Coffee is such a popular beverage that its consumption levels come second only to water in some countries.
Some days (most days?) coffee is the glue that holds it all together. It turns you from zombie to human in the morning, picks you up mid-afternoon and keeps you moving all those hours in between. But — deep breath — is it good for you?
You can exhale. Coffee, it turns out, packs some surprising health benefits. “There aren’t a lot of downsides to drinking moderate amounts of coffee — and in fact, it can have positive effects on your health,” says registered dietitian Andrea Dunn, RD.
Coffee gets its kick from caffeine, a natural stimulant that makes you feel more energetic. But the caffeine in coffee doesn’t just wake you up. It acts on the brain to improve memory, mood, reaction times and mental function. Caffeine can even improve endurance and performance during exercise, per one study. In addition to helping you feel less tired and more alert, the caffeine in coffee may improve your mood, brain function, and exercise performance. It may also boost weight loss and protect against illnesses like type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease
Caffeine isn’t the only thing coffee has going for it. “Coffee contains about a thousand different botanical compounds,” Dunn says. Scientists haven’t studied all of them well, but the news so far gets two thumbs up.
Coffee comes from beans, after all. And as Dunn points out, “dietitians love beans.” Coffee is a source of nutrients, including B vitamins, potassium and riboflavin. The beans are also rich in antioxidants, compounds that protect cells against damage. “Surprisingly, coffee is the single best source of antioxidants in the American diet,” Dunn says.
Having coffee first thing in the morning may sound like a normal part of the day, but there are some reasons why waiting can be beneficial. One of those reasons is a pesky stress hormone called cortisol, which is responsible for quite a few body functions that all correlate to stress management.
It helps the body handle stressful situations in which things like blood pressure, metabolism, blood sugar, and inflammation are all connected to stress. Constant situations that cause high levels of stress influence the output of cortisol, leading to symptoms like weight gain, acne, heart palpitations, and even difficulty concentrating.
But what does this hormone have to do with coffee? Cortisol levels in the blood during the morning are high, which helps bring alertness and a feeling of wakefulness. Epinephrine is also elevated at this time and comes from the adrenal glands as cortisol does, so your body starts to wake up on its own before you even open your eyes.
In other words, as soon as you wake up, your body is making you awake and alert naturally through hormonal level changes. If you drink a cup of coffee right away, you may not actually feel the full effects of caffeine if your cortisol levels are too high. That means your precious cup of coffee may be a waste if you’re drinking it the right way.
