Health Guide: How to Enjoy Your Coffee the Healthy Way

At a Glance (China Coffee Network): Coffee is a “lifesaver” for office workers and exam-takers, but how it affects health, whether it causes addiction, and how to drink it well are questions worth knowing. This guide walks through the facts one by one.

Coffee is a “lifesaver” for office workers and exam-takers. A cup of aromatic coffee both refreshes the mind and holds much health knowledge. How does coffee affect the body? Does it cause addiction? How can one drink it more healthily? This article answers these questions one by one.

Coffee on the market is roughly divided into black coffee and specialty coffee. Black coffee is made only of coffee and water (such as an Americano), while specialty coffee adds milk, sugar, chocolate, cream and other ingredients (such as latte, mocha and macchiato). Today we focus mainly on black coffee, including instant and freshly brewed coffee.

The two sides of coffee’s health effects: mainstream research currently holds that there is insufficient evidence that coffee increases cancer risk; on the contrary, it can lower the risk of liver cancer, endometrial cancer, basal cell carcinoma of the skin, oral cancer and breast cancer, and also reduce the incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Some studies show that coffee can effectively improve gastrointestinal motility and may lower the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver, cirrhosis, depression, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, or reduce all-cause mortality risk—though related conclusions await further verification.

Cautions on drinking: excessive consumption easily raises the risk of osteoporosis; coffee’s effect on sleep varies by individual, so intake should be avoided close to bedtime or even in the afternoon; it should not be mixed with alcohol, because caffeine masks alcohol’s depressant effect, lowering a drinker’s perceived level of intoxication and easily leading to overconsumption.

Coffee addiction? The truth: bioactive substances in coffee include caffeine, chlorogenic acid, trigonelline, cafestol and others, with caffeine and chlorogenic acid relatively high in content. Caffeine, also called theine, is widely present in more than 60 plants including coffee, tea, yerba mate, cocoa and guarana. Caffeine has a mild central nervous system stimulant effect; a few people experience headaches, fatigue and mood swings after stopping, which is why some call it “coffee addiction.”

However, current scientific evidence does not support “caffeine addiction.” Institutions including the World Health Organization, the U.S. FDA, Health Canada, Food Standards Australia New Zealand and the International Food Information Council do not consider coffee addictive. The reactions after stopping coffee are mild and brief, and can be effectively avoided by gradually reducing caffeine intake.

Healthy drinking—control your intake: healthy adults should keep daily caffeine intake below 400 mg, roughly equivalent to 4–5 cups of drip coffee (250 ml each), 8–9 cups of black tea (250 ml each), 5 energy drinks (250 ml each), or 8–9 colas (355 ml each). Caffeine content ranks as follows: decaf < tea (white < green < black) < instant coffee < drip coffee.

Choose the right time: morning or forenoon is preferable, when the impact on sleep and circadian rhythm is smaller. In addition, coffee’s anti-inflammatory active compounds can specifically ease the body’s early-morning inflammation peak, making its cardiovascular protection easier to realize.