Original by Li Yuzheng Food and Life
Coffee is a widely popular beverage made from roasted coffee beans, usually served as a hot drink but also as a cold drink (iced coffee). Coffee beans are the nuts of the coffee tree, a small evergreen tree in the Rubiaceae family, native to the highlands of Kaffa Province, Ethiopia. Around the 11th century, people began using boiled coffee as a beverage, which spread to Europe and Asia in the 17th century.
Coffee, as a beverage, can be said to have achieved great success. Without exaggeration, it has become a obsession for many people. I like coffee, but I don't like coffee. I don't understand the bitterness of coffee in the mouth, but I am also greedy for its aroma, or rather, what I love is the feeling of drinking coffee.
The reason why coffee can refresh the mind is due to its main active ingredient – caffeine. Caffeine is a secondary metabolite of coffee fruit (a self-protection secondary metabolite that appears in the body during plant growth). The central nervous system of the human brain has a pair of partners responsible for feedback of fatigue signals, namely adenosine and adenosine receptors. When a person feels tired, these partners will report to the brain together, and the brain will immediately send a signal that they need to rest. The chemical structure of caffeine is very similar to adenosine. If you finish a large cup of coffee at this time, caffeine will disguise itself as adenosine, seize and occupy adenosine receptors, and the brain will not receive signals of physical fatigue and will not produce drowsiness. At the same time, you may also feel your hands getting cold, muscles tense, excited, and even your heart beating faster. This is due to the abnormality caused by caffeine being inserted, which was discovered by the pituitary gland, thinking that the body had an emergency situation. Therefore, emergency troops were mobilized to stimulate the production of adrenaline.
Coffee has become a favorite of many people because of its magical properties, but it also makes many people feel like it's like a drug, seemingly unhealthy yet unable to quit. Is coffee really unhealthy?
Coffee and cardiovascular disease, cancer
Moderate coffee consumption is beneficial for cardiovascular health and can reduce mortality rates.
Currently, the academic community has confirmed that moderate coffee consumption is beneficial for cardiovascular health and can reduce mortality rates. In addition, some people are concerned that drinking coffee may increase the risk of cancer. Although coffee beans do produce acrylamide (a carcinogenic compound) during the roasting process, it is undoubtedly unwise to talk about its effects without considering the dosage. Studies have shown that the carcinogenic dose of acrylamide is approximately 2.6-16 micrograms per kilogram of body weight consumed per day. That is to say, an adult weighing 50 kilograms needs to drink at least 10 kilograms of coffee per day to reach the carcinogenic dose.
Coffee and Depression
People who drink coffee have a lower risk of depression and a significantly reduced likelihood of suicide.
In the current fast-paced and tense lifestyle, there seems to be a dark cloud above everyone's head, and there are also more and more patients with depression. Depression is the most common mental disorder in the world. A study conducted by Harvard University in 2011 showed that people who drink coffee have a 20% lower risk of depression compared to those who do not drink coffee. Additionally, a follow-up study found that people who drink four or more cups of coffee per day have a 53% lower likelihood of suicide.
Coffee and 'senile dementia'
Coffee can prevent Alzheimer's and Parkinson's syndrome.
Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's syndrome are two common neurodegenerative diseases that are currently incurable in medicine. Epidemiological studies have found that an increase in coffee intake is associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease. Meanwhile, coffee drinkers also have a lower risk of developing Parkinson's syndrome.
Coffee and diabetes
Coffee drinkers have a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes is a metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycemia, which is caused by insulin secretion defect or insulin dysfunction. The latest epidemiological evidence shows that drinking more coffee can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and glucose metabolism disorder.
Coffee and calcium loss
Yes, but don't worry too much.
The calcium loss caused by coffee is due to the short-term diuretic effect of caffeine, which takes away some minerals, including calcium, through urination. However, the caffeine in each cup of coffee only increases calcium loss by 2-3 milligrams, so there is no need to worry too much about calcium loss when drinking coffee in daily life. If you are drinking milk coffee, there is no need to worry, as milk provides you with much more calcium than the lost calcium.
Improvement is effective
The disease prevention effect of coffee is only aimed at ordinary healthy people, not including patients with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, etc. There is no evidence that coffee has therapeutic effect on diseases for the time being. In addition, many of the studies cited in this article are observational, that is, they only studied the association between coffee consumption and disease outcomes, but did not prove a causal relationship.
Pregnant women should reduce or strictly limit their intake of coffee.
There is some evidence to suggest that people with slow caffeine metabolism who drink coffee have an increased risk of heart attack.
In short, if you don't have the habit of drinking coffee, it's okay not to drink it. After all, there are pros and cons to everything. If you enjoy drinking coffee and have developed a habit, you can enjoy the beauty it brings to yourself. Coffee is not a miracle drug, but drinking coffee in moderation is also a healthy lifestyle.
Title: Is Coffee Really Unhealthy