As one of the leading importers of coffee in the world, as reported by Statista, it’s no secret that the United States is a big fan of coffee.[1] From waking up in the morning to catching up with a friend in the afternoon, and even accompanying dessert after dinner, coffee has become both a versatile and essential part of daily life here in the States, and thus, it has also become a staple of American culture. 

In fact, coffee is so ubiquitous in the U.S. that it’s probably in your hand at this very moment! (Unless you’re currently completing our Transform In 21™ detox program, of course!) But with so much coffee being consumed every single day, it begs the question: is it good or bad for us?

Various studies over the years have provided conflicting views on this topic, generally leading to more confusion than clarity. So let’s get to the bottom of it, because even though Dr. Shirley and I are passionate about good nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle, we love our coffee too – just as much as you probably do!

The Effects of Coffee

If you have ever searched for the possible effects, good and bad, of coffee, you know that there are numerous studies and claims that can often be contradictory and confusing. As an example, I searched a single website, Healthline.com, for listed benefits and detriments. These are listed below, and reveal just how contradictory these claims can be.

Benefits According to Healthline.com[2]

• More energy

• Make you smarter/more alert 

• Boosts your metabolism 

• Sports and life performance 

• Essential nutrients and antioxidants 

• Assist with Diabetes, Parkinson’s, Dementia 

• Protect your liver 

• Make you happier 

• Lower risk of cancer or heart disease 

• Longevity 

Detriments According to Healthline.com[3]

• Fatigue 

• Anxiety 

• Insomnia 

• Muscle breakdown 

• *Depletes vitamins/minerals 

• Digestive problems/GERD/Acidic 

• *Burden on your liver 

• Addiction/dependency/stress 

• HBP, Rapid heart rate/ fibrillation/ stress 

• Frequent urination/incontinence 

• *Dehydrates and results in looking “aged”  

*Not found on cited source above

So what determines whether you experience the benefits or the detriments of coffee?

The good news is that it’s actually up to you, and by being aware of three main factors, you can make healthier choices without giving up your daily coffee!

1. QUANTITY (Don’t drink too much each day!)

Because frequent consumption of coffee can cause dependency (similarly to an addiction,) it’s very likely that if you are a coffee drinker, you drink at least one cup every single day.[3] But many of us coffee lovers also go back for a second cup, or stop for a latte on the way to work, or grab a cold brew after lunch, or have another cup after dinner, or all of the above! It’s easy for our coffee intake to get out of control, and too much of just about anything, especially something containing caffeine, is never a good thing for our bodies! 

Avoid Too Much Coffee to Help Prevent Dehydration

Franziska Spritzler from Healthline.com writes, “Increased urination is a common side effect of high caffeine intake due to the compound’s stimulatory effects on the bladder.”[3] In addition to frequent urination, you might also be noticing dark colored urine, or you may be suffering from headaches, fatigue, dizziness, or even confusion.[4] These symptoms could be signs that your body is dehydrated! But you’re not only losing water by drinking too much coffee! Dehydration has many negative side effects, including the drying out of skin and the depletion of important vitamins and minerals (which can even cause premature graying of your hair!) To counteract the dehydrating effects of coffee, you should be drinking two cups of water for each cup of coffee. Therefore, if you’re drinking more than one or two cups of coffee per day, you probably aren’t drinking nearly enough water to combat dehydration and its side effects.

Avoid Too Much Coffee to Help Prevent Excessive Adrenaline Production

Many of us rely on the caffeine in coffee for a boost of energy. Caffeine “works by blocking the effects of adenosine, a brain chemical that makes you feel tired,” writes Spritzler, and also “triggers the release of adrenaline, the ‘fight-or-flight’ hormone associated with increased energy.”[3] But too much caffeine, and in turn, the production of excessive adrenaline, burdens the adrenals and the nervous system, causing anxiety and nervousness.[3] 

Avoid Too Much Coffee to Help Prevent Other Health Issues

Regularly drinking an excessive amount of coffee also puts stress on the heart, liver, pancreas, and digestive system, and could increase your risk for high blood pressure, rapid heart rate, and gastroesophageal reflux disease.[3] 

So it’s pretty clear that too much coffee is definitely not a good idea, but how much is too much? Try to drink no more than two, 8 oz. cups per day. If you can keep your daily intake around there, you’ll be on the right track! 

Health Tip: Consider using a smaller mug for your coffee in the morning, incorporating naturally decaffeinated coffee (decaffeinated using the “Swiss Water Method”) to your daily routine to cut out some of your caffeine intake, or replacing your second or third coffee each day with caffeine-free tea or a healthier coffee alternative like Dandy Blend!  

Key Takeaways
While these potential side effects of drinking too much coffee might seem a little ominous, the easy way to help prevent them is simply by keeping your daily coffee intake as low as possible and counteracting the dehydrating effects of your coffee by drinking more water! 

2. QUALITY (Choose organic coffee to avoid dangerous residuals & grind it yourself to keep it fresh!)

While those coffee beans or coffee grounds that you use for your daily morning coffee may smell delicious, the truth is they could be transferring harmful substances into your body, particularly when using non-organic coffee. 

Choose Organic Coffee to Keep Toxins Out of Your Body!

Non-organic coffee is often produced using pesticides, and you may find it rather unsettling–as I certainly do–that the pesticides used on coffee, in particular, are very unrestricted. “As of now, the US government does not have maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticides used on coffee beans,” an article from Purity Coffee explains, “This leaves coffee drinkers open to a wide range of unknown pesticide residue levels lurking on the surface of their beans.”[5] In addition, some countries still use pesticides on coffee beans that have been banned in the United States![5] As you probably already know, pesticides are a prime culprit in the buildup of harmful toxins in our bodies, and a quick internet search will show you just how frightening the toxic chemicals in these pesticides (such as organophosphates which are neurotoxic to humans) really are.[5]

Choose Organic Whole Beans & Grind Them Yourself to Keep Coffee Fresh

As soon as coffee beans are ground and thus exposed to oxygen, the coffee begins to break down. The website Bean Poet explains this process:

“When coffee is ground into smaller pieces, the ratio of surface area to volume for each smaller piece becomes much greater, and the surfaces also become more porous. This speeds up the process of degassing. The carbon dioxide is replaced by oxygen more quickly, which in turn can cause the coffee to go stale more quickly.”[6]

Not only does pre-ground coffee lose its aroma and flavor much more quickly, but after being ground, coffee immediately starts losing its nutrients and antioxidants, and once pre-ground coffee is opened and left out for a while, it also gets exposed to air, moisture, and light which can cause the coffee to grow mold or the oils in the coffee to go rancid.[6,7]

Be Smart in Making & Storing Your Coffee

Plastics mimic estrogenic compounds in our bodies, and when plastic is heated up in the preparation of your coffee, it gets transferred into your body where it can cause a host of medical issues, particularly cancer. Avoid plastic as much as possible in the purchasing, grinding, brewing, serving, and storing of your coffee, and opt for safer alternatives in all these cases. In addition, always be mindful of other products you might be using which could have negative health effects, such as bleached white coffee filters which contain chlorine that can get into your body too! 

Key Takeaways
Choose organic, whole beans, grind them yourself, and store and prepare them safely to avoid harmful substances and to keep your coffee fresh.

3. HOW YOU TAKE YOUR COFFEE (the most important part!)

Unfortunately, even if you follow all my previous recommendations for making your coffee routine healthier, it won’t make much of a difference if once your coffee is ready, you load it up with all the wrong stuff! Coffee add-ins have become quite varied, and with a little deceptive marketing, it’s easy to become convinced that your flavored creamer, or specialty coffee beverage from the coffee shop on the way to work, is “good” for you. The truth is, it probably isn’t! Many sweet coffee creamer options, even the ones that profess to have health benefits, contain hydrogenated oils and synthetic ingredients and preservatives that are terrible for your health.[8]

Toss the Synthetic Creamer and Take Your Coffee with Good Fats!

Start with your organic, freshly ground, black coffee. If you can drink it black, that’s great! But if you’re like me, you’ve gotta have some cream. Believe it or not, grass-fed heavy cream or unsalted butter are the best choices! These contain good fats which add a smooth, creamy flavor to your coffee and have been shown to have health benefits. 

Always Avoid Processed / Artificial Sweeteners!

If you can be satisfied with some good cream, and forget the sweetener, you’re golden! But if you do need something sweet in your coffee, choose small amounts of the most natural options such as Stevia, honey, maple syrup, monk fruit, raw sugar, or erythritol. Always avoid processed sugar and artificial sweeteners such as Splenda, saccharine, and nutrasweet! 

Harvard Health Publishing provides a great synopsis of the importance of choosing natural sugar over added sugar:

“Sugar occurs naturally in all foods that contain carbohydrates, such as fruits and vegetables, grains, and dairy. Consuming whole foods that contain natural sugar is okay. Plant foods also have high amounts of fiber, essential minerals, and antioxidants, and dairy foods contain protein and calcium. Since your body digests these foods slowly, the sugar in them offers a steady supply of energy to your cells. A high intake of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains also has been shown to reduce the risk of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers … However, problems occur when you consume too much added sugar — that is, sugar that food manufacturers add to products to increase flavor or extend shelf life. 

How sugar actually affects heart health is not completely understood, but it appears to have several indirect connections. For instance, high amounts of sugar overload the liver. ‘Your liver metabolizes sugar the same way as alcohol, and converts dietary carbohydrates to fat,’ says Dr. Hu. Over time, this can lead to a greater accumulation of fat, which may turn into fatty liver disease, a contributor to diabetes, which raises your risk for heart disease.

Consuming too much added sugar can raise blood pressure and increase chronic inflammation, both of which are pathological pathways to heart disease. Excess consumption of sugar, especially in sugary beverages, also contributes to weight gain by tricking your body into turning off its appetite-control system because liquid calories are not as satisfying as calories from solid foods. This is why it is easier for people to add more calories to their regular diet when consuming sugary beverages.”[9]

HEALTH TIP: Recreate a flavored creamer by combining a healthy fat cream option with a natural oil or extract.

KEY TAKEAWAYS
You can find the healthiest, organic coffee in existence, but it’s absolutely critical to keep synthetic creamers, added sugars, and other unhealthy substances out of your cup of coffee! To add cream and sugar to your coffee, forget the fake stuff and go straight to the source – real cream and unprocessed, natural sugar! Your body will thank you!

So is YOUR coffee good or bad for YOU? Do you have your daily quantity under control? Are you choosing the best quality, organic coffee and grinding it yourself? And are you fixing your cup with good cream and natural sweeteners? Make sure you can say yes to all of these questions, and you can be even happier when you wake up to the sweet aroma of your daily grind!