Personally I love coffee, and have found it to be both a delicious drink and a great tool to get the most out of myself for training. It is one of the most drunk beverages in the world, and despite a huge amount of negative press from our media, consumption continues to rise.
Is this a bad thing? Or is coffee drinking actually something which people can both enjoy and benefit from?
Is this a bad thing? Or is coffee drinking actually something which people can both enjoy and benefit from?
Last year a study was published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, relating to coffee and it relationship to all cause mortality. They took a large cohort of people and then looked at the impact drinking coffee had on their likelihood of dying. After eliminating other factors which could confound the findings their conclusion sounded like this:
"In summary, this large prospective cohort study showed significant inverse associations of coffee consumption with deaths from all causes and specifically with deaths due to heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes, and infections. Our results provide reassurance with respect to the concern that coffee drinking might adversely affect health."
Basically, drinking coffee seems to be linked with morbidity free longevity. Great news.
The reasons suggested for these effects are the caffeine within the coffee and potentially the antioxidant properties of the drink, in the form of polyphenols.
However coffee isn't all sunshine and rainbows, because there are numerous side effects of the acute impact that coffee has on the body. For example, caffeine stimulates the nervous system causing the adrenal glands to release stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol.
Picture this; stress hormones cause the body to release energy into the blood stream in the form of fat and carbohydrate. This is so there is enough available fuel to deal with the stressor or run away. Theoretically this is good if you want to lose weight, because it mobilises the stored energy reserves and elevates your resting metabolism.
So far so good...
On the other hand these same stress hormones and their subsequent energy release into the blood reduces insulin sensitivity long term. So if you are either a regular caffeine drinker, live stressful lifestyle or have a poor diet, coffee may in fact be hindering your body composition goals.
Also, do you ever feel the need to drink caffeine post workout? Well consuming coffee after exercise prevents your body from changing to the anabolic state necessary to adapt to your training, again all down to the stress hormones.
Whether or not drinking coffee helps to improve body composition is up for debate. However, if your goal is long term health the take home message is that in moderation and accompanying a healthy lifestyle, coffee is something you should consider including in your diet.
Picture this; stress hormones cause the body to release energy into the blood stream in the form of fat and carbohydrate. This is so there is enough available fuel to deal with the stressor or run away. Theoretically this is good if you want to lose weight, because it mobilises the stored energy reserves and elevates your resting metabolism.
So far so good...
On the other hand these same stress hormones and their subsequent energy release into the blood reduces insulin sensitivity long term. So if you are either a regular caffeine drinker, live stressful lifestyle or have a poor diet, coffee may in fact be hindering your body composition goals.
Also, do you ever feel the need to drink caffeine post workout? Well consuming coffee after exercise prevents your body from changing to the anabolic state necessary to adapt to your training, again all down to the stress hormones.
Whether or not drinking coffee helps to improve body composition is up for debate. However, if your goal is long term health the take home message is that in moderation and accompanying a healthy lifestyle, coffee is something you should consider including in your diet.
UK Coffee Week™ is the nation’s biggest celebration of coffee. It provides an opportunity for the coffee and food service industry to unite while raising money for Project Waterfall, the charity providing vital clean water projects in African coffee-growing countries in partnership with WaterAid.
No comments:
Post a Comment