For years we have written about the many, many health benefits of drinking coffee. All in all, aside from waking you up and keeping you awake, coffee does not have any immediate health benefits but rather functions as a preventative agent much like when folks take pills to control their high blood pressure or reduce their cholesterol. The point is not that there is an immediate risk to health but rather that one is taking meds to prevent long term complications such as strokes and heart attacks. Thus we can think of coffee as a preventative medicine as well as a favorite beverage.
Preventative Aspects of Drinking Coffee
Long term studies have shown that coffee drinkers have lower risks of mental decline or failing, neurologic decline and chronic diseases like type II diabetes. The incidence of chronic kidney and liver diseases are lower in coffee drinkers than in those who do not drink coffee. Both Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease are less common in folks who drink coffee versus those who do not. One’s overall risk of cancer is lower if one is a coffee drinker although this applies to specific cancers such as melanoma and cancers of the endometrium, prostate, colon, mouth and pharynx as opposed to cancer in general. The risk reduction from type II diabetes to neurodegenerative diseases to cancers starts with a single cup of coffee and day and increases with each cup that one drinks. The benefits also tend to level off around six cups a day so that one does not need to experience the “buzz” of excessive caffeine in order to get the benefits of coffee as a preventive medicine.
Coffee and Lifestyle
Stanford University published an interesting article about coffee as a lifestyle medicine. They note that psychological effects of preparing coffee can be quite positive which, we note, can lead to lower stress levels, lower blood pressure, and less heart disease. Although we have written about the role of coffee antioxidants in health, it is a good idea to note that simply enjoying the process of preparing or getting your coffee at your local coffee shop and enjoying a social moment as you drink your coffee can be one of the healthy aspects of drinking coffee in addition to the physical or physiological aspects of coffee and your long term health.
Can You Stop Your Other Medications if You Are Drinking Coffee?
Although drinking coffee has a lot of long term health benefits one should not stop any of their medications for pre diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure or any other conditions. Medications like statins for high cholesterol work specifically to lower one’s cholesterol and have been shown help prevent heart and cardiovascular complications in all subjects including coffee drinkers and folks who do not drink coffee. Meds like statins and those taken for prediabetes work by very specific and targeted pathways to accomplish their goals. The exact ways that coffee works to reduce the incidence of heart disease, type II diabetes or various types of cancer are not known for certain. The belief of experts is that the antioxidants in coffee are responsible for reducing inflammation and thus producing positive long term health effects. Never stop taking any of you prescribed medications without consulting your physician! To the extent that coffee acts as a preventative medicine, take advantage of the this benefit while you enjoy your daily cup or cups of coffee.