Which is better, a cup of black coffee or a large glass of cappuccino? There are several possible risks associated with the abuse of coffee.
Should you prefer a cup of black coffee or a large glass of cappuccino? In any case, coffee can be both a risk factor and a miracle cure, generate anxiety, or, conversely, help you focus. All scientists, however, agree on one important point: the impact of coffee on human health depends on the dose. Business Insider has compiled a list of ten potential risks associated with coffee abuse:
1. Psychoactive drug
According to a study published in The Daily Mail from the University of Melbourne (Australia), caffeine is the most widely used "psychoactive drug" in the world. In large doses (that is, more than five cups a day) coffee can cause auditory hallucinations or even a sense of the presence of non-existent things.
2. Danger to the liver
Excessive coffee consumption can impair liver function, according to several studies by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Diseases. This is especially important if the person is taking pain medications. At the same time, scientists noted that moderate coffee consumption is associated with a reduced risk of primary sclerosing cholangitis (an autoimmune liver disease that leads to cirrhosis, liver failure and biliary tract cancer).
3. Negative effects on blood pressure
This is precisely the conclusion made in a study by Carnegie Mellon University. It also explains the fact that coffee can stimulate the heart and cause breathing difficulties.
4. Impact on behavior
Overuse of coffee can make a person inappropriate and irritable. Difficulty breathing due to excess caffeine can disrupt the oxygen supply to the brain, which affects the decision-making process.
5. Insomnia
As you might guess, coffee affects different people in different ways. Someone can drink a cup of espresso at night looking and then sleep like a baby, while someone cannot sleep a wink and drank coffee after 4:00 pm. On average, coffee lasts about six hours.
6. Addictive coffee can compete with drugs
According to a study published in Forbes by the American Johns Hopkins University, a lack of caffeine negatively affects cognitive functions and mood. The only way to get back to normal is to continue to maintain this vicious cycle, that is, to drink coffee. In addition, caffeine is a rather mild stimulant that only (to a certain extent) can help you feel energized if you are tired.
7. Headaches
If a person starts to get tired and has not drunk coffee for a long time (12 to 24 hours), it can cause headaches, according to the American Heart Association (caffeine narrows the dilated blood vessels).
8. Breakdown
A lack of caffeine can sometimes do this. This is also often combined with anxiety, fatigue and drowsiness.
9. The risk of osteosclerosis
This conclusion sounds in the study of the University of Oregon (USA). To avoid developing this bone disease, a person should consume enough calcium and vitamin D, and limit themselves to three cups of coffee a day. This is especially true for the elderly.
10. Urinary incontinence
Several studies have shown that coffee abuse can exacerbate existing bladder disorders.
Atlantico Seeks Comments from Amiens Nutritionist Jean-Daniel Lalau
Atlantico: Various studies have come up with conflicting conclusions about coffee's addictive properties. For example, one study from 2012 argues that improved performance from coffee is actually illusory, as it is associated with the consequences of a lack of caffeine. In other words, this deficiency negatively affects performance, which returns to normal after drinking coffee. Hence, it is addictive. However, other experts argue that coffee should not be considered a drug because it is not addictive (that is, we don't need to consume more caffeine to get the same results). Do you think coffee is still a drug?
Jean-Daniel Lalo: The main distinguishing feature of a drug is addiction. As in the case of nicotine, there are certain receptors in the body that require caffeine from a person. Thus, there is actually an addiction among avid coffee drinkers.
At the same time, this dependence is reversible. If a person drinks a lot of coffee, and then refuses it, in the future he may feel the strongest effect after one or two cups. In other words, the constant consumption of large quantities of coffee entails a muffling of its effects and, conversely, an increase after refusal. Balzac, who we know was a big coffee lover, experienced this firsthand. He abruptly gave up coffee, and then later allowed himself a couple of cups, which had a profound effect on him as a result.
- Starting from how many cups can a person be considered an avid coffee lover?
- It is impossible to establish a certain clear threshold, because it varies from person to person. Be that as it may, you need to draw a line between those who drink coffee in moderation (one or two cups a day, in the morning or in the afternoon), and avid drinkers who come to my appointment: they do not leave the coffee pot from morning to evening. …
- In a study by Australian scientists, which was published in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, it is argued that more than five cups a day, coffee can lead to obesity. Have these results been confirmed?
- In this case, it is difficult to give an exact answer. The fact is that this kind of research is based on the "associative" method: they compare those who drink and those who do not drink coffee. In such cases, there are a number of factors that can skew the results. For example, coffee lovers tend to smoke more often, drink alcohol, etc. How, then, can you draw the line between the effects of drinking coffee and smoking? In addition, scientists deduce group averages, but the average level of five cups does not reflect some special cases, despite the fact that the sensitivity of people can also vary greatly.
Truly reliable results can only be obtained from a prospective method in which people who do not drink coffee at all are compared to those who usually did not drink coffee, but then began to consume it in large quantities for the sake of research. Nevertheless, we will not see anything like this, because such experiments would require huge costs. Large pharmaceutical companies can still fork out for four or five years of drug research, but no one will fund such large-scale experiments when it comes to coffee. The government does not consider coffee to be a serious enough public health problem to allocate the necessary funds for research.
Thus, in most cases, all arguments put forward are based on some degree of probability. In other words, coffee either has a serious toxic effect and the results are considered reliable from an epidemiological point of view, or its effects are quite moderate (in most cases it turns out that way), and the data are contradictory.
In some situations, coffee gives the desired stimulating effect. This, for example, is the case in winter, when the days are getting shorter, which cannot be said about the work week. Be that as it may, as a nutritionist, I cannot make any convincing case that coffee causes obesity.
- They say that coffee can harm the liver, especially if consumed at the same time as pain relievers. Is it really so?
- I have not seen any studies that support a direct link between coffee consumption and liver health. In addition, you need to draw a line between regular coffee and decaffeinated coffee, since the substances used in its production can affect the liver. However, in this case, we are talking about the effect of these particular substances, and not the coffee itself.
- Does coffee increase pressure?
- Coffee has a direct effect on the sympathetic system. It causes a slight increase in heart rate and an increase in blood pressure. However, we have no evidence that coffee drinkers are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease. A risk factor can be considered only what is proven to entail an increase in the risk of this type of disorder. Currently, coffee is not considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and is considered only as an intermediate factor in atherosclerosis.
- According to recently released data from the National Institutes of Health and Medical Research, a woman's consumption of caffeine during pregnancy can affect the brain of her baby and subsequently lead to the development of epilepsy or memory impairment. How should you treat this information?
- It is rather difficult to extrapolate the results of experiments on mice to humans. We are talking about short-term studies, since the lifespan of a mouse is short. The only serious danger I know of for an adult is the risk of glaucoma with heavy coffee consumption. We can talk about this with a high degree of probability.
