Coffee Debate!

XFitMojoMom

I recently learned this from a distance coach I am working with. We were looking at how caffeine is beneficial to you health - and the different types of caffeine.

Caffeine increases both the rate and pumping power of the heart. While this might be good during exercise, you can imagine that chronically causing our heart to beat faster and harder than normal is not really a good thing.:indifferent:

However, there are certain compounds in coffee, notably caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid that function as antioxidant, which protect the heart.:drinker:

Therefore, if you are someone who rapidly breaks down the caffeine, your body gets rid of the stressful stuff and derives the benefits of the antioxidants - making coffee a healthy beverage for you. If, however, you are a slow metabolizer, your body will be subjected to the more harmful effects of longer exposure to caffeine, increasing your risk of a heart attack. This makes caffeinated beverages a poor choice for slow metabolizers.

As usual, we see that it's next to impossible to label a food or supplement as universally good or universally bad, it really depends on your individual response to it. Sadly, figuring out whether you are a fast or slow metabolizer of caffeine is still only possible through a DNA test, so it's good practice to limit caffeine from all sources to less than 400 mg/day.

Incidentally, coffee is the #1 source of antioxidants in the average North American's diet. Not because it is exceptionally high in anti-oxidants, but rather because we consume so few fruits and vegetables, but consume large amounts of coffee!

leavinglasvegas

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Therefore, if you are someone who rapidly breaks down the caffeine, your body gets rid of the stressful stuff and derives the benefits of the antioxidants - making coffee a healthy beverage for you. If, however, you are a slow metabolizer, your body will be subjected to the more harmful effects of longer exposure to caffeine, increasing your risk of a heart attack. This makes caffeinated beverages a poor choice for slow metabolizers.

You know what! This makes sense as to why I couldn't tolerate it before I got my metabloism back in order! And now, I can totally handle it without feeling like I'm going to go crazy and my heart is going to explode. I always thought the caffiene would help me feel less fatigued, but it made me crazy. Then I started treatment with the endocrinologist and 6 months later, I have no troubles. I was off of it for quite a while of course, but this makes perfect sense.

Thanks for that insight Mojo!

hellokatee

I LOVE COFFEE! Before I started in on my diet I was an obsessive espresso drinker. Not just espresso, my friends... A 24 oz. quad shot espresso with three flavors (I always went sugar free, which is not much of a consolation) and half n' half. Is that sick or what? When I was first trying to loose weight I cut the size down but then I realized that one espresso a day was literally stopping any weight loss by adding 500 (Yes, 500!) calories to my diet. If I factored that in to my food diary, I could barely eat!

I have now switched to brewed coffee. I drink two or three cups in the morning. I use a small dash of sugar free hazelnut creamer and half a packet of Splenda in mine. The amount of calories consumed in these two cups is dramatically different from those consumed in my espresso. For me it is a huge step to let that go, but I do drink a ton of water to make up for the dehydration the caffiene causes. I also try to get my workout in BEFORE I drink my coffee in the morning. Then I work all day and exercise again when it has worn off.

I happen to be one of those people that is LESS hungry when I drink coffee. Sometimes the coffee will stop me from eating in the morning completely, which is something I have been battling. I have been eating something small before I drink it to counteract that. I love to hear other people's coffee stories, because I am a coffee NUT! If you like coffee, I like you! Add me and we can be coffee buddies!

futty

Has anyone been reading that too much caffeine reduces your fertility rates by 50%. It has been in the papers recently. Instant coffee contains roughly 57mg of caffeine. Whereas restaurant coffee can have as much as 350mg.
300mg reduces fertility by 27% and obviously even more, the more you drink. I have no idea if this is true. I'm hoping not!!!

Jovialation

I could never give up my coffee. I love it so so much. Sometimes I add sugar and I know that can add up terribly, but I adore my sugar. =\
I drink 2-4 cups a day...but I also drink 10-14 cups of water a day.
I figure it cant be that bad, but Im always on and off the diet/exercise wagon. Im so inconsistent.

sweetoblivion314

If you feel that you could not go without coffee then that means that you should. Addiction to anything is bad even if it can be healthy (I used to be addicted to caffeine when I drank up to 16 cups of black tea a day). So stop debating on it's health merits and stop drinking it for a while until you drink it for enjoyment not because you need it.

Yurippe

This thread got me jonesing for coffee so I went to Starbucks. Instead of getting something that I've had before and know is delicious I got a Venti Skinny Iced Latte w/ sugar free cinnamon dolce syrup. It was damn nasty and I threw it out after drinking about 1/3 of it.

Don't experiment at Starbucks! The last time I tried something new I got a chocolate truffle mocha. It was so savory that it tasted like a hot meat flavored drink. Gag. :sick:

godblessourhome

Therefore, if you are someone who rapidly breaks down the caffeine, your body gets rid of the stressful stuff and derives the benefits of the antioxidants - making coffee a healthy beverage for you. If, however, you are a slow metabolizer, your body will be subjected to the more harmful effects of longer exposure to caffeine, increasing your risk of a heart attack. This makes caffeinated beverages a poor choice for slow metabolizers.

As usual, we see that it's next to impossible to label a food or supplement as universally good or universally bad, it really depends on your individual response to it. Sadly, figuring out whether you are a fast or slow metabolizer of caffeine is still only possible through a DNA test, so it's good practice to limit caffeine from all sources to less than 400 mg/day.

Incidentally, coffee is the #1 source of antioxidants in the average North American's diet. Not because it is exceptionally high in anti-oxidants, but rather because we consume so few fruits and vegetables, but consume large amounts of coffee!

i am not a coffee drinker, but this is really interesting!

coffeegirl1998

As you can tell by my user ID, I LOVE coffee. I even work for a coffee manufacturer! I can drink coffee morning, noon, and night without the heart jumping out of the chest feeling...but I have known people that couldn't, so the MFPer with the metobolic story would help explain that!

i know that there are many benefits from coffee, but as many have said before, in moderation.

:drinker: Now off for another cup!

SraArroz

I can't handle caffeine really well, it makes my heart beat fast and it freaks me out. :noway: But I do love decaf coffee. It has just enough caffeine in it that makes me not as hungry during the day. I make a travel cup (about 16 oz) in the morning with sun crystals and fat free half and half and take it with me to the office and sip on it throughout the day. I love it. It keeps me from munching while I'm at my desk. My hubby loves coffee, so today we just bought a keurig. I'm in love with it already. LOL

lilmissy2

It depends on the reason for needing to avoid it. I agree that the dehydration thing is a myth. Also, as the OP pointed out, just because you drink coffee doesn't mean you also don't drink a load of water.

Caffeine has been shown to very slightly increase metabolism (but not enough to warrant starting to drink it if you dont already) and suppress appetite. I try not to drink much coffee since I saw the research on sleep habits and have to admit, I am much less tired than I used to be.

Basically, it's really absolute rubbish that if you drink coffee before bed it will keep you up BUT no matter what time during the day you have caffeine, it will affect your sleep. ie you won't be able to reach the same depths of sleep as people who don't have caffeine so you wake up feeling tired (and then have some coffee... vicious cycle haha). This will of course have more of an effect with the more caffeine you have.

Of course, everyone has their priorities and I'm not saying you shouldn't have it. I love my hot milky drinks (especially in icky British weather)... I try to have mostly tea, since it has about half the caffeine of instant coffee.

EmmyBee

OK so I know I'm late in replying to this thread, but thought I'd chime in too since I'm a coffee lover as well. I worked as a barista in a small town coffee shop that served only organic fair-trade coffee for 4 years. That probably makes me a "coffee snob" as some might say :laugh:

I am no expert, but I think drinking coffee will not inhibit your weight loss. It's all the junk people put in their coffee that makes it unhealthy. Stay away from any sugary syrups, they destroy the flavor anyway! I've been drinking a shot or two of Italian espresso in the morning with about 1/4 tsp sugar for a teeny tiny bit of sweetness, and I still get that great coffee taste I love! You can do the same with brewed American coffee and sparingly add your milk/sweeteners and enjoy that delicious morning cup :drinker: