Do I have to give up coffee completely?
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Hi there! I am a 23 year old student who really loves a coffee. However - recently I have seen a lot of articles on why caffeine is bad for you.
These articles state things along the lines of "Just one cup can increase stress and unhealthy belly fat", "It causes cancers", "it can cause brain damage by overstimulating the body" etc.
I try not to get too scared by these statements, but I must admit they are worrying me,
and I really don't want to cut coffee out my life! I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this subject?: Do I really have to go without it from now on?
Just to add a little more info - I don't really think I am addicted to caffeine. I don't have a coffee everyday, and I never make it at home. I have it about 4 times a week when I visit a coffee shop with friends. I am a huge fan of a cappuccino or a yummy gingerbread latte now and then!
Any help on this would be much appreciated - thanks! X
Stop reading those sort of articles. Virtually never are they accurate.1 -
alienws1998 wrote: »I drink coffee (and energy) drinks in massive quantity, I've lost almost 20 pounds in 2 months. So no you do not have to give it up. As for the articles, quit reading them. Science and medicine changes all the time, look at eggs and butter? In the late 70s & early 80s, eggs and butter were looked at as evil. Black coffee is only like 50 calories a cup and no carbs, so watch the stuff you put in it (sugar, creamers etc) and you'll be fine. Hit me up if you want the bpc recipe I use, it tastes great and is better for you than commercial creamers or the overpriced crap you get at Starbucks.
50 calories a cup? I drink over 20 Oz of coffee in the mornings which on its own is less than 10 calories.2 -
I don't drink expensive sugary coffee drinks anymore, but I do have coffee.1
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Last I heard, coffee is actually good for you.
So whatever, eh.0 -
alienws1998 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »alienws1998 wrote: »I drink coffee (and energy) drinks in massive quantity, I've lost almost 20 pounds in 2 months. So no you do not have to give it up. As for the articles, quit reading them. Science and medicine changes all the time, look at eggs and butter? In the late 70s & early 80s, eggs and butter were looked at as evil. Black coffee is only like 50 calories a cup and no carbs, so watch the stuff you put in it (sugar, creamers etc) and you'll be fine. Hit me up if you want the bpc recipe I use, it tastes great and is better for you than commercial creamers or the overpriced crap you get at Starbucks.
Hopefully not coffee and energy drinks in "massive quantities" reputable sources will tell you to limit caffeine to 400 mg a day
4-6 Monsters/RockStars (the low carb ones that only have 2-6 carbs per can) plus 3 or 4 cups of coffee
Yeah--you might want to talk to a doctor about that--you can actually overdose on caffeine and it can kill you.
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After reading some of the responses I went back and double checked, you guys are right about the black coffee, I thought it had 50 calories it does not. It's the tablespoon of heavy whipping cream that has the 50 calories, not the coffee. This app is calling the black coffee 0 calories. So to the OP, 0 calories, 0 carbs. ..drink all you want. Again just watch what you add to it, that's what adds in calories and carbs. Caffeine is an ingredient in most diet pills, and has been known to help with headaches (it's an ingredient in a lot of over the counter pain relief) so of course be smart and pay attention to your body, if you're heart start fluttering, ears start popping for no reason, etc you could have too much caffeine, just be smart.0
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It's not the coffee you need to be mindful of but what you add into it. The calories can add up pretty quick, especially when you start looking at something like the gingerbread latte you enjoy. When I started logging I found that my favorite drink from the coffee shop was over 500 calories. Since I was having those several times a week it was easy to see why I was gaining weight.
I still enjoy my daily black coffee but I cut back on the fun coffee drinks to twice a month.0 -
alienws1998 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »alienws1998 wrote: »I drink coffee (and energy) drinks in massive quantity, I've lost almost 20 pounds in 2 months. So no you do not have to give it up. As for the articles, quit reading them. Science and medicine changes all the time, look at eggs and butter? In the late 70s & early 80s, eggs and butter were looked at as evil. Black coffee is only like 50 calories a cup and no carbs, so watch the stuff you put in it (sugar, creamers etc) and you'll be fine. Hit me up if you want the bpc recipe I use, it tastes great and is better for you than commercial creamers or the overpriced crap you get at Starbucks.
Hopefully not coffee and energy drinks in "massive quantities" reputable sources will tell you to limit caffeine to 400 mg a day
4-6 Monsters/RockStars (the low carb ones that only have 2-6 carbs per can) plus 3 or 4 cups of coffee
Yeah you're over the 400 mg of caffeine, not a good place to be.0 -
youngmomtaz wrote: »I am an odd duck as I only started to "make time" for coffee once in my 30s. I now have between 0-3 cups a day depending on if I feel like making it or not. My 12yo started loving coffee when he was 10. I limit him to 1-2 cups but it seems to focus his (undiagnosed) ADD tendencies, and it also seems to work with his asthma medications in a positive way.
Funny story: I bought a used espresso machine and taught him how to use it. It makes fairly decent shots. I was really hoping he would use his newfound skills to bring me my first cup on Saturday mornings. Haha! I got home from work one day during summer vacay to find he had mowed, weedwacked, dusted, run the dishwasher, organized his brothers into some jobs, and was looking for more to do. We had to have a big talk about keeping his espresso practice making to the morning hours, and only one cup a day. He had had 3!
Glad you had the discussion. Wouldn't have been too funny if he had ended up in the ER or morgue from too much caffeine.1 -
Packerjohn wrote: »youngmomtaz wrote: »I am an odd duck as I only started to "make time" for coffee once in my 30s. I now have between 0-3 cups a day depending on if I feel like making it or not. My 12yo started loving coffee when he was 10. I limit him to 1-2 cups but it seems to focus his (undiagnosed) ADD tendencies, and it also seems to work with his asthma medications in a positive way.
Funny story: I bought a used espresso machine and taught him how to use it. It makes fairly decent shots. I was really hoping he would use his newfound skills to bring me my first cup on Saturday mornings. Haha! I got home from work one day during summer vacay to find he had mowed, weedwacked, dusted, run the dishwasher, organized his brothers into some jobs, and was looking for more to do. We had to have a big talk about keeping his espresso practice making to the morning hours, and only one cup a day. He had had 3!
Glad you had the discussion. Wouldn't have been too funny if he had ended up in the ER or morgue from too much caffeine.Packerjohn wrote: »alienws1998 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »alienws1998 wrote: »I drink coffee (and energy) drinks in massive quantity, I've lost almost 20 pounds in 2 months. So no you do not have to give it up. As for the articles, quit reading them. Science and medicine changes all the time, look at eggs and butter? In the late 70s & early 80s, eggs and butter were looked at as evil. Black coffee is only like 50 calories a cup and no carbs, so watch the stuff you put in it (sugar, creamers etc) and you'll be fine. Hit me up if you want the bpc recipe I use, it tastes great and is better for you than commercial creamers or the overpriced crap you get at Starbucks.
Hopefully not coffee and energy drinks in "massive quantities" reputable sources will tell you to limit caffeine to 400 mg a day
4-6 Monsters/RockStars (the low carb ones that only have 2-6 carbs per can) plus 3 or 4 cups of coffee
Yeah you're over the 400 mg of caffeine, not a good place to be.alienws1998 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »alienws1998 wrote: »I drink coffee (and energy) drinks in massive quantity, I've lost almost 20 pounds in 2 months. So no you do not have to give it up. As for the articles, quit reading them. Science and medicine changes all the time, look at eggs and butter? In the late 70s & early 80s, eggs and butter were looked at as evil. Black coffee is only like 50 calories a cup and no carbs, so watch the stuff you put in it (sugar, creamers etc) and you'll be fine. Hit me up if you want the bpc recipe I use, it tastes great and is better for you than commercial creamers or the overpriced crap you get at Starbucks.
Hopefully not coffee and energy drinks in "massive quantities" reputable sources will tell you to limit caffeine to 400 mg a day
4-6 Monsters/RockStars (the low carb ones that only have 2-6 carbs per can) plus 3 or 4 cups of coffee
Yeah--you might want to talk to a doctor about that--you can actually overdose on caffeine and it can kill you.
Where are you guys getting your numbers from? Because the LD50 for caffeine (the amount that would be considered lethal for 50% of adults), is 150 to 200mg of caffeine per kg of bodyweight. Which is upwards of 70 cups of coffee for a 70kg adult.
Caffeine intoxication is considered ingesting more than 400mg of caffeine at a time. I don't think anyone here is saying they're drinking that much all at once.6 -
Packerjohn wrote: »youngmomtaz wrote: »I am an odd duck as I only started to "make time" for coffee once in my 30s. I now have between 0-3 cups a day depending on if I feel like making it or not. My 12yo started loving coffee when he was 10. I limit him to 1-2 cups but it seems to focus his (undiagnosed) ADD tendencies, and it also seems to work with his asthma medications in a positive way.
Funny story: I bought a used espresso machine and taught him how to use it. It makes fairly decent shots. I was really hoping he would use his newfound skills to bring me my first cup on Saturday mornings. Haha! I got home from work one day during summer vacay to find he had mowed, weedwacked, dusted, run the dishwasher, organized his brothers into some jobs, and was looking for more to do. We had to have a big talk about keeping his espresso practice making to the morning hours, and only one cup a day. He had had 3!
Glad you had the discussion. Wouldn't have been too funny if he had ended up in the ER or morgue from too much caffeine.Packerjohn wrote: »alienws1998 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »alienws1998 wrote: »I drink coffee (and energy) drinks in massive quantity, I've lost almost 20 pounds in 2 months. So no you do not have to give it up. As for the articles, quit reading them. Science and medicine changes all the time, look at eggs and butter? In the late 70s & early 80s, eggs and butter were looked at as evil. Black coffee is only like 50 calories a cup and no carbs, so watch the stuff you put in it (sugar, creamers etc) and you'll be fine. Hit me up if you want the bpc recipe I use, it tastes great and is better for you than commercial creamers or the overpriced crap you get at Starbucks.
Hopefully not coffee and energy drinks in "massive quantities" reputable sources will tell you to limit caffeine to 400 mg a day
4-6 Monsters/RockStars (the low carb ones that only have 2-6 carbs per can) plus 3 or 4 cups of coffee
Yeah you're over the 400 mg of caffeine, not a good place to be.alienws1998 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »alienws1998 wrote: »I drink coffee (and energy) drinks in massive quantity, I've lost almost 20 pounds in 2 months. So no you do not have to give it up. As for the articles, quit reading them. Science and medicine changes all the time, look at eggs and butter? In the late 70s & early 80s, eggs and butter were looked at as evil. Black coffee is only like 50 calories a cup and no carbs, so watch the stuff you put in it (sugar, creamers etc) and you'll be fine. Hit me up if you want the bpc recipe I use, it tastes great and is better for you than commercial creamers or the overpriced crap you get at Starbucks.
Hopefully not coffee and energy drinks in "massive quantities" reputable sources will tell you to limit caffeine to 400 mg a day
4-6 Monsters/RockStars (the low carb ones that only have 2-6 carbs per can) plus 3 or 4 cups of coffee
Yeah--you might want to talk to a doctor about that--you can actually overdose on caffeine and it can kill you.
Where are you guys getting your numbers from? Because the LD50 for caffeine (the amount that would be considered lethal for 50% of adults), is 150 to 200mg of caffeine per kg of bodyweight. Which is upwards of 70 cups of coffee for a 70kg adult.
Caffeine intoxication is considered ingesting more than 400mg of caffeine at a time. I don't think anyone here is saying they're drinking that much all at once.
Mayo Clinic. 400 mg per day.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/caffeine/art-200456780 -
Packerjohn wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »youngmomtaz wrote: »I am an odd duck as I only started to "make time" for coffee once in my 30s. I now have between 0-3 cups a day depending on if I feel like making it or not. My 12yo started loving coffee when he was 10. I limit him to 1-2 cups but it seems to focus his (undiagnosed) ADD tendencies, and it also seems to work with his asthma medications in a positive way.
Funny story: I bought a used espresso machine and taught him how to use it. It makes fairly decent shots. I was really hoping he would use his newfound skills to bring me my first cup on Saturday mornings. Haha! I got home from work one day during summer vacay to find he had mowed, weedwacked, dusted, run the dishwasher, organized his brothers into some jobs, and was looking for more to do. We had to have a big talk about keeping his espresso practice making to the morning hours, and only one cup a day. He had had 3!
Glad you had the discussion. Wouldn't have been too funny if he had ended up in the ER or morgue from too much caffeine.Packerjohn wrote: »alienws1998 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »alienws1998 wrote: »I drink coffee (and energy) drinks in massive quantity, I've lost almost 20 pounds in 2 months. So no you do not have to give it up. As for the articles, quit reading them. Science and medicine changes all the time, look at eggs and butter? In the late 70s & early 80s, eggs and butter were looked at as evil. Black coffee is only like 50 calories a cup and no carbs, so watch the stuff you put in it (sugar, creamers etc) and you'll be fine. Hit me up if you want the bpc recipe I use, it tastes great and is better for you than commercial creamers or the overpriced crap you get at Starbucks.
Hopefully not coffee and energy drinks in "massive quantities" reputable sources will tell you to limit caffeine to 400 mg a day
4-6 Monsters/RockStars (the low carb ones that only have 2-6 carbs per can) plus 3 or 4 cups of coffee
Yeah you're over the 400 mg of caffeine, not a good place to be.alienws1998 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »alienws1998 wrote: »I drink coffee (and energy) drinks in massive quantity, I've lost almost 20 pounds in 2 months. So no you do not have to give it up. As for the articles, quit reading them. Science and medicine changes all the time, look at eggs and butter? In the late 70s & early 80s, eggs and butter were looked at as evil. Black coffee is only like 50 calories a cup and no carbs, so watch the stuff you put in it (sugar, creamers etc) and you'll be fine. Hit me up if you want the bpc recipe I use, it tastes great and is better for you than commercial creamers or the overpriced crap you get at Starbucks.
Hopefully not coffee and energy drinks in "massive quantities" reputable sources will tell you to limit caffeine to 400 mg a day
4-6 Monsters/RockStars (the low carb ones that only have 2-6 carbs per can) plus 3 or 4 cups of coffee
Yeah--you might want to talk to a doctor about that--you can actually overdose on caffeine and it can kill you.
Where are you guys getting your numbers from? Because the LD50 for caffeine (the amount that would be considered lethal for 50% of adults), is 150 to 200mg of caffeine per kg of bodyweight. Which is upwards of 70 cups of coffee for a 70kg adult.
Caffeine intoxication is considered ingesting more than 400mg of caffeine at a time. I don't think anyone here is saying they're drinking that much all at once.
Mayo Clinic. 400 mg per day.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/caffeine/art-20045678
That's a safe limit, and more power to you if you want to stay within it, but I didn't see any sources cited on their site. I found this one when I was looking up the LD50:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1552-4604.1967.tb00034.x/abstract
ETA: I just saw where they cited their sources. I'm reading though some of them when I get a chance.
ETA2: I've read the first three sources cited on that mayo clinic page. The first talks about how studies were done on people drinking 600 - 1000mg of caffeine per day, with no adverse health effects. In fact, that publication says that a review was published stating that routine daily consumption of up to 1000mg/day of caffeine posed no risks to human health. It was published in 2007, so a bit more recent than the one I posted. The other two of the top three references were an "expert opinion" from someone at the Mayo Clinic with no text to read, and a "natural database" website.
So the Mayo Clinic page cited a published, peer-reviewed article that blatantly disproves what they're stating.1 -
Packerjohn wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »youngmomtaz wrote: »I am an odd duck as I only started to "make time" for coffee once in my 30s. I now have between 0-3 cups a day depending on if I feel like making it or not. My 12yo started loving coffee when he was 10. I limit him to 1-2 cups but it seems to focus his (undiagnosed) ADD tendencies, and it also seems to work with his asthma medications in a positive way.
Funny story: I bought a used espresso machine and taught him how to use it. It makes fairly decent shots. I was really hoping he would use his newfound skills to bring me my first cup on Saturday mornings. Haha! I got home from work one day during summer vacay to find he had mowed, weedwacked, dusted, run the dishwasher, organized his brothers into some jobs, and was looking for more to do. We had to have a big talk about keeping his espresso practice making to the morning hours, and only one cup a day. He had had 3!
Glad you had the discussion. Wouldn't have been too funny if he had ended up in the ER or morgue from too much caffeine.Packerjohn wrote: »alienws1998 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »alienws1998 wrote: »I drink coffee (and energy) drinks in massive quantity, I've lost almost 20 pounds in 2 months. So no you do not have to give it up. As for the articles, quit reading them. Science and medicine changes all the time, look at eggs and butter? In the late 70s & early 80s, eggs and butter were looked at as evil. Black coffee is only like 50 calories a cup and no carbs, so watch the stuff you put in it (sugar, creamers etc) and you'll be fine. Hit me up if you want the bpc recipe I use, it tastes great and is better for you than commercial creamers or the overpriced crap you get at Starbucks.
Hopefully not coffee and energy drinks in "massive quantities" reputable sources will tell you to limit caffeine to 400 mg a day
4-6 Monsters/RockStars (the low carb ones that only have 2-6 carbs per can) plus 3 or 4 cups of coffee
Yeah you're over the 400 mg of caffeine, not a good place to be.alienws1998 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »alienws1998 wrote: »I drink coffee (and energy) drinks in massive quantity, I've lost almost 20 pounds in 2 months. So no you do not have to give it up. As for the articles, quit reading them. Science and medicine changes all the time, look at eggs and butter? In the late 70s & early 80s, eggs and butter were looked at as evil. Black coffee is only like 50 calories a cup and no carbs, so watch the stuff you put in it (sugar, creamers etc) and you'll be fine. Hit me up if you want the bpc recipe I use, it tastes great and is better for you than commercial creamers or the overpriced crap you get at Starbucks.
Hopefully not coffee and energy drinks in "massive quantities" reputable sources will tell you to limit caffeine to 400 mg a day
4-6 Monsters/RockStars (the low carb ones that only have 2-6 carbs per can) plus 3 or 4 cups of coffee
Yeah--you might want to talk to a doctor about that--you can actually overdose on caffeine and it can kill you.
Where are you guys getting your numbers from? Because the LD50 for caffeine (the amount that would be considered lethal for 50% of adults), is 150 to 200mg of caffeine per kg of bodyweight. Which is upwards of 70 cups of coffee for a 70kg adult.
Caffeine intoxication is considered ingesting more than 400mg of caffeine at a time. I don't think anyone here is saying they're drinking that much all at once.
Mayo Clinic. 400 mg per day.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/caffeine/art-20045678
There's a vast gulf between an amount of coffee that might give you the jitters and a rotten night's sleep and a dose that is likely to be fatal in 50% of the population!2
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