Coffee, Caffeine, and Health. #9

Coffee is cultural. We have ritual around coffee. It’s a social lubricant. Yet some of us feel conflicted about drinking coffee.

The media seem to love reporting on the latest coffee studies. And we seem to love reading those news articles. In the video I share my speculation about why some of us lap those news articles up. And I hope I’m wrong, because it’s not pretty.

Medical studies on coffee and caffeine support both benefit and harm in different areas, but not major swings in either direction. At the end of the day, most people are not making a giant health decision when it comes to coffee and caffeine. I explain.

But that doesn’t mean the decision is insignificant, either. For some, it matters. I contextualize the coffee and caffeine question with an assumption: that you want to live long and be healthy to your last day. Focus on four areas to get more bang for your buck instead of fretting about the coffee question. First things first. (And once those four areas are in good order, the coffee question very well might answer itself.)

Video content timeline

  • We live in a coffee culture [0:00]

  • We have coffee rituals, and I think rituals can be good [0:47]

  • Coffee is a social lubricant [1:57]

  • Excess media attention on coffee studies is related to some people believing coffee is a vice [2:38]

  • The most effective rationalizations are factually true (but that doesn’t mean they are wholesome and serve you) [4:13]

  • Rational thought is used to justify decisions but not to make decisions [4:25]

  • What I found in medical studies about coffee and caffeine [6:33]

    • There is evidence of benefit for Alzheimer’s disease, liver diseases, kidney stones, and type 2 diabetes [8:33]

    • There is mostly ambiguity about benefit and harm with migraine (but caffeine can be helpful to alleviate pain in general), glaucoma, pregnancy, and male fertility. Evidence of harm for anxiety and panic disorders [9:17]

    • There is evidence that the overall death rate goes down with about three cups of coffee per day [12:47]

    • I don’t see strong published medical evidence that clearly supports most people either consuming or shunning coffee and caffeine [13:24]

  • Focus on these four things before you get your knickers in a twist about coffee: [13:52]

  • (Side note: Goal of getting up off the floor when you are 90 years old [14:22])

    1. (1) Cook your own food at home [15:33]

    2. (2) Exercise for cardiovascular health, strength, balance, and flexibility [16:08]

    3. (3) Sleep and rest [17:05]

    4. (4) Respect yourself, esteem yourself, be your own agent and advocate, exercise your power of choice, and don’t drift through life as a victim all the time [17:20]

  • Success stories of people getting off coffee. The change and benefits they now enjoy [18:40]

  • Some people say to expect months to return to normal after quitting [19:39]

  • Should you start drinking coffee? (I’d say probably not, at least not until the above four things are in order first) [22:30]

  • If you are quitting, maybe caffeine pills are a cheap crutch to help get to zero daily caffeine [23:14]

Resources

Citations

  1. Chen, J., Scheltens, P., Groot, C., & Ossenkoppele, R. (2020). Associations Between Caffeine Consumption, Cognitive Decline, and Dementia: A Systematic Review. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 78(4), 1519–1546. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-201069

  2. Lee, S., Min, J. Y., & Min, K. B. (2020). Caffeine and Caffeine Metabolites in Relation to Insulin Resistance and Beta Cell Function in U.S. Adults. Nutrients, 12(6), 1783. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061783

  3. Vercambre, M. N., Berr, C., Ritchie, K., & Kang, J. H. (2013). Caffeine and cognitive decline in elderly women at high vascular risk. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 35(2), 413–421. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-122371

  4. Rodak K, Kokot I, Kratz EM. Caffeine as a Factor Influencing the Functioning of the Human Body—Friend or Foe? Nutrients. 2021; 13(9):3088. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13093088

  5. Paleerath Peerapen, Visith Thongboonkerd, Caffeine in Kidney Stone Disease: Risk or Benefit?, Advances in Nutrition, Volume 9, Issue 4, July 2018, Pages 419–424, https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmy016

  6. Reyes, C. M., & Cornelis, M. C. (2018). Caffeine in the Diet: Country-Level Consumption and Guidelines. Nutrients, 10(11), 1772. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10111772

  7. Ricci, E., Viganò, P., Cipriani, S., Somigliana, E., Chiaffarino, F., Bulfoni, A., & Parazzini, F. (2017). Coffee and caffeine intake and male infertility: a systematic review. Nutrition journal, 16(1), 37. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-017-0257-2

  8. Poole R, Kennedy O J, Roderick P, Fallowfield J A, Hayes P C, Parkes J et al. Coffee consumption and health: umbrella review of meta-analyses of multiple health outcomes BMJ 2017; 359 :j5024 doi:10.1136/bmj.j5024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j5024

  9. Gaskins, A. J., & Chavarro, J. E. (2018). Diet and fertility: a review. American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 218(4), 379–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2017.08.010

  10. Lisa Klevebrant, Andreas Frick. Effects of caffeine on anxiety and panic attacks in patients with panic disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. General Hospital Psychiatry, Volume 74, 2022, Pages 22-31. ISSN 0163-8343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2021.11.005

  11. Nowaczewska, M., Wiciński, M., & Kaźmierczak, W. (2020). The Ambiguous Role of Caffeine in Migraine Headache: From Trigger to Treatment. Nutrients, 12(8), 2259. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12082259

  12. Neiber, Karen. The Impact of Coffee on Health. July 4, 2017. Planta Med 2017; 83: 1256– 1263. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0043-115007

  13. Rahman A. (2009). The role of adenosine in Alzheimer's disease. Current neuropharmacology, 7(3), 207–216. https://doi.org/10.2174/157015909789152119

  14. Rogers, P.J., Smith, J.E., Heatherley, S.V. et al. Time for tea: mood, blood pressure and cognitive performance effects of caffeine and theanine administered alone and together. Psychopharmacology 195, 569 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-007-0938-1

  15. Sim RH, Sirasanagandla SR, Das S, Teoh SL. Treatment of Glaucoma with Natural Products and Their Mechanism of Action: An Update. Nutrients. 2022; 14(3):534. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14030534

  16. Success stories. https://reddit.com/r/decaf/comments/hoh9op/what_was_the_most_unexpected_benefit_of_quitting

  17. More success stories. https://reddit.com/r/decaf/comments/f8qnb5/why_i_quit_caffeine_and_how_it_changed_my_life

John Fuhrman