10 coffee myths
Coffee is a favorite drink of many. Over the past decades, it has been repeatedly declared that it is very harmful, sometimes extremely useful and even necessary for normal life. Although this product has long become familiar to us, there are many myths about the properties of coffee and its effects on the human body. Readers can familiarize themselves with the most common of these misconceptions today.
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Coffee drinkers risk gout
For quite a long time, there was an opinion that the daily use of coffee leads to such changes in metabolic processes, which entail the growth of deposits of uric acid salts in the joints.
In fact, the opposite situation takes place. The substances in coffee help reduce the concentration of uric acid in the body. Therefore, regular consumption of the drink reduces the risk of developing gout.
In addition, the drink has a fairly strong diuretic effect and is useful for fighting edema.
Coffee damages the liver
Studies with volunteers have shown that coffee does not trigger the development of liver cancer and cirrhosis. The assumptions that this drink can cause malignant neoplasms in other organs have not been confirmed either.
Drinking coffee triggers the development of Parkinson's disease
The emergence of this misconception, apparently, is associated with ideas about the effect of coffee on the nervous system and the arousal that occurs when it is consumed excessively.
The real state of affairs is this: caffeine really tones up, but in reasonable amounts, coffee is absolutely safe for a healthy person. In addition, this substance slows down the process of dying off of the brain cells responsible for the release of dopamine.
Drinking coffee affects the health of men and women in different ways. For representatives of the stronger sex, who daily use a flavored drink, the risk of developing Parkinson's disease decreases several times. The positive effect of coffee on the female body is less pronounced. In addition, the intensity of the protective effect of coffee is greatly reduced when taking medications designed to correct hormonal levels.
Coffee craze leads to diabetes
Coffee contains trigonelline. It is he who is the reason for the characteristic aroma that appears when roasting the beans. In addition, coffee is rich in chlorogenic acid (however, its maximum concentration is in the shell of the grains, which is not eaten). Both substances optimize carbohydrate metabolism and prevent excess weight gain.
All types of coffee (even those that are caffeine-free) have a positive effect on glucose absorption and reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Of course, this is not the case when coffee lovers drink it with a lot of sugar. This kind of abuse is always dangerous, and the positive qualities of the drink do not diminish the harm from sugar.
Coffee is very high in calories
In fact, black coffee can be considered a dietary product. It not only contains the minimum amount of calories (for different varieties from 2 to 8 per 100 g), but also contributes to the rapid expenditure of the energy received (due to the stimulating effect on the nervous system). It has been established that the calorie content of instant coffee is almost half that of natural coffee. One way or another, this indicator greatly increases when the drink is consumed with sugar, milk or cream (not to mention cookies, chocolate, sweets, cakes, etc.).
Pregnant women can drink coffee without restrictions
Doctors unanimously advise expectant mothers to completely stop drinking coffee or reduce it to a minimum (a cup once or twice a week). Indeed, during the period of gestation, most of the positive properties of the drink turn into disadvantages:
- the stimulating effect of coffee is completely unnecessary for a pregnant woman. Her nervous system is already under serious stress. Drinking coffee can cause sleep disturbances, increased nervousness, increased heart rate, which will have a bad effect on a woman's well-being;
- in the early stages of gestation, even a small amount of coffee may well cause an increase in smooth muscle tone and even cause a miscarriage;
- coffee has a diuretic effect. An increase in diuresis in a pregnant woman leads to the leaching of calcium from her body, which is necessary for the formation of the fetal skeleton, as well as other trace elements important for its proper development;
- drinking strong coffee is fraught with vascular spasms. A sharp narrowing of the vessels supplying the placenta restricts the supply of oxygen and can cause fetal hypoxia.
Coffee has no effect on blood vessels
Coffee contains cafeestol, a substance that increases the cholesterol content in the body. For lovers of a fragrant drink, the likelihood of negative changes in the walls of blood vessels is quite high. In combination with the stimulating effect of caffeine, this circumstance entails a serious risk of cardiovascular problems and related ailments.
From this point of view, regular consumption of instant coffee seems to be safer: it contains much less cafeestol than natural beans.
Instant coffee is more harmful than ground coffee
We have already talked about some of the properties of natural and instant versions of the product. Instant coffee contains less caffeine and calories, is less harmful to blood vessels and heart, and is extremely rich in niacin (vitamin PP). But in natural coffee there are many trace elements that are destroyed during the processing of raw materials.
The idea that instant coffee is much more harmful than natural coffee is most likely associated with the use of cheap products made from low-quality raw materials and saturated with flavors, flavor enhancers and other additives hazardous to health. In this sense, variants of instant coffee in small disposable packaging ("three in one", etc.) are especially unpleasant.
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Coffee relieves hangover
The diuretic effect of coffee really contributes to the accelerated elimination of alcohol breakdown products from the body. However, using coffee as a hangover remedy is very dangerous: after excessive drinking, the body is already in poor condition. An increase in stress on the nervous and cardiovascular system, combined with dehydration, can lead to the most dire consequences.
But, having drunk a cup of strong coffee about 20 minutes before the feast, you can activate the production of liver enzymes responsible for the processing of alcohol. Then alcohol decomposes more intensively and the risk of severe intoxication is reduced. The effect lasts an hour and a half, but only if the intake of coffee is one-time: you should not drink it interspersed with alcoholic beverages. Otherwise, the result will be the opposite - a quick intoxication with severe consequences for the body.
Coffee causes addiction similar to drug
Coffee (or rather, its stimulating effect on the nervous system) is addictive, which, however, has nothing to do with physical or psychological addiction to drugs. For regular drinkers, a sharp refusal from it can cause disturbances in concentration, distraction, headache, drowsiness. Unpleasant sensations hardly appear or disappear quickly if the amount of coffee you drink daily is gradually reduced.
Coffee is much less harmful than commonly believed. Nevertheless, it should be abandoned in case of hypertension, problems with the heart and blood vessels, diseases of the nervous or excretory system. Children should not be given coffee. It is also better for expectant mothers to abandon the aromatic drink or reduce its use.
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Maria Kulkes Medical journalist About the author
Education: First Moscow State Medical University named after I. M. Sechenov, specialty "General Medicine".
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