Caffeine has always been a much-discussed topic when it comes to your health. As one of the most used legal drugs in the world, caffeine gets a fair amount of bad press – but is it strictly true that caffeine is bad for your health?
Caffeine and Health – What You Need to Know
Actually no. In fact, recent studies have shown that caffeine can be an effective alternative treatment for conditions such as ADHD as it has a similar effect on the brain as drugs such as Ritalin.
Although it is clear that more research is needed to fully understand the long-term effects of caffeine on the body and brain, medical experts and scientists are now taking an about turn on how they view caffeine. Below you will find the pros and cons of caffeine on your health:
The Cons of Caffeine
Of course, there are still some downsides, but they are few and far between. Let’s get them out of the way first!
Caffeine Can Raise Your Cholesterol Levels
Drinking unfiltered coffee can raise your cholesterol levels. Although if consumed in moderation, this wouldn’t have a huge adverse effect on a healthy adult, it can be a factor worth considering if you already have issues with high cholesterol levels.
There’s actually a simple way around this: Use a drip coffee machine with paper filters. The oils containing the cholesterol-boosting nasties are absorbed by the paper. Although this may negatively affect the taste of the coffee, it’s still good enough to drink and any negatives are removed!
Caffeine Isn’t Magic!
Although caffeine has been clinically proven to have a positive effect on your mental ability, making it easier to focus and retain information for longer periods of time, it isn’t a magic cure. For example, if you’ve studied hard and you drink a cup of coffee before an exam, your mind will be sharper and you’ll be more focused. If you haven’t studied, caffeine can’t actually give you the answers!
The Pros of Caffeine
Caffeine has a surprising amount of positive effects on your body and mind. As we mentioned above, it can make you more mentally alert and more able to focus on learning based tasks, memory-based tasks and tasks where you have to recall previously learned information.
This is good news for students, but what about the rest of us? Well there’s more good news:
It’s True That Caffeine Can Keep You Awake
If you drink coffee regularly throughout the day, you will be less likely to feel tired. While higher doses can mimic the effects of an amphetamine based substance and quickly wear off, normal consumption can help you get through a particularly sleepy day.
Caffeine Can Help You Lose Weight
Not only is a caffeine an appetite suppressant which means you’re much less likely to overeat, it also helps your body to be more effective at burning fat during a workout and allows to exercise effectively for longer.
Caffeine Is an Effective Disease Preventer
Regular caffeine consumption can prevent against the following diseases:
- Heart disease
- Gout
- Alzheimer’s Disease/Dementia
- Type two diabetes
- Parkinson’s Disease (this one has only been proven to work for men)
It can also reduce the effects of depression, prevent people from developing depression and help to reduce the risk of suicide.
As you can see, the benefits of regularly ingesting caffeine are now thought to outweigh the downsides. I don’t know about you, but I’m willing to believe that my daily coffee is actually a good thing!
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