Surprising health benefits of coffee
If the promise of a steaming cup of coffee helps get you out of bed on cold winter mornings, we have good news for you! Coffee is actually good for your health. Yes, you read that right. Coffee is actually good for you and supports a healthy metabolism. So pour yourself another cup and keep reading to find out why.
1. Coffee protects your liver
Your liver, which sits in your right upper abdomen, is a vital organ that performs more than 500 functions, including breaking down waste, converting food to energy stores, and producing blood cells. However, when people eat a diet high in fat, or drink alcohol to excess, the liver can become scarred, resulting in a condition known as cirrhosis.
The good news is that coffee has been shown to promote liver health by decreasing rates of cirrhosis by up to 80% in people who drank 4 or more cups of coffee a day and decreasing the risk of liver cancer.
2. Coffee lowers your risk of type 2 diabetes
Here’s another good reason to drink coffee: it lowers your risk of Type 2 diabetes! A study of nearly 500,000 patients showed a 7% decreased risk of Type 2 diabetes for every cup of coffee they drank per day. Researchers attribute the benefit to a bioactive compound in coffee called cafestol that has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity, increase insulin production, and decrease fasting glucose levels.
3. Coffee contains vitamins
Another reason coffee is good for your health is because it contains vitamins, including Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3 and Vitamin B5. It also contains manganese, which supports tissue and bone health, as well as hormone production and blood sugar regulation. And it contains potassium, which helps decrease your risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease and strokes.
4. Coffee is good for your brain
One of the short-term benefits of coffee is that it can improve your mood, improve your concentration, accelerate your reaction time, and improve your memory. But coffee has long-term health benefits as well. Several studies have shown that people who drink coffee tend to have lower rates of dementia. In fact, researchers found that coffee drinkers were up to 65% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than their non-coffee drinking counterparts.
5. Coffee drinkers live longer
A large research study of more than 400,000 adults showed that female coffee drinkers were 12% less likely to die in the next 10 years, and male coffee drinkers were 16% less likely to die in the next 10 years. The highest benefit was in those who were 45 years and older, who drank 4-5 cups per day.
Researchers attribute this finding to all the health benefits we’ve listed so far, and the fact that coffee contains lots of antioxidants, which help protect cells from oxidative damage that can lead to cancer, heart disease, lung disease and other life-threatening conditions.
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Sources:
Liver: Anatomy and Functions via Johns Hopkins Medicine
