7 Reasons Coffee is Good for Your Health

Waking up in the morning, nothing gives the energy and clarity needed to start a day like coffee. Humans have been drinking this energizing beverage for centuries finding new ways to brew, bake, or otherwise incorporate it into their cuisines. As such a ubiquitous drink, it should come as no surprise that coffee is actually good for your health, and there are a few reasons why you should consider drinking coffee for its healthful effects.

Caffeine Boosts Energy

While it may be obvious, increased energy is a perfectly good reason you should incorporate coffee into your diet. Caffeine is a natural stimulant that helps the body overcome tiredness or fatigue and helps athletes and office workers alike get the energy they need to get through their day. Caffeine alone provides a fair bit of energy but also fuels a collection of other healthful processes in your body, providing residual health effects you may not have expected. From liver and heart conditions to base cell resiliency, caffeine has proven to strongly affect the body.

Coffee is Full of Antioxidants

Antioxidants is a term that is frequently associated with good health, and your morning coffee is full of them! Antioxidants are present in many types of food and drink, such as chocolate, tea, and even berries. Antioxidants aid the body by limiting excess “free radicals” in your body, an unstable bodily chemical that helps your immune system fight off pathogens. However, high concentrations of free radicals can cause cellular damage that increases the risk of some cancers, autoimmune diseases, or other health risks. Thankfully, the antioxidants in your coffee balances out any extra free radicals in your system, lowering your risk for related diseases and providing another good reason you should drink coffee.

Coffee Improves Focus

The caffeine in coffee certainly provides a fair bit of energy, but coffee is also good for your mental health. Caffeine improves alertness and short-term functions, enabling coffee drinkers to absorb and process more information at a time. In fact, a study from Johns Hopkins University suggests that drinking coffee may even positively affect memory, empowering students to retain more information and reason through problems more consistently.  A daily cup or two of coffee will help bring clarity throughout your day, 

Coffee Strengthens Heart Health

People with sensitive heart or circulatory conditions should definitely be careful when drinking coffee, but it can actually be good for your heart health as well! According to the American College of Cardiology, drinking two to three cups of coffee a day may lower risks of heart disease or dangerous heart rhythms and may even have associations with life expectancy and length! In fact, when those with cardiovascular conditions were monitored in the study, it was found that coffee was associated with lower mortality rates, though it did not seem to affect heart rhythms. Whether or not you currently have heart problems, protection and recovery from them may be another good reason you should drink more coffee.

Coffee Promotes Liver Health

For those with sensitive livers, coffee can significantly improve your liver health. According to the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology, drinking coffee increases the levels of liver enzymes, which protects from liver diseases. Additionally, improvements were shown in patients with Hepatitis B, C, and even non-alcoholic and alcoholic liver disease. Whether or not you have liver issues, coffee is proven to be good for your liver health. 

Coffee Aids Athletic Performance

Boosted energy levels are certainly a good reason for you to drink coffee; athletes may find even greater benefits than larger energy reserves. The European Journal of Applied Physiology found that the caffeine from coffee increased the amount of time it took cyclists to reach exhaustion by 12% and significantly lowered fatigue symptoms in studied individuals. By drinking caffeine, athletes can work their bodies for longer and recover faster, boosting athletic performance and fuelling athletic growth. These benefits build on themselves, regularly granting more energy through caffeine and strengthening the body’s muscular and vascular systems.

Coffee Can Lower Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

A condition that has been studied for decades, type 2 diabetes affects many people worldwide and can be incredibly dangerous if left untreated. Luckily, coffee has proven itself good for your health in this capacity as well, decreasing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the long term. The antioxidants in coffee, as mentioned before, also play a part here — antioxidants can affect inflammation, metabolism speed, and insulin sensitivity, all of which play a part in the symptoms of type 2 diabetes. According to the University of Dusseldorf, coffee can lower the long-term risks of type 2 diabetes by preserving beta cells and promoting cell repair. Coffee can help the body adapt to sugar intake and insulin responses, thereby reducing the overall risk of type 2 diabetes. While coffee is good for your long-term health in this way, the study found that coffee does not seem to have any immediate effect on sugar processing after eating and is most effective over the years.

Good Coffee for Good Health

Clearly, there are many benefits that make coffee good for your health. From boosted energy to long-term protection and health, drinking one to three cups of coffee a day can prove to increase your quality of life and enable you to engage in other healthful practices along the way. From boosted mood to alertness and clarity, it’s clear why coffee has been enjoyed around the world for centuries. Don’t just buy any coffee, though — buying from experienced specialty roasters who sell fresh, curated beans will always prove to be higher quality than those vacuum-packed on grocery shelves. Plus, buying specialty coffee gives you complete control over how your coffee tastes and enables you to explore a world of flavors that always keep the experience interesting. If you’re planning to drink coffee for your health, it pays to get high-quality ingredients too.