Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Effects of Coffee on Your Health

Coffee has indeed never lost its popularity and is still one of the world’s favorite drinks. There is even now what we call instant coffee so you can enjoy coffee anytime and anywhere without the need to grind the coffee beans and brew them. Canned cold coffee is readily available and whether coffee beans, coffee mugs, or any coffee-related item, these are now popularly being given as gifts or as favors such as coffee wedding favors. You can often hear people say that coffee is their daily morning fix, however, there are dangers when you drink too much coffee all the time.

While coffee seems to induce energy and make you feel mentally and physically alert, it is not really an energy boost from the body. Rather it is just a trick that the chemicals do. The chemicals produced through the caffeine intake causes stimulation only of the body. When the body feels this, it signals the body and brain to a stress response mode. As you may know, people take coffee to wake themselves up in the morning. But because this is a stress response, the body and brain acts as if it is responding to a fight or flight situation making the heart beat faster and triggering the alertness of the brain. When the body is continuously exposed to too much of this during the day, eventually fatigue and mood swings might set in.

Caffeine also interrupts a person’s sleeping pattern. Because of the caffeine that makes the heart and body race, the body will be restless and may have difficulty relaxing and preparing itself for sleep. Increasing doses of caffeine and coffee may be required eventually by those who abuse coffee intake. Just like any other prohibited or illegal drugs, a cup of coffee or a shot of espresso may not give the person the same effect over time. Consequently, more and more coffee and caffeine doses may be required.

Also, just like any other case of addiction, stopping or lessening intake of caffeine may make the person experience headache or nausea. These withdrawal symptoms may be experienced for the first few weeks during withdrawal.

Just like anything in life, moderation and control is key to everything. Caffeine, as well as sugar, syrups or other additives in coffee will indeed be harmful is you consume them too much or too often.

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