From early-morning truck stops to strong-brewed Italian to four-buck frapp-creations, people all over the world enjoy a cup of the comforting adrenalin rush.
There is an ongoing discussion in the health world over the effects of caffeine on everything from bone health to mental well-being. The end result is that the American culture is full of coffee-myths.
The world has been steeped in coffee since, as legend has it, the first hyper goats ate coffee berries in the highlands of ninth-century Ethiopia. An observant goatherd reported his animals’ strange behavior to an abbot at the local monastery, who then brewed the berries and discovered that their wakeful properties helped him with his long evening prayers.
The beverage trickled across the strait from Ethiopia to Arabia over the next few centuries. By the 16th century, the beverage was known throughout the Middle East. The Ottoman sultans in Istanbul imported a particularly sweet, rich coffee named after its most prevalent port, Mocha. By the 17th century, coffee had made its way to the western continents.
Even back then, coffee had its share of critics. In Italy, clergymen condemned the mind-altering drink as evil, and the controversy escalated until Pope Clement VIII tasted coffee and approved it.
Today’s cultural nay-saying, however, is more often based on health concerns than religion.
One of the more common claims is that drinking coffee stunts your growth, based on the theory that coffee causes osteoporosis. Today’s studies show that a high intake of caffeine, more than 300 milligrams a day, may lead to calcium loss, but the effect is so minor that it can be offset by adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk to each cup.
In addition, many of the early studies were done on populations who were replacing milk with soda or coffee, so that their higher incidence of osteoporosis was due to a lack of calcium, rather than the effect of caffeine.
Another myth is that coffee causes dehydration. Numerous studies show that, while caffeine increases the immediate urge to urinate, a few cups of coffee a day will not markedly affect overall hydration levels. According to a study described in Nursing Standard, dehydration only becomes a factor if you drink more than five strong cups of coffee a day.
According to an article in the Harvard Health School Publications, the famed after-coffee crash is best avoided by consuming two to three ounces of coffee every hour or so, rather than drinking 16 ounces at once. This is particularly effective when functioning on less than optimal sleep.
Caffeine, as many people know, is considered to be mildly addictive. Yet studies show that, while withdrawal effects, such as headache, irritability, difficulty concentrating and fatigue do occur, the symptoms lessen within a few days.
The American Medical Association Council on Scientific Affairs states that three, eight-ounce cups of coffee a day is a moderate amount, while ten, eight-ounce cups of coffee a day is considered excessive.
As a caveat, people with high blood pressure should limit their coffee to less than two cups a day, if any, and pregnant women might want to avoid the beverage until studies are conclusive.
But the rest of you might want to up your intake. Recent studies have linked the benefits of the beverage to long-term brain health, increased sports performance, higher pain tolerance, a reduced risk of heart attack and stroke and possibly a decreased risk of liver cancer.
An article in the Harvard Women’s Health Watch states that the risk for type 2 diabetes is lower among regular coffee drinkers. There are ongoing studies that link the regular use of coffee to a smaller risk of dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
In addition, a Kaiser Permanente study found that coffee drinkers were less likely to commit suicide, possibly because caffeine increases the brain’s production of dopamine.
So order that venti with pride, and enjoy it. It’s culture and utility coexisting in a cup.