Coffee 101: Coffee And Its Surprising Effects on Your Body
While coffee's flavor is appealing, some of the claimed benefits coffee offers to people have likely played a huge role in it becoming so widely appreciated.
Let’s take some time and discuss some of the notable effects coffee might have on your body.
Coffee as a Stimulant of Energy
Coffee drinkers can agree that for a good start of a day, drinking a cup of coffee is a “must.” In fact, Americans drink more coffee than any other nation in the world.
So, why is coffee so popular? The fact that it also works as an effective stimulant probably contributes a great deal to its popularity.
Coffee is capable of stimulating your nervous system. It gives you this needed boost of energy at the start of the day or whenever you decide to enjoy a cup.
Aficionados also appreciate the way coffee helps them feel more awake. If you’re feeling sluggish when you get out of bed, a cup of coffee can quickly change that.
Coffee as a Memory Booster
Do you have a big exam tomorrow morning? Are you set to make a big presentation to your bosses? In either case, consuming some coffee before taking on your task for the day could help.
That’s because coffee might have a positive impact on your memory.
A study conducted by researchers found that people did better at pattern separation after consuming caffeine. A separate study conducted by Johns Hopkins University also showed that people who consumed caffeine had better memory performance.
Drinking coffee alone is probably not going to give you a photographic memory. However, caffeine has presented a positive impact on that aspect of the human mind.
Coffee Improves Reaction Time
Reacting well to your surroundings is essential if you’re participating in some kind of physical activity. Improving your reaction time by even fractions of a second could be the difference between experiencing either glorious victory or agonizing defeat.
You’ll be glad to know that drinking coffee might also help with that.
It is scientifically proven that caffeine intake can improve your performance, as the effects of caffeine on the performance of the human body are associated with both central and peripheral nervous systems. This study also notes that the average reaction time can be improved after drinking coffee.
Coffee Might Help You Stay Focused and Alert
We all have those days when we feel unmotivated. Simply training our mind on the task at hand can prove to be as difficult as the job itself. As soon as you find yourself in that kind of rut, you start to brace yourself for what is likely to become an unproductive day.
You don’t have to just settle for being unproductive though. Have a cup of coffee and see how that affects your state of mind.
The caffeine present in coffee might help people concentrate better, so simply let the caffeine work its magic and see if your level of concentration improves as well.
Concentrating better can also help you use your time more efficiently. You’ll be able get more done during your work day, perhaps thanks to some coffee.
Coffee and Its Effect on Longevity
Coffee does more than just improve our mornings. It also might be a contributing factor to living longer.
One study by Harvard School of Public Health highlights how coffee affects longevity. Another study published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal show that consuming more of the aforementioned beverage is associated with a lower risk of death.
Furthermore, consistent coffee consumption has also been linked to a lower risk of developing certain life-threatening conditions. Those conditions include cardiovascular disease and diabetes just to name a few. Also worth mentioning possible health risks of coffee, such as bladder and pancreatic cancer and esophageal cancer.
The prospect of drinking coffee for decades is an appealing thought to many. If you want to spice things up a bit though, try out different recipes that use coffee as an ingredient. Doing so also allows you to experience the distinctive flavor of coffee in new and exciting ways.
Coffee Introduces More Essential Minerals to Your Body
Caffeine is the component of coffee that often gets the most attention, but that’s not all it delivers to your body. This report form Harvard points out that we can also get a decent amount of magnesium and potassium from our regular cup of coffee. That’s important because both magnesium and potassium are minerals that offer numerous benefits.
Magnesium helps to keep bones and muscles healthy while supporting our immune system. Potassium has a similarly positive impact on our muscles. On top of that, potassium can also help mitigate the negative impact of sodium on the body.
The jolt of energy coffee provides is the main selling point for many consumers, but it’s worth noting that it can do much more than that. If you’ve long been on the fence about becoming a coffee drinker, remember the benefits listed above when you ponder that decision again. Don't forget to drink coffee in moderation, follow your doctor's instructions if there are any and monitor your reaction to the beloved black drink.
