Science Says You Should Be Drinking More Coffee - Here's Why

If you're a coffee drinker, you've probably heard people say that coffee is bad for you. In the past, many people suspected coffee of causing health problems like heart disease. Good news: modern research says that coffee is actually healthy. As long as you keep your intake under six cups a day and avoid drinking so much you get the jitters, coffee has no serious negative health effects, and it may protect you from a number of diseases. Here are just a few of the reasons you should be drinking more coffee.

Coffee contains essential nutrients

Your morning cup of coffee contains more than just flavor - it's also full of nutrients from the beans it was brewed with. Coffee supplies the important B vitamins riboflavin, pantothenic acid, and niacin, as well as manganese, magnesium, and potassium. But vitamins aren't the only health boosters in coffee. For people who eat a Western diet, coffee is also the single biggest source of dietary antioxidants, according to researchers in Spain. Antioxidants prevent oxidative damage throughout your body, reducing the risk of cancer and atherosclerosis.

Coffee may be able to protect your brain

Doctors don't know exactly why, but coffee appears to have a protective effect against certain neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. This is an important finding because neurodegenerative diseases are incurable - the only way to deal with them is to prevent them from developing in the first place. A 2010 study conducted at the University of Eastern Finland found that moderate coffee drinkers slashed their risk of Alzheimer's disease by 65%. Caffeine probably has something to do with coffee's beneficial effect. Studies conducted on coffee and Parkinson's disease have concluded that decaf coffee doesn't protect the brain like caffeinated java does.

Coffee drinkers are less likely to get certain diseases

Cancer, type II diabetes, liver disease, and heart disease are some of the biggest killers in the world. Various studies have found that drinking coffee can reduce your risk of getting all of them. Coffee appears to have a strong beneficial effect on the liver, cutting the risk of cirrhosis by 80% and liver cancer by 40%. It also cuts down on the risk of heart failure and stroke, colorectal cancer, and even type II diabetes. Medical researchers aren't sure yet why coffee confers some of these benefits, but it's safe to say that a daily cup or two makes an ideal supplement to a healthy lifestyle.

The research is clear: not only does coffee not cause health problems, it's actually good for you. Your daily cup (or three) of coffee might be benefiting your body more than you know, so drink to your health!