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Risk

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Until recently, coffee was deemed a health risk. It was too high in caffeine, stained your teeth, and even stunted your growth. More recently however, the coffee bean has been celebrated for being high in antioxidants as well as for its ability to lessen the effects of asthma and Parkinson's disease. So is drinking one cup of black coffee a day a health risk? I would think not. Yet, I voted "yes" in this debate. That's because I feel that the way most people drink coffee today, in terms of the amount consumed and the abundance of sugar usually added to it, coffee is a health risk.

The obvious problem with coffee is that it's high in caffeine. While the government hasn't set a standard for the amount of caffeine we should consume daily, it is generally agreed that 300 mg or less is a safe amount. On average, one cup contains approximately 100 mg of caffeine. Based on these measures, two to three cups of coffee can be safe as long as you avoid caffeine in all other foods and beverages. Drinking any more than three cups a day decreases bone density which can lead to osteoporosis.

Furthermore, according to the Starbucks website, one grande cup of their coffee contains 330 mg of caffeine. (For those of you who aren't familiar with Starbucks' sizes, a grande is their equivalent to a medium.)That's already 30 mg over the recommended amount, so be careful if you're not brewing your coffee at home.

Another health risk lies not with the coffee itself, but with the amount of sugar most people add to it. A major part of the obesity crisis in America is that the average American consumes more than twice as much sugar as recommended to them on a daily basis. The recommended amount of sugar is eight to ten teaspoons daily, most of which should come naturally from fruits. A person who consumes two cups of coffee with two teaspoons of sugar in each cup has already consumed half of their daily sugar intake before they have eaten a single bite of food.

Many people rely on a cup of coffee to get them out of bed in the morning, and I certainly wouldn't want to change that. However, it's important to mind the amount of coffee you're drinking and the amount of sugar you're adding to it.

Learn more about this author, Maria Zinicola.
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