Health advice is never simple. It’s hard to know how many is too many.
It’s three minutes before closing time, you’ve started to stack the chairs and sweep the floor, but then you spot someone lingering by the door. It’s Bill.
You’ve already seen him twice today. Sometimes you think, should he really be having another? Surely it can’t be good for him.
Bill has a similar morning routine to many of us, he started his day with a morning latte on his way to work. Today he has also had a lunch time espresso, afternoon americano and, as usual, Bill is now here for his 6 o’clock flat white for his walk home.
Coffee is one of the most commonly consumed drinks worldwide. However, no one tells us if it is unhealthy or if the health myths are true or false. There is alcohol guidelines, exercise guidelines, and the fruit and veg five a day guideline. Where is the coffee guideline?
Photo by Samer Daboul www.pexels.com/@samerdaboul
A recent study reviewed the evidence for links between coffee consumption and a range of health outcomes giving us the highest level of evidence available.
Coffee consumption was shown to be associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and stroke. It was also associated with a lower risk of death from these conditions. Drinking coffee was also linked to lower risk of different types of cancer, liver diseases and type 2 diabetes. Related to cognitive wellbeing, coffee consumption was associated with lower risk of depression, parkinson’s disease and other disorders such as alzheimer’s disease.
Drinking three to five cups of coffee a day led to the largest benefits.
The good news for Bill is that his multiple visits to the shop each day shouldn’t be negatively affecting his health. Drinking coffee seems safe within usual patterns of consumption with three to four cups per day unlikely to cause significant harm.
So when your colleague asks you whether you’re going to have yet another cup of coffee, just enjoy your afternoon latte.