Coffee: Good or Bad for Me? (1 Viewer)

[Phil_L]

I have been drinking alot of coffee lately. I use skim milk and sugar substitute. Is alot of coffee bad for you, aside from the obvious side effects of caffeine?

 

[Garrett Lundy]

According to the ADA coffee will stain your teeth and eventually eat-away your tooth enamel

 

[mark alan]

without continuous coffee intake, I would fall over into a coma, so I would say that coffee is good for you.

 

[Drew Bethel]

I know it's bad for me so I drink Red Bull instead!

 

[Jeff Gatie]

The AMA says in moderation it is not good for you, but not bad either. There was a study a few years back that said it caused heart problems, but they stupidly forgot to screen the participants for smoking and other factors.

 

[Chuck_W]

http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_...ealth_risk.htm

 

[Phil_L]

Good find Chuck, thanks! On my way to Starbucks.....

 

[Scott L]

I dunno why but when I load up on sugar, particularly from Starbucks' menu, I get bad chest pains. Feels like an artery in my right side is being blocked. Sound like diabetes or something? (sorry to go off topic but I believe my health is more important than yours)

 

[John Alvarez]

From what I understand it also has an effect on calcium and bone loss.

 

[Chuck_W]

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/co.../nn031103.html

 

[Carlo_M]

I think most things in moderation are safe...

That said, I buy exactly one mocha latte a day [from the Coffee Bean] for several reasons:

1. I need the caffeine kick in the morning. If I don't get it, I get tired and sometimes a headache later in the day.

2. I don't drink much caffeine for the rest of the day (no sodas, no additional coffee or tea drinks).

3. The milk (steamed) seems to ease the effect on my stomach as opposed to straight coffee (lattes are like 90% steamed milk, 10% espresso shot). Perhaps this also helps get calcium into my system?

4. It tastes good.

5. My local Coffee Bean is like the Cheers bar...everyone knows my name! That is because I'm a once a day, seven days a week customer, regular as clockwork on my way into work, and for my early weekend reading with the SO is still asleep (I'm an early riser).

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Well here's a really bad story for you:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...nflammation_dc

 

[Ron-P]

I used to drink 2-3 cups a day until the acid in the coffee started to clash with my stomach acid causing fairly intense heartburn / acid reflux. I stopped 100%, no more coffee, just black tea now. Still get the caffeine fix for the morning kick with no acid issues.

 

[Carlo_M]

Form that study: Again, everthing in moderation.

One thing to note for those of us who like lattes, it's been tested that a double shot of espresso (which is what goes into one medium latte) contains less caffeine than a "cup of coffee" which is generally defined as a 16 oz cup. Espresso has a higher caffeine concentration than coffee, but that is offset since only about 4oz are used in a double shot.

I also think (based on just personal experience) that lattes are gentler on you. I know that if I were to drink a cup of coffee, my stomach would have a chance at being upset (not all coffee does this, but some). But with lattes, the milk makes it less acidic and easier on the stomach.

 

[MikeSerrano]

A common misconception. Actually, milk is slightly acidic: Go Ask Alice.

For many people, coffee (when mixed with stomach acid) is highly irritating to tissues which are not protected by stomach-lining. The milk is just diluting the concentration of irritant (coffee) in the stomach. The Ph level would not be all that much different between just coffee mixed with stomach acid or coffee plus milk plus stomach acid as the acid in your stomach is way more acidic than anything you would normally ingest.

-Mike

 

[Carlo_M]

Milk may be acidic but I would wager it's less so than just straight up coffee (or espresso) and would still then make the resulting mixture less acidic than just coffee or espresso alone.

FWIW, according to the FDA, cow milk has a pH of 6.4-6.8 which is just slightly on the acidic side.

And the proof (and this pertains specifically to me) is this: when in the past I drank a cup of coffee, most of the time I'd get no ill effects, but on occasion I'd get an upset stomach. I've never gotten one when I switched over to lattes (for the last few years).

EDIT: found a site (not FDA) that claims coffee is around 5 on the pH scale...couldn't find a listing for it on the FDA site

 

[Sami Kallio]

Signs of caffeine addiction. Drop it completely and it won't happen after you have overcome the addiction. Quitting caffeine sometimes is hard but once you get rid of it you'll be happy. I now sleep my nights a lot better and in general have much less tension. Getting loaded with caffeine I could stay awake but now I don't have trouble concentrating on doing something.

Caffeine wasn't for me but it took me a long time to discover it. Now that I have quit I know what symptoms were related to caffeine. I never was a coffee drinker but I was addicted to soda.

 

[Carlo_M]

Hmm, I do admit it sounds like an addiction, but I don't have trouble w/ sleep or tension. And seriously, the one latte in the morning (which I don't finish most days) is all I drink, with nary a soda or other obvious form of caffeine (I know caffeine's in a lot of things, but I don't drink any big-ticket-items if you know what I mean) for the rest of the day.

For me, I enjoy my morning trip to the Coffee Bean. It's a routine that is enjoyable as I get to know all the workers, and it's a great way to start off my workday (before sitting at my desk behind the mounds of Things That Need To Get Done).

If I do experience sleep or tension problems, I'll drop it.

[EDIT] - actually come to think of it, I may not be addicted...at least not as much. The last time I had a headache from skipping coffee was years ago, probably around the time I stopped drinking soda, and curtailed my coffee intake from cups of regular coffee to 1 latte in the morning.

Ever since then, I've just kept up the latte routine because of its enjoyability. But on some days where I have slept in on weekends or not made it to the Bean until later in the day, I haven't experienced headaches (whereas, in years past, if I hadn't drunk my coffee by 10am I was screwed).

 

[Nathan Eddy]

I've read (in Men's Health magazine) that two cups of coffee 45 minutes before a workout stimulates your muscles and helps you have a more effective workout, especially if you're trying to build muscle mass.

But I prefer green tea instead--less caffine and loaded with powerful antioxidents.