Coffee or caffeine consumption: Is it bad for you? What are its benefits?
- The Australian Cardiovascular Research Centre
- Aug 5, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 6, 2022
What is caffeine and what does it do to the body?
Caffeine is a chemical found in coffee. We examined caffeine's impacts on the body for adults, children and pregnancy, as well as caffeine's role in disease development.
What is the difference between coffee and caffeine?
Coffee is a drink that contains caffeine [1, 2]. However, coffee also has a range of other chemicals and compounds [2]. Therefore, it is important not to directly correlate coffee's beneficial or worsening effects to caffeine without further investigation. Caffeine is also found in a variety of other soft drinks.
What effects does coffee have on the body?
Reduced risk for Type II Diabetes
The systematic review of 193,473 participants demonstrated that habitual caffeine consumption reduced the risk of developing Type II Diabetes [3]
Whether the beneficial effect comes from the other components of coffee remains to be investigated [3-5]
Caffeine was shown to acutely (short-term) lower insulin sensitivity [3]
Reduced risk for stroke
The systematic review of 21 studies, including over 2.4 million participants, demonstrated that coffee consumption was associated with reduced risks for stroke [6]
This relationship demonstrated a U-shaped curve, with the lowest relative risk found at 3-4 cups of coffee per day [6]
The strongest association was found at 3-4 cups of coffee each day, lowing the risk by a reported 21% [6]
Nevertheless, the relative risk reduction for stroke ranged over 5-21% between 1-7 cups of coffee each day (U-shaped curve) [6]
Varied effects on glucose metabolism
The systematic review of 247 participants over 8 clinical trials highlighted that caffeinated coffee has a differential effect on short-term and long-term glucose metabolism [7]
Short-term (1-3 hours), caffeinated coffee worsens glucose metabolism [7]
Long-term (2-16 weeks), caffeinated coffee improved glucose metabolism [7]
Benefit to physical functioning outcomes during aging ( 40 years old)
In 2022, a systematic review was performed to evaluate whether there was an association between coffee consumption and the decline in physical functioning experienced as we age [8]
Physical functioning was defined as frailty, sarcopenia, weakness, falls and disability [8]
From the collective analysis of 10 studies and 34,921 participants, it was found that better physical functioning outcomes were associated with higher levels of exposure to coffee [8]
It was concluded that increased coffee consumption was not associated with poor physical functioning [8]
Varied effects in children under 12 years old
In 2020, a systematic review was performed on 23 studies to evaluate the effect that caffeine consumption had on children below the age of 12 [9]
Positive effects: caffeine supports cognition (elevating short-term arousal and increasing motor activity, perception and intelligence in the long-term) as well as improving exercise performance (both for long-distance aerobic exercise and short-interval resistance anaerobic exercise) [9]
Adverse (negative) effects: caffeine reduces growth and development (change in sleep cycle could indirectly affect weight and growth) as well as increase the risk for emotional distress (anxiety and depression) [9]
Increased risks during pregnancy
In 2021, a systematic review and meta-analysis of 7 studies containing 29,168 participants found a positive association between caffeine consumption during pregnancy and risk of low birth weight [10]
In 2022, a systematic review and meta-analysis found that high caffeine intake (>300g per day) was associated with higher chances of spontaneous abortion or miscarriage [11]
Let's protect ourselves from cardiovascular disease
Reference:
[1] Cappelletti S, Daria P, Sani G, Aromatario M. Caffeine: Cognitive and Physical Performance Enhancer or Psychoactive Drug? Current Neuropharmacology. 2015;13(1):71-88.
[2] Obanda M, Owuor PO, Taylor SJ. Flavanol Composition and Caffeine Content of Green Leaf as Quality Potential Indicators of Kenyan Black Teas. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 1997;74(2):209-15.
[3] Van Dam RM, Hu FB. Coffee Consumption and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes. JAMA. 2005;294(1):97.
[4] Isogawa A, Noda M, Takahashi Y, Kadowaki T, Tsugane S. Coffee consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The Lancet. 2003;361(9358):703-4.
[5] Salazar-Martinez E, Willett WC, Ascherio A, Manson JE, Leitzmann MF, Stampfer MJ, et al. Coffee Consumption and Risk for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2004;140(1):1-8.
[6] Shao C, Tang H, Wang X, He J. Coffee Consumption and Stroke Risk: Evidence from a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of more than 2.4 Million Men and Women. Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases. 2021;30(1):105452.
[7] Reis CEG, Dórea JG, da Costa THM. Effects of coffee consumption on glucose metabolism: A systematic review of clinical trials. Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine. 2019;9(3):184-91.
[8] Mazeaud S, Castellana F, Coelho-Junior HJ, Panza F, Rondanelli M, Fassio F, et al. Coffee Drinking and Adverse Physical Outcomes in the Aging Adult Population: A Systematic Review. Metabolites. 2022;12(7):654.
[9] Torres-Ugalde YC, Romero-Palencia A, Román-Gutiérrez AD, Ojeda-Ramírez D, Guzmán-Saldaña RME. Caffeine Consumption in Children: Innocuous or Deleterious? A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020;17(7):2489.
[10] Soltani S, Salari-Moghaddam A, Saneei P, Askari M, Larijani B, Azadbakht L, et al. Maternal caffeine consumption during pregnancy and risk of low birth weight: a dose–response meta-analysis of cohort studies. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 2021:1-10.
[11] Ayoub A, Yaseen M. Relationship between caffeine or coffee consumption and Miscarriage: Findings from systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Health Informatics in Developing Countries. 2022;16(1).
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