Coffee is now the most popular beverage worldwide. An estimate of 400 billion cups of this versatile drink is consumed each year, and an average person typically drinks a cup at least three times a day. For coffee addicts, they probably can consume up to 5 cups a day or even more!

Health Benefits of Coffee

It’s common to feel guilty for wanting to drink another cup of coffee right after you’ve just finished your first cup. The taste and feeling that caffeine gives off can be truly addicting. However, don’t beat yourself up for loving coffee. There are actually some good reasons why it’s okay to savor every drop.

1. Lowers the Risk of Having Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of this disease and you’ll be glad to know that drinking coffee can actually help lower the chance of having it. A study done in 2014 shows that people who increased the amount of coffee they drank in a day had an 11 percent lower risk of having type 2 diabetes.

A 2017 meta-analysis also found that people who drink four to six cups of coffee per day also have lower risks of having metabolic syndrome. Of course, this is only true if you drink your coffee black and unsweetened.

2. Low in Calories

A cup of black coffee alone only contains about 2 calories. If you’re on a diet, you can still definitely have a cup of coffee. This is as long as you don’t add milk, cream, or sugar to your drink. For people who are on keto, they can add heavy cream and sweeteners like stevia or sucralose to their drink.

3. Reduces the Risk of Heart Diseases

For a long time, people believed that coffee can increase the risk of heart attacks and cardiac arrhythmias. However, recent studies have found that this is not really the case. Apparently, coffee is actually rather beneficial.

What studies have found is that the effects of coffee on one’s heart health really depends and should be tested. For people with hypertension, it’s not necessary that coffee is bad for them. They can try to quit coffee to see if it could help them, but there are people who found that coffee doesn’t affect their blood pressure at all.

4. Rich in Antioxidants

Coffee beans contain hydroxycinnamic acids and polyphenols—two types of powerful antioxidants. These antioxidants can help your body get rid of radicals. Radicals are waste products that your body naturally produces and they can cause inflammation and metabolic syndrome.

5. Increases Fiber Intake

Interestingly, a cup of coffee actually has more soluble fiber than a glass of orange juice. A cup alone can give you 1.8 grams of fiber. Fiber could help your digestion process become smoother and additionally, the caffeine in coffee can also help ease the passage of your stomach’s content through your tract.

A Friendly Reminder

Surely, everything that is too much can still be harmful to your health. This also applies to your coffee consumption. Ideally, a person should only have four cups of coffee a day. This is an estimate that is applicable to most.

It’s still true that the effects of coffee will vary from person to person. Some people can tolerate more than four cups, while some just can’t. Some would also feel more alive after drinking coffee, while some claim that they sleep better after a cup.

The bottom line is that the right amount of coffee can be very beneficial, so don’t feel too much guilt if you are craving for another cup of coffee! Go get that refill and enjoy it.