The strongest evidence for coffee's health benefits centre around diabetes. Drinking coffee at least three cups per day has been linked to a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes in a number of studies. Coffee caffeinated and decaffeinated contains an antioxidant called chlorogenic acid, which has been shown to dampen inflammation in the body, reduce glucose (sugar) absorption and improve how the body uses insulin, the hormone that lowers blood glucose.
There is a downside with coffee for some people as it
has high caffeine content. Drinking too much coffee can result in a high intake
of caffeine which can disrupt sleep and rob calcium from bones (if you consume
too little calcium from foods). And some studies suggest that high intakes of
caffeine during pregnancy can increase the risk of miscarriage.
Women of childbearing age should limit caffeine
intake to 300 milligrams per day. Other healthy adults can safely consume 400
milligrams daily almost 2.5 cups of coffee worth. (One eight ounce cup of
regular coffee (filter drip) contains roughly 180 milligrams of caffeine.) If you are not sensitive to caffeine and don't suffer
heartburn, both coffee and tea are considered healthy especially if you skip
the sugar. If it's antioxidants you're after, go for green tea which contains
about three times more catechins than black tea.
