew for one month, their inflammation levels increased by 6%. Then researchers tracked the same participants for another two months, where they were asked to drink 32 ounces of coffee for thirty days and then 64 ounces for thirty days. At the end of the study, their inflammation had been reduced by an average of 8–16%.

Whether you prefer regular or decaf, drinking at least four cups a day may put you at a lower risk of having a stroke. In a study of more than 83,000 nurses, researchers found that participants who drank four or more cups of regular coffee had a 20% lower stroke risk, and participants who drank two or more cups of decaffeinated coffee per day were 11% less likely to have a stroke. Notably, the researchers didn’t notice any similar correlation with other caffeinated drinks, suggesting that coffee’s unique properties might have made the difference.

Whether you prefer regular or decaf, drinking at least four cups a day may put you at a lower risk of having a stroke. In a study of more than 83,000 nurses, researchers found that participants who drank four or more cups of regular coffee had a 20% lower stroke risk, and participants who drank two or more cups of decaffeinated coffee per day were 11% less likely to have a stroke. Notably, the researchers didn’t notice any similar correlation with other caffeinated drinks, suggesting that coffee’s unique properties might have made the difference.

A meta-analysis that encompassed more than 330,000 participants found a 24% lower incidence of depression in people who drank 4.5 cups per day compared to people who drank less than one cup per day.

Numerous studies have shown a correlation between coffee and caffeine consumption and a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. While the connection still isn’t completely clear, some researchers have suggested that by blocking adenosines, caffeine may also improve motor function.

One study found that midlife coffee drinkers had a lower incidence of dementia in their later years, and numerous studies have shown a correlation between coffee drinking and caffeine consumption and a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (one of the most common types of dementia). Not only that, some studies suggest that coffee drinking may slow the progression of the disease. Caffeine seems to reduce the number of ꞵ-amyloid peptides in the brain, which have been linked to the disease.

In a ten-year study of more than 46,000 men, participants who drank coffee regularly were significantly less likely to develop gallstones, and similar studies have shown the same is also true for women. The exact reason isn’t yet clear. Coffee’s unique properties may prevent cholesterol from binding into stones, or it may be because caffeine stimulates bile flow, clearing toxins before they can form into stones.

Coffee drinking has been correlated to a reduced risk of liver cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, and fatty-liver disease and slower progression of hepatitis C. That may be because coffee reduces the activity of the liver enzyme linked to liver disease.

In fact, after reviewing more than 1000 studies on the link between moderate coffee consumption and lowered risk of liver cancer, the World Health Organization confirmed that connection.

In a ten-year study of 447,000 people, researchers found that participants who drank four or more cups of caffeinated coffee per day were 20% less likely to develop malignant melanoma. That may be because caffeine’s antioxidant properties help the body eliminate sunburned cells before they can mutate into cancerous cells.