As a college student, I'm sure you have plenty of experience with the warm, ambrosial liquid we call coffee. Our best friend during exam week and for our 8 a.m. classes. But before coffee truly became the friend of the college student, many people, as well as doctors and scientists, believed coffee had negative effects on your health. Some of the effects experts were claiming it had on the human body were HUGE life-changing diagnoses such as osteoporosis (a condition in which the bones become weak and brittle).
If you Google the age-old question "Is coffee good for you?" you're bound to find a number of answers. So, after reading nearly 15 articles detailing the effects of caffeine on the human body, I'm here to answer your question: "Should I kick my caffeine habit?"
To get right to the point, the answer is no.
Part of the disconnect between the older studies and the new is the lack of controlled variables in older studies. For example, it was originally thought that coffee significantly contributed to the development of osteoporosis. When regular coffee drinkers were surveyed, they showed lower levels of calcium, thus more brittle bones. In truth, the lower levels of calcium were not due to the coffee itself, but to the fact that persons who drank coffee tended to drink less milk. There are other negative effects of coffee. Caffeine is, in a basic sense, a drug that if drank every day becomes an addiction. Your body becomes used to the extra energy supplied each day which can lead to irritability and headaches when you don't have your morning cup of joe.
But what does science have to say about the benefits of coffee? First, according to a Gallup poll in 2015, 64% of Americans drink at least one cup of coffee a day. So the question of health is truly a relevant one. Recent studies have shown that coffee actually decreases a person's risk of a stroke. According to cardiologists, coffee allows the blood vessels to remain open and flexible thus decreasing the risk for heart attacks (Park, TIME).
Coffee is also high in antioxidants (compounds in food that protect cells from being damaged). A lot of times we hear this word in conjunction with extensive skincare routines as antioxidants are thought to reduce skin irritation due to acne. Unfortunately, coffee may actually increase acne in persons who suffer from stress-induced acne, as caffeine has been shown to increase stress hormones, heart rate, and blood pressure (Underwood).
While coffee has other positive effects, such as lowering your risk of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's as well as type 2 diabetes, it's not healthy for everyone. Pointing again to the effect coffee has on anxiety, if you or someone you know suffers from anxiety, you are familiar with the importance of neurotransmitters in anxiety treatment. For most people, it's simply taking a medication or implementing practices to increase their serotonin output. Unfortunately, studies have shown that caffeine of any kind, functions "by blocking the activity of adenosine, a neurotransmitter that makes us tired and sleepy" (Alban). Unfortunately, caffeine also inhibits GABA which is a natural calming neurotransmitter, allowing for anxiety to fester and grow.
Ultimately, the science seems to agree that drinking coffee is not an immediate nor lasting threat to the average human's life. In fact, it is more than likely true that coffee has many positive effects on the processes of the human body. So, maybe you don't need to completely kick your coffee habit, but maybe cutting back during finals week (so you don't increase your anxiety) would be a smart move.
Cheers to more cups of coffee!
