Coffee is the single greatest consumable product. It’s responsible for the success of countless professionals. In fact, there’re at least a dozen scientific reasons why you should drink coffee every day. So be thankful for your addiction, and be sure not to ruin your beverage with sugar or cream.
1. It gives you a healthier liver.
Unlike drinking alcohol every day, drinking black coffee actually improves your liver. It’s been shown that people who drink four or more cups of coffee a day (24+ oz., or two “Tall” cups from Starbucks) have as much as an 80% lower rate of cirrhosis of the liver. People who drink this same amount also have as much as a 40% lower rate of developing liver cancer.2. It makes you smarter.
Caffeine is a psychoactive stimulant. When you drink coffee, the caffeine travels into your digestive system, then into your blood stream, and eventually to your brain (this takes roughly 30-45 minutes). When it hits your brain, it blocks one of your inhibitory neurotransmitters, Adenosine. This leads to an increase in other neurotransmitters (norepinephrine and dopamine), causing the neurons in your brain to fire more rapidly. All these chemicals and neurons conglomerate to boost your mood, energy, memory, response times, and general cognitive functioning.3. It boosts your metabolism by 11%.
Want to lose a little weight? Not as active as you’d like to be? Drink coffee. As one of the few substances to ever be directly associated with burning fat, caffeine is found in nearly every fat burning or weight loss supplement. This doesn’t mean you should drink coffee instead of working out. You should probably still do both. But it can lead to a healthier, happier you.4. It gives you important nutrients.
If you drink coffee, it is your single largest source of antioxidants. A few important nutrients include: Vitamins B2, B3, and B5, Manganese, Magnesium, and Potassium. Also, the human body absorbs more nutrients from coffee than it does from other popular sources of antioxidants like fruits and vegetables. You get more healthy bang for your buck with coffee than with anything else.5. It reduces your risk of type 2 diabetes.
Please note that you will not see these same effects if your cup is half coffee, half cream and sugar. You might actually be worse off in that case. But if you drink black coffee, then studies show an average of 7% drop in risk for diabetes for every daily cup (6 oz.) of coffee. Typically a coffee mug is 12 oz. So if you drink, say, two mugs of coffee in the morning, or 24 oz., then you’ll have a 28% lower risk for developing type 2 diabetes, compared to those who don’t drink coffee.6. It lowers your risk of Parkinson’s.
No one wants to develop a neurodegenerative disease – particularly those who’ve seen a family member go through it. Parkinson’s is associated with a drop in dopamine. And since caffeine boosts dopamine levels in the brain, drinking black coffee reduces the chances of you developing Parkinson’s. Regular coffee drinkers have been shown to have a 32-60% reduced chance of developing this disease.7. It fights against depression and generally makes you happier.
Remember, caffeine, which coffee is full of, increases dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is commonly known as the “pleasure chemical,” so it makes sense that consuming anything to increase dopamine will make you happier and keep you less depressed.People who drink four or more cups of black coffee a day (24+ oz.) have a 20% lower chance of becoming depressed, and are over 50% less likely to commit suicide. Drinking coffee is literally a life saver, and something I wish more people would do more often for this specific reason. If you know someone struggling with depression, taking them out for a cup of coffee here and there can make all the difference.