Do I have to give up coffee completely?
tumsbums
Posts: 32 Member
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
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
3
Replies
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I've never heard any of those things. They sound like a bunch of scare articles in one of those celebrity magazines that spout all sorts of nonsense about weight and health.
If you don't have a bad reaction to caffeine (my mom gets heart palpitations when she drinks anything caffeine heavy, so she avoids coffee), then go ahead and drink it. Everything in moderation.22 -
You need to stop reading bad articles. You absolutely do not have to give up coffee.30
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Nope, you don't have to give up anything you don't want to. All about moderation. I still have 3-4 cups a day with 1 sugar and whole milk. Lost 35kg so far7
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AHHHHHHHHHH!!! I drink a cup of coffee to end my night, everyday and I am down 31 lbs in 50 days. If I had to give up coffee, I'd take my ball and go home.11
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Nope, don't give it up. There is research every single day pointing to the health BENEFITS of coffee. It is always back and forth with coffee. I have concluded it is fine for you lol.10
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No. Coffee is good.0
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Susieq_1994 wrote: »I've never heard any of those things. They sound like a bunch of scare articles in one of those celebrity magazines that spout all sorts of nonsense about weight and health.
Everything in moderation.
All of this. Don't get information about health, fitness, nutrition or medical conditions from magazines, websites with clickbait titles or that host a bunch of advertising infographics, the FoodBabe, Pinterest, or WebMd.
8 -
Alatariel75 wrote: »You need to stop reading bad articles. You absolutely do not have to give up coffee.
This right here ^^
You are reading junk articles with no basis in science.
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Stop reading trash "health" websites.5
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Enjoy your coffee! Log it like anything else and move on with your day. If you believed everything you read then you wouldn't eat because everything, according to "research" gives you cancer.4
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Ignore all that crap. It is BS and click bait. Drink your coffee and don't read silly stuff.0
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Pfft. When I first started dieting I was told to give up coffee and the weight would come off faster. I didn't question it and dropped it for the longest time along with soda. It worked, but I found that the problem wasn't coffee, it was the ton of processed sugar and creamers I was using that I wasn't logging. Now I drink it black with stevia for sweetener, and find it beneficial still. I drink it less, because honestly I like the creamers and sugar, but this way it's an energy boost and has 0 calories. Helps me keep my metabolism going. However, I still don't drink it past noon each day, because if I do, I won't sleep at night.5
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Well, everyone in this thread is already dead...
And a lot of health articles are now recommending caffeine, so your click-bait articles seem outdated compared to the ones I'm currently seeing on FB.3 -
Shoot. I only gave up coffee because of the fat and calories in my creamer...and the massive reflux I got. Then, I found those Powerful Yogurt mocha double espresso drinks. Love them! Tastes like one of those Starbucks Frappuccinos in the store, has 170 MG caffeine and 2q g protein per 12 ounces. So yummy! Plus, no heartburn. Love it!!
I would probably die and take a few people with me if I had to give up coffee forever.1 -
Many sources suggest 400 mg of caffeine a day from all sources should be a safe upper limit for most adults.
Sample article:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/caffeine/art-200456781 -
Frankly, you can pry my morning coffee out of my cold dead hands.6
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Spliner1969 wrote: »Pfft. When I first started dieting I was told to give up coffee and the weight would come off faster. I didn't question it and dropped it for the longest time along with soda. It worked, but I found that the problem wasn't coffee, it was the ton of processed sugar and creamers I was using that I wasn't logging. Now I drink it black with stevia for sweetener, and find it beneficial still. I drink it less, because honestly I like the creamers and sugar, but this way it's an energy boost and has 0 calories. Helps me keep my metabolism going. However, I still don't drink it past noon each day, because if I do, I won't sleep at night.
Do you find that stevia has a terrible after taste? I drink my coffee black, but popped some stevia in my Americano once and had to dump it, it was so vile!0 -
I drink coffee every day.
You cannot trust everything you read on the internet.
-Abraham Lincoln, Spanish American War, of 181214 -
Heck no! Coffee is a great tool in the weight loss arsenal. Might wanna watch the cream and sugar.2
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Coffee is fine, at like 5 calories a cup there is no reason to give it up if you ask me. It's not the coffee itself that is the problem it's what people add to it that could cause an issue.3
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*Sips grande skinny vanilla latte* No enjoy your coffee. skip the sugary add ons bc they add up.4
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Coffee actually has quite a bit of nutritional value. Excessive caffeine isn't good for you, but a moderate amount of caffeine isn't a biggie either.
Take these kinds of articles with a huge grain of salt...even ones that are written on studies often misinterpret those studies or cherry pick certain things from those studies to make for more sensationalized reading and thus more sales.
Your best bet is to look at actual studies and not articles.2 -
Nope! I drink coffee shamelessly almost everyday. Coffee itself usually has 0-5 calories, it's the add-ins that are bad. There are tons of hacks that can make a lower-sugar coffee taste delicious though. Try out a cold brew + coconut or skim milk with a few pumps of sugar-free syrup (vanilla or cinnamon dulce) at Starbuck's or a couple pumps of the unsweetened flavor shots (15 cals each at Dunkin' Donuts - they have endless flavors!). To "fake" a latte, get an Americano with an extra shot of espresso, no water and extra skim + flavor. Little to no cals, all the flavor and caffeine.3
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Spliner1969 wrote: »Pfft. When I first started dieting I was told to give up coffee and the weight would come off faster. I didn't question it and dropped it for the longest time along with soda. It worked, but I found that the problem wasn't coffee, it was the ton of processed sugar and creamers I was using that I wasn't logging. Now I drink it black with stevia for sweetener, and find it beneficial still. I drink it less, because honestly I like the creamers and sugar, but this way it's an energy boost and has 0 calories. Helps me keep my metabolism going. However, I still don't drink it past noon each day, because if I do, I won't sleep at night.
Do you find that stevia has a terrible after taste? I drink my coffee black, but popped some stevia in my Americano once and had to dump it, it was so vile!
I can't use Stevia for that reason. (And I've pinpointed it as something that may be giving me headaches). I tried Truvia in a cup of coffee once, and it had a horrible aftertaste and also kind of made my mouth tingle. For a moment, I was worried that maybe someone had left some kind of cleaning fluid in our coffeemaker.2 -
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I actually started drinking more coffee when I started to cut down calories, I switched from tea with milk and sugar to black coffee to save calories.
Moderate caffeine is actually good for you, up to about four cups is benificial to your health (obviously barring any medical conditions).1 -
Giving up coffee?
Haha. Hahaha. hahahahahahaHAHAHA
I'm a chemistry grad student. When I defend my dissertation, I'm putting coffee on my acknowledgements list, and that's not even a joke.
ETA: As a chemist, I can tell you that caffeine is not bad for you unless you have some type of sensitivity to it. Or if you manage to exceed the acceptable amount of ingestion, which is a lot of caffeine. In my massive amount of coffee drinking, I never even manage to come close to the limit.23 -
What. Please.... no. Just have a cup or two and be happy. I have been drinking coffee since I was a young child. Why they gave me coffee that young is beyond me. But here I am. Still living.1
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http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/coffee-new-health-food#1
A growing body of research shows that coffee drinkers, compared to nondrinkers, are:
less likely to have type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and dementia
have fewer cases of certain cancers, heart rhythm problems, and strokes
"The vast majority of those studies have shown a benefit of coffee on the prevention of diabetes. And now there is also evidence that decaffeinated coffee may have the same benefit as regular coffee,” Hu tells WebMD.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/drink-up-health-benefits-of-coffee-are-numerous/
Your morning cup of coffee provides more than a jolt of caffeine—it can also have significant health benefits. A September 28, 2015 Harvard Gazette article highlighted several studies by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers illustrating the positive effects of coffee. One study, led by Alberto Ascherio, professor of epidemiology and nutrition, showed that drinking four or five cups of coffee daily cut risk of Parkinson’s disease nearly in half compared with drinking little or no caffeine.
The benefits of coffee are wide-ranging—from protecting against type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease to lowering rates of depression among women.5
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