Studies say drinking coffee can be good, unless you’re doing this
It’s that time of the week when you need to hear news about how your daily consumption of coffee is killing you or making you stronger, or a combination of both — leaving you in a constant state of fear, panic or immense confidence as well as hyperactive because you just drank coffee.
Ladders recently wrote about how the time of day you drink your first, second and third cup could have a major effect on your energy levels, but in addition to that, your choice of coffee additives may also be impacting your health.
And you should probably pay attention, as a study commissioned by the National Coffee Association of 3,000 Americans found that 64% of Americans drink a cup of coffee every day. This is a two-point increase from 2017 and the highest percentage in six years. In other words, we as a society are addicted to coffee.
Coffee can help fend off diseases
Coffee can have some disease-reducing effects. A Harvard Nurses Health Study found that coffee has some preventative qualities against type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease and another study linked it to helping fight against the onset of Parkinson’s.
Geoffrey James, on Inc., suggests trying to get yourself to start drinking your coffee black, as the health benefits are immense. Black coffee can help boost memory, make you more intelligent, cleanses your gut, helps your heart, improves your workouts, etc., In other words, it is a miracle in a cup.
But you may only be reaping these positive benefits if you are drinking your coffee a certain way, as in not adding in bags and bags of sugar and pouring in the creamer.
But your additives can cause trouble
By adding two teaspoons of sugar to each cup and you have two to four cups each day, you are quickly surpassing the suggested amount of sugar by health associations. And don’t think you’re in the safe zone if you are just adding non-dairy creamer. That’s even worse. Most non-dairy creamer brands are full of sugar plus oils and trans fats on top of that and then artificial flavoring and you have one unhealthy drink in front of you. But that’s just a normal cup of coffee you are making.
What about all the sugar utopias that are “coffee” drinks from Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks? Dunkin’ rolled out the Girl Scout-cookie flavored coffee (because we needed Thin Mints in liquid form) in February and Starbucks has managed to top the Willy Wonka go-to Unicorn Frappucino with something called the Crystal Ball. It’s a frozen drink with peach flavoring, whipped cream, and crushed rock candy topping and we assume some caffeine is in there.
All these additives won’t negate all the disease-reducing benefits of coffee, but they produce an onslaught of other things to worry about.
More from Ladders
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- Time management expert says this is the only reason to have a morning routine
- These are the 10 places in the U.S. where people live the longest
- The Kate Spade brand is making mental health a major priority for its employees
Studies say drinking coffee can be good, unless you’re doing this was originally published on Ladders, a publication dedicated to breaking news, opinion, analysis, and career advice at the cutting edge of our changing workplace. Sign up for our daily newsletter here.
