Drink 4 cups of coffee. Coffee and caffeine - how much can you drink? Caffeine intake should be limited during pregnancy

With over 100 million daily drinkers in the US alone, coffee is the world's most popular beverage. Coffee contains some important organic compounds and nutrients, including B vitamins such as riboflavin, pantothenic acid, and niacin, as well as some important minerals, potassium, manganese, and magnesium. One of the most important ingredients is caffeine, which, if consumed in moderation, can have a wide range of health benefits.

There has been a lot of evidence lately that shows that this dark drink can improve your health on many levels, helping to prevent diabetes and reduce the risk of liver disease.

1 Coffee reduces the risk of type II diabetes

A number of studies confirm that drinking moderate amounts of coffee (between 3 and 5 cups a day) can significantly reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, which currently affects about 300 million people.

2 Coffee reduces the risk of certain types of cancer

According to research, coffee can be quite beneficial when it comes to liver and colorectal cancer. In fact, people who drink coffee have a 40% lower risk of developing liver cancer, the 3rd leading cause of death in the world. In addition, a separate study confirms that those who drink 4-5 cups of coffee a day had a 15% lower risk of developing colorectal cancer, the 4th leading cause of death worldwide.

3 Coffee May Promote Heart Health

In fact, the researchers found that those who drank 4 cups of coffee every day had an 11% lower risk of developing heart failure compared to those who didn't.

4 coffee can protectfromAlzheimer's disease

A number of studies show that people who drink coffee have up to a 65% lower risk of getting Alzheimer's, the most common neurodegenerative disease.

5 Coffee Can Significantly Reduce Depression

A separate study found that people who drank 4 or 5 cups a day were 53% less likely to commit suicide.

6 Coffee Can Stimulate Fat Burning

It has been scientifically proven that caffeine can increase body fat burning by as much as 10% in obese people and 29% in lean people and increase metabolic rate by 3-11%. In fact, caffeine is found in almost every commercial weight loss product.

7 Coffee Can Help You Live Longer

In addition to this assumption, there have been several review studies that show that coffee drinkers indeed have a lower risk of premature death. In fact, coffee was associated with a 20% reduction in the risk of death in men and a 26% reduction in the risk of death in women, over a period of 18 to 24 years.

Coffee is a perennial topic of debate!

Depending on who you ask, you will get different answers. For some, this is a delicious drink, and for others, a real poison. But if you rely only on scientific facts, it turns out that he has been unfairly demonized in recent years.

Coffee is actually a complex drink with many different components and active substances. And it contains the largest amount of antioxidants (only can be compared with it in this indicator).

Many studies have also shown that regular coffee drinkers are less likely to suffer from type 2 diabetes, neurological disorders, and liver disease.

But, when something is capable of being useful, this does not mean at all that the more the better.

So how much coffee can you drink without fear for your health?

How much caffeine is in one cup?

The active ingredient in coffee is the well-known caffeine, which is widely used in the world as a psychoactive component. Its content in one cup of coffee depends on many factors and varies from 50 to 400 mg.

A small, classic cup usually contains about 50 mg, and a large plastic glass from Starbucks or McDonald's can contain more than 300 mg of caffeine.

However, many people drink much more than 4 cups a day. Could this be a problem?

It is also worth remembering that caffeine is found not only in coffee. There is a lot of it in tea, various energy drinks, chocolate and some medicines.

Symptoms of excessive caffeine intake.

Caffeine has an effect primarily on the functions of the nervous system. Therefore, if you drink too much coffee at a time, you can observe various disorders in the functioning of the nervous and digestive systems.

Here are the most common symptoms:

- Anxiety.

- Stomach upset.

- Irritability.

- Cardiopalmus.

If you experience any of the above after drinking coffee, then most likely you are either drinking too strong coffee, too much coffee, or you have a caffeine sensitivity.

Coffee, theoretically, can kill, but for this you need to drink more than a hundred cups at a time, which is almost impossible.

People are able to tolerate different amounts of caffeine.

Caffeine affects people in different ways. It depends on the genes that are responsible for splitting it in the liver and on the susceptibility of brain receptors to it.

The effect of caffeine on sleepiness is also strongly genetically determined. Some people can drink a cup of coffee and go to sleep peacefully, and for some this is enough to stay awake all night. Depending on your genes, you may be tolerant of a lot of caffeine or vice versa, but most people fall somewhere in between.

Individual tolerance to caffeine is very important. Those who drink coffee every day tend to experience less of an effect.

It is also important to be aware that certain medical conditions can have a significant impact on caffeine sensitivity. If you suffer from panic attacks or chronic anxiety, then you should not consume more caffeine than your doctor recommends.

According to some studies, coffee prolongs life.

In 2012, a study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine that included 402,206 people aged 50 to 71.

As a result, a clear correlation was found between life expectancy and consumption. The data differ slightly for men and women (the last coffee seems to be more beneficial), but in general it turns out that those who drink about 4-5 cups of coffee a day can expect to live 10-15% longer than those who do not drink coffee at all.

Interestingly, if you drink more coffee - 6-7 cups a day - the results fall by only a few percent. That is, someone who drinks 6-7 cups of coffee can still live longer than those who do not drink this drink at all.

But these studies are not yet complete, and there is other evidence that suggests that higher doses of coffee (more than 4 cups a day) may be harmful for people under 55 years of age.

Some diseases are less common among coffee drinkers.

Here are some diseases that are less common in people who drink coffee regularly:

Diabetes of the second type. According to various sources, the risk is reduced to 7% to 28%, depending on the amount consumed drink. One to four cups, respectively.

Cirrhosis of the liver. Four or more cups a day lowers the risk of cirrhosis by an incredible 84%.

. The risk is reduced to 44% with two cups a day.

Alzheimer's disease. According to some studies, it is possible to achieve a reduction in the risk of acquiring this disease by up to 65% when drinking 3-5 cups of coffee per day.

Parkinson's disease. The risk reduction is seen when drinking more than 5 cups per day.

. Numerous studies have shown that regular coffee consumption reduces the risk of depression by up to 20%.

Based on all of the above, it turns out that 4-5 cups of coffee per day will be optimal for the average person.

It is important to understand that all of these studies are observational in nature. They do not prove that it is coffee that causes a similar effect. They only point to a clear correlation between drinking coffee and reducing the risk of acquiring certain diseases.

However, given that a large number of studies have so far revealed predominantly the same dependencies, it can be assumed that they are not groundless.

In most studies, low-caffeinated coffee has also been seen to have a positive effect, except for Parkinson's disease, where caffeine seems to play a critical role.

Caffeine intake should be limited during pregnancy.

Caffeine is dangerous not for a pregnant woman, but for a child whose metabolism is not yet ready for it. Some studies have found a direct relationship between the consumption of large amounts of caffeine and, as well as premature birth and low birth weight.

4-5 cups of coffee a day may be the optimal amount.

Based on numerous studies, we can conclude that drinking 4-5 cups of coffee a day will not only not hurt, but will also bring many health benefits.

Of course, this does not mean that people should. Moreover, some caffeine is generally contraindicated. This applies primarily to pregnant women and people with nervous disorders.

You also need to remember that coffee affects everyone differently. If you notice some worrisome symptoms after drinking this drink, then you should reduce your doses and possibly consult your doctor.

Also, don't forget that although coffee can be healthy, sugar and other additives in large quantities can have a negative effect on your health.

Conclusion.

Most coffee drinkers have nothing to worry about as long as they don't experience any visible distress.

The aroma of coffee alone in the morning is already becoming the key to vigor for many people. But, of course, at the same time, everyone understands that the invigorating properties of this drink are due to the caffeine included in it - a substance that affects the body in a certain way.

Disputes about how many cups of coffee you can drink per day have been going on for more than one year, and sometimes the opinions of experts differ in the most radical way. But most of the research agrees that a person should focus on their well-being - for example, residents of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark drink an average of 10 cups of coffee a day and feel great doing it. Why is this happening?

Cheerfulness in one drop

Caffeine in its pure form is a substance that is produced in the leaves and seeds of various plants - coffee tree(or coffee beans), tea, mate, cocoa and others. Most people respond to caffeine with an increase in energy and mood, but sensitivity to this substance is individual and largely determined by a genetic factor: different nationalities have different metabolisms.

Caffeine is easily distributed throughout the body, distributing through the plasma and intercellular fluid, as well as inside the cells, being completely absorbed in the stomach 45 minutes after its use. And the period of its removal can be from 3.5 to 6 hours.

In the liver, caffeine is metabolized by its enzymes into 3 dimethylxanthine derivatives - substances that generally increase the breakdown of fats, dilate blood vessels and relax smooth muscles in the bronchi, and then decompose and are excreted from the body.

The rate of these metabolic processes depends on the types of gene mutation, which, based on its variation, can vary from 40 to 130 times in the fast or slow direction.

In particular, we are talking about the CYP1A2 and AHR genes, the first of which is just responsible for the metabolism of caffeine in the body, and the second regulates the work of the first.

• Europe has the fastest caffeine metabolizers– in the Scandinavian countries already mentioned above.
• Asians have the slowest metabolism, so the amount of coffee consumed per day for them will be much less.

But what about everyone else?

Are there any side effects of drinking coffee?

In general terms, caffeine is a stimulant that acts on the nervous system, as most people respond to it with increased energy and increased activity. But its effect on the body does not end there - moreover, it also depends on the rate of coffee metabolism.

If you drink several cups of strong coffee a day, having a slow metabolism, this will lead to the fact that the heart rate will increase along with the risk of developing cardiac diseases.

In particular, we are talking about coronary heart disease and a 4-fold increase in the risk of heart attack and arterial hypertension. If the metabolism of caffeine is slow, then in this situation, coffee can worsen the health of diabetics and lead to leaching of calcium from the bones.

But if the metabolism of coffee is fast or just normal, like most people have, then drinking a few cups of the drink a day can lower “bad” cholesterol and vice versa arterial pressure. No one talks about the abolition of drugs, but coffee helps to improve well-being, additionally activating the production of joy hormones - dopamine and serotonin.

So how much coffee do you drink?

You don't think about your caffeine metabolism when you order your morning Americano at a coffee shop near your office. But everyone asks the question of how many cups of coffee you can drink without harming your health.

Here you can refer to the average data, which is approved by all experts in the field of medicine - this is 100-200 mg of caffeine per dose. In a more understandable form: we are talking about 2 teaspoons of ground or 3 teaspoons instant coffee. At the same time, you can drink 3 such cups a day, and they will not bring harm to the body.

An absolutely safe dose of coffee is 1 cup a day. It becomes conditionally dangerous after consuming 6 cups of freshly ground coffee. Although in this case it is not worth counting cups, but the amount of caffeine in them, because coffee has many varieties.

One small cup of espresso can contain 80-135 mg of caffeine, while a classic cappuccino can contain 70-80 mg. Adding milk to coffee reduces the effect of caffeine, which must also be taken into account.

Be that as it may, with normal health and probably normal metabolism, all people should adhere to the general recommendations of doctors regarding coffee - a maximum of 3 cups per day. It is advisable that the last cup be drunk no later than 4-5 hours before bedtime. The main thing is after drinking a cup of coffee or directly in the process of drinking it, listen for a minute to how the body reacts to it, and draw personal conclusions from this.

What will the doctor say...

Maria Vasilyeva, DOC+ general practitioner

The Research Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences recommends no more than 400 mg of caffeine per day, which is equivalent to 2-3 cups of freshly brewed espresso. Then we will deal with the positive effects of coffee, like antioxidant. A large number of caffeine can cause indigestion, irritability and heart palpitations, as well as dehydration. Therefore, coffee lovers are advised to alternate a cup of aromatic drink with a glass of water.

How much coffee can you drink per day? This question is often asked by those who cannot imagine their life without it. invigorating drink. Surely everyone knows that freshly brewed coffee can lower high blood pressure, as well as prevent the development of dementia. However, many experts argue that high doses of caffeine that enter the body within one day can pose a huge risk to human health. So how much coffee can you drink per day? In order to answer this question, you should find out the positive and negative aspects of the daily consumption of this drink.

One cup a day

Two cups a day

• Pros. This amount of drink can save a person from Although it should be noted that these conclusions were made by scientists on the basis of studies that were conducted only on animals. Thus, experts note that approximately 200 mg of caffeine per day (or 2 cups of coffee) helps prevent the accumulation of proteins in the brain, which cause

How much coffee can you drink per day? In answer to this question, it should be noted that exactly two cups of this invigorating drink half an hour before training can significantly increase the performance of an athlete, providing him with more energy.

• Minuses. How many times can pregnant women drink coffee a day? During childbearing, the upper limit of caffeine intake is 200 mg. If this value is exceeded, then the level of adrenaline in the body may increase, which ultimately increases the risk of miscarriage or stillbirth.

Three cups a day

• Pros. How much can you drink per day? This amount of an invigorating drink (3 cups) is allowed if you need to reduce the likely risk of developing an ovarian tumor or gallstone disease.
• Minuses. Drinking 3 or more cups of coffee a day significantly increases the risk of a heart attack.

Four cups a day

• Pros. How many cups of coffee can you drink a day? Not so long ago, scientists found that people who consume 400 mg of a drink a day are about 40% less likely to suffer from cancer of the larynx and oral cavity. Moreover, this amount of coffee can significantly reduce the risk of developing a prostate tumor, as well as the onset of diabetes.
• Minuses. Those who drink about 4 cups of coffee a day are about twice as likely to suffer from a disease such as rheumatoid arthritis. Researchers have proven that the mentioned amount of an invigorating drink contributes to the characteristic chemical reactions in the body, which ultimately lead to inflammation and joint pain.

Five cups a day

• Pros. Scientists from the Cancer Center in Tokyo found that drinking this amount of caffeine significantly reduced the risk (by about 3/4) of serious liver damage. As you know, their conclusions were based on a study of about 90 thousand middle-aged people for 10 years.
• Minuses. According to many years of research, this amount of coffee drunk per day can contribute to the development of osteoporosis. This is due to the fact that caffeine interferes with the absorption of calcium, which ultimately leads to the development of this disease. Many experts dispute this assumption. They argue that to date there is no conclusive evidence that coffee adversely affects the bones, although they still do not advise drinking such an amount of the drink.

Six cups a day

Summing up

Now you know how many cups of coffee you can drink a day without harm to health. It should also be noted that not only this or that amount of an invigorating drink, but also its quality can affect your well-being. That is why it is recommended to choose only natural