For millions of us, mornings just wouldn’t be the same without a steaming hot cup of coffee, and while caffeine had previously gained a bad rap for purportedly causing dehydration and thus effecting our performance, more recent work on the subject has debunked the idea that a single a cup of Joe causes dehydration is a myth, and has also concluded that caffeine has a role to play in both our physical and cognitive prowess.
Now, caffeine is being heralded once again, and this time it’s because scientists have discovered it may have a protective effect against multiple diseases. Researchers working on a new study, published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, concluded that moderate caffeine intake results in a lesser probability of contracting Cardiometabolic diseases (CMD’s). CMD’s include a cardiovascular condition such as heart attacks, heart disease, and stroke, along with the existence of at least one metabolic condition like insulin resistance, diabetes, or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease among other serious ailments. The idea that a pre-workout shot of caffeine, or a much-needed coffee break could play our role in our longevity is obviously more than welcome.
How many cups of coffee or milligrams of caffeine may help to prevent CMD’s?
Comparing caffeine consumers to those who abstain, by studying more than 500,000 individuals in the UK Biobank aged between 37 and 73, researchers found that caffeine intake at all levels reduced the risk of Cardiometabolic diseases. Those that reported moderate coffee or caffeine consumption presented the lowest risk.
“Consuming three cups of coffee, or 200-300 mg caffeine, per day might help to reduce the risk of developing cardiometabolic multimorbidity in individuals without any cardiometabolic disease,” said the study’s lead author Chaofu Ke, M.D., Ph.D., in comments published via enocrine.org. “The findings highlight that promoting moderate amounts of coffee or caffeine intake as a dietary habit to healthy people might have far-reaching benefits for the prevention of Cardiometabolic disease.” Still, it’s important to remember that fully-loaded coffee’s from popular chains, laden with syrup and cream, are another beast entirely.
