Delicious UK - (03)March 2020

W

e’redrinking 35 percent

morecoffeethesedays

thanwedid 10 years

ago,despiteit havingrepeatedly

appearedonthelistofthings

toavoidif youwantedtolead

a healthylifestyle.Weweretold

moderateconsumptionincreased

theriskofdehydration,anxiety

andsleepdisorders.Somemedia

headlineswentfurther,even

castingcoffeeasa potentialkiller:

“Asingleespressoa daycan

damagetheheart.”So far, so

scaremongering.

Themostseriousclaimsagainst

coffeehavenowbeendebunkedby

scientificresearch.Butthere’sstill

confusionaboutwhetherdrinking

coffeeis healthy,andwhetherit’s

possibletodrinktoomuch.

HOWDOESCOFFEEWORK?

Caffeineis a majoractivecompound

incoffee(it’salsoinblackandgreen

tea).Oneofcaffeine’smaineffects

on the body is to block the action

ofadenosine,a chemicalthatcauses

tiredness.It alsotriggerstherelease

ofdopamine,whichcontrolsthe

pleasurecentresinthebrain,and

adrenaline,the‘fightorflight’

hormonethatkeepsusalert.

Thesechemicalreactionsexplain

whydrinkingcoffeeis pleasurable

andenergisingformanypeople.

Studiesalsoshowthata cupofcoffee

canimproveshort-termmemory

andreactiontimefora fewhours.

Elsewhereinthebody,caffeine

canalsoconstrictbloodvesselsand

temporarilyraisebloodpressure.

Itsstimulatingeffectscancause

thehearttobeatfasterandboost

athleticperformancebyimproving

bothstrengthandendurance.

CAFFEINEANDTHEHEART

A large 2019 studybyQueenMary

UniversityofLondon(QMUL)

overturneda long-heldtheory

thatcoffeestiffenedarteriesand

increasedtheriskofheartattack

andstroke.“Recentstudieswould

tendtoagreethatdrinkinguptofive

cupsperday(upto400mgcaffeine)

wouldnothavea significantimpact

onyourheart,”saysQMUL’sDr

KennethFung.Healsosaysother

studiessuggestmoderatecoffee

intakemightevenreducetherisk of

developingheartdisease.

Thejuryis stilloutonhowmuch

coffeeis ideal,however.“Beyond

fivecupsweneedtodomore

research,asI don’tbelievewe

currently have enough evidence,

particularlywiththelong-term

effects,”DrFungsays.

THEGREYAREA

A numberofstudies,including 2015

researchpublishedinthemedical

journalCirculation, haveshown

a linkbetweencoffeeconsumption

anddecreasedriskofdeathfrom

heartdisease.Anda 2018study

publishedbytheNationalAcademy

ofSciencesintheUSshowedcoffee

consumptionmayreducetheriskof

neurologicalconditionsincluding

Parkinson’sandAlzheimer’s

diseases,accordingtoDrOwen

Bain,anNHSpharmacist.There’s

alsosomeevidencethatcoffeecan

lowertheriskofdevelopingcertain

typesofcancer.ButDrBainstresses

there’snoproofthatcoffeedoesthis,

andmuchmoreresearchis needed.

“Mostofthesestudiesare

observational– theydon’tdirectly

establisha cause-effectrelationship,”

DrBainsays.“Wedon’tknowwhat

it is incoffeethatmaycausethese

effects,ascoffeecontainsother

componentsthancaffeine.Basically,

thepotentialbeneficialeffectsof

coffeearenotfullyunderstood.”

THESIDE-EFFECTS

Coffeecanhaveunpleasantside-

effects,notablyonsleepquality.

Caffeineremainsinthesystemfor

sixhoursonaverage,sodrinking

coffeeintheafternooncanresultin

tossingandturningatnight.“It

should be treated as a morning

COFFEE

Friend or foe?

It’shadanunhealthyreputationinthepast,butrecentstudiessuggestyourdailyfixofjava

might protect against certain medical conditions... Sue Quinn filters the facts from the froth

ILLUSTRATIONS: GETTY IMAGES/FILO/KBEIS/CUTEOLGA

BEHIND THE HEADLINES

• 1 filtercoffee(200ml)= 90mg


• 1 standardcanofenergy drink = 80mg


• 1 espresso= 80mg


• Cupofblacktea(220ml)= 50mg


• Standardcanofcola(355ml)= 40mg


• Barofplain/darkchocolate(50g)= 25mg


• Bar of milk chocolate (50g) = 10mg

HOWMUCHCAFFEINE

IS THERE IN...