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Studies drinking coffee is not always unhealthy
Coffee is the most popular drink of the Germans
A day without coffee is hard to imagine for many people. Whether to wake up in the morning, to a piece of cake in the afternoon or to a heavy meal in the evening - coffee is the Germans' most popular drink. According to the German Coffee Association, per capita consumption was 162 liters in 2014, well above the consumption of mineral water (143.5 liters) and beer (107 liters). And on an international level as well, with coffee consumption of more than 9 million sacks of 60 kilo green coffee, we occupy one of the top spots in terms of coffee consumption; only the USA (23.8 million) and Brazil (20.1 million) have higher consumption , In other words, everyone in this country drinks on average almost half a liter of the hot beverage a day - a circumstance that has long been regarded as worrying. For a regular coffee consumption was considered by many experts as unhealthy and associated with high blood pressure and heart problems, among others.
Coffee protects against liver cancer. Image: ram69 - fotolia Effect on everyone
But now the picture seems to be changing as more and more studies come to the opposite conclusion and even attribute positive health effects to coffee. However, the effect of the ingredient caffeine is very complex and not every coffee drinker reacts immediately to the stimulating substance. Those who have never drank coffee may experience a slight "coffee exchange" when they first enjoy a strong black espresso, while the same drink does not cause any discomfort to the regular drinkers. Also, the time it takes the body to reduce caffeine again, varies and depending on the circumstances: While overweight people and smokers, for example, break down the substance faster, the caffeine remains in pregnant women longer in the body.
Caffeine actually acts as a poison
The coffee plant forms the caffeine in several places. In the leaves it serves as a natural insect repellent, the caffeine contained in the seeds and fruits also inhibits other seeds in the immediate vicinity of the germination. "Caffeine is actually a poison, but in small doses, it stimulates the circulation and promotes concentration," explains beverage technologist Prof. Bernd Lindemann of Geisenheim University, told the news agency "dpa". According to Lindemann, however, it would be unlikely that a normal dose of coffee would reach a truly toxic dose, because "you would have to drink 100 cups a day".
First of all, the caffeine has a vasoconstrictive effect, which means that the heart has to pump more vigorously than usual and the brain is optimally supplied with oxygen. In addition to displacing caffeine, the messenger adenosine, which is to be understood as a "kind of brake in the brain", explains the pharmacologist Prof. Karen Nieber of the University of Leipzig. Because this material makes us tired otherwise, you usually feel more awake and fitter after a cup of coffee - but the effect does not last long, but remains according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in an adult only about four hours.
No increased risk of cardiovascular disease
However, the stimulating effect of the popular hot drink also raises concern and concern that drinking coffee increases the risk of cardiovascular disease such as a heart attack or stroke. Although the opinions of experts differ, many studies show that coffee is far less dangerous than is often assumed. For example, the EPIC study published in 2012 by the German Institute for Human Nutrition (DIfE) came to the conclusion that drinking coffee does not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, but is even associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes a message from the DIfE. According to the study, with more than 42,600 participants, people who drank more than four cups (over 600 ml) of caffeine-containing coffee daily had a 23 percent lower type 2 diabetes risk than those on average less than one Cup consumed.
Recently, researchers from the University of Southampton (UK) found in a metastudy clear evidence that increased coffee consumption could reduce the risk of cirrhosis. Earlier this year, researchers at Emory University in Atlanta reported in the Journal of the American Heart Association that drinking coffee, in their view, did not increase the risk of heart disease or cardiac arrhythmia.
Avoid high consumption during pregnancy
Even an increased risk of cancer could not prove the EPIC study, experts here even partially go from a protective effect of caffeine. A thesis, however, the pharmacologist Nieber is skeptical, because "these are all studies that were done on cell cultures." Studies on the relationship between coffee consumption and Alzheimer would therefore often based on animal experiments, so Nieber continues to the news agency.
Considering the current findings, however, apparently nothing against a moderate consumption of up to four to five cups a day - except, according to Nieber, however, are patients with osteoporosis. Because here the bone loss can even be favored by the coffee. Even during pregnancy, the hot drink should be consumed only moderately and on the recommendation of EFSA a caffeine amount of 200 mg per day should not be exceeded. (No)