Naturally, like everything else in this world, coffee offers both good things and bad things to those who drink it. Drinking too much is where the problems start, but drinking a little bit has been proven to be beneficial to ones health.

One of the things that makes coffee so good and so bad is caffeine...many people will tote incorrect information about the dangers of caffeine and how much may or may not be in coffee because they believe it is a drug and therefore bad for you no matter what you do. There are others that will tote incorrect information about how wonderful caffeine is for you because they are horribly addicted to it, but obviously cannot or will not admit it. Some people know they are addicted to it, and accept it because it isn't an illegal drug so it doesn't count. Others take it still in moderation and reap amazing benefits for the things small doses can do for your body. As it is, caffeine is naturally occurring and is not a man made or synthesized drug, so it is better for you than many other drugs out there. Though again, in large doses it can be lethal, and at least uncomfortable.

But that doesn't mean caffeine is entirely bad for you either. There are multitudes of benefits to consuming caffeine...but caffeine is not what this article is about. It is about coffee.

Caffeine is present in coffee yes (that includes decaf, drinking five to ten cups of decaf a day is almost equivalent to drinking one or two cups of regular), but it is not the only thing about it that makes it good or bad. Coffee, like any other food or beverage, has chemicals, nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that help us in many ways. That is where the health benefits come from, not caffeine.

Caffeine has been proven to be very bad for you in high doses, so it is actually one of the things about coffee that makes it not so good. Too many people concentrate on the caffeine though, and not the other elements of coffee. There is an answer to the problem of caffeine, though not necessarily for those with high blood pressure, heart problems, or a sensitivity to caffeine; that answer is decaf. Decaf still has caffeine in it, caffeine occurs naturally in coffee and cannot be removed entirely. Therefore if you want the health benefits of coffee drink decaf. Some people say decaf does not taste as good, that is fine, if you don't care then drink regular. It isn't like you don't know how much caffeine you are getting, it is your choice. But for those that complain about how bad caffeine is, and those that whine about how you never know how much you get per cup because it varies, and who want to go off on how people have had numerous health problems from caffeine and on and on...drink decaf. It has considerably less caffeine and all the same wonderful nutrients.

Coffee is good for you, it has been proven through science. Who is going to argue with that? The thing that is bad for you about it is caffeine, only caffeine.

The article title asks if coffee is a health benefit or health risk, people skirt around the question with examples like a man's heart stopping from drinking eight red bulls. Yes, he overdosed on CAFFEINE, but it was a beverage that was not coffee and offers no benefits other than energy because of lots of sugar, lots of caffeine, and a slew of other 'hyper' ingredients. I read the article and the guy even stated that the can says not to drink more than two cans or one and a half bottles a day. If he knew not to drink more than two cans, why did he? He claims he drank them because the can does not properly warn against drinking too much. It just says not to, it doesn't say WHY not to. That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard and if I ever met that man I would tell him as such. If you are too stupid to consume beverages that are designed to give you energy, then you shouldn't do it. It is HIS OWN FAULT that he drank eight cans. The label clearly says no to drink more than two. Just because it doesn't say why does not mean you should ignore the warning. Some cleaning products warn you not to swallow them, but not all of them say that it is because you could die if you do...I don't know anyone who decided to drink some Windex because the bottle didn't say why it wasn't a good idea. I realize that Red Bull is designed for human consumption, but still, if it warns you not to consume a certain amount...you should listen. Just like all other warning labels in the world. If it says not to, don't. Just because it doesn't list specifics doesn't make it a good thing to ignore. Not to mention, does this many think they know what consuming that much Red Bull will do to a person? They haven't performed clinical tests to see if a human has died from drinking more than two cans. Lab rats are much smaller than humans, so if a rat dies from a caffeine overdose, they can only work with that so much. Obviously drinking three cans didn't almost kill the guy. It was eight, four times what label said not to exceed. There hadn't been any studies able to be conducted by Red Bull to determine the exact amount of their beverage that would stop a human heart. They can only legally test to see how much Red Bull will stop a rat's heart. Even if one were to use math to equate the mass of the rat to the mass of the human and figure it out from there, rat's are not humans. There is nothing to say that the math will be accurate. It has been shown in the past that using that kind of math doesn't work because humans and rats are only so similar. So how would they have known what to put as a warning? Not to mention, one would think it is pretty obvious that with the way caffeine affects a person, of course too much of it can stop your heart. That to me seems like the obvious outcome of a stupid decision.

With all that said, for people to bring this or anything relating to deaths or illnesses caused by caffeine is missing a key point...those people chose their fates. If one is addicted to caffeine they do not HAVE to give in to the addiction. I am sorry, but it is NOT heroin and should not be treated as such. It isn't even cigarettes, and I know personally how easy it is to actually quit those if you WANT to. I've seen people with addictions up and drop them after ten, fifteen years...I've seen people with addictions say it's 'been too long' after only five years so they give up hope of ever getting past it. It is a funny thing, addiction, because it is all in the mind. If you truly want to give it up, you can, and if you argue with that you're just weak. Crippling addictions can be overcome with help and if you choose to go back on it that is your choice and no one else's. Caffeine can be a crippling addiction, and it is very bad for you. Many choose to express this addiction through drinking and consuming mass quantities of coffee and caffeine pills. Those people should not be considered poster children for reasons why coffee is a health risk.

Those people are their own health risk and should not be used as any example of why one should avoid anything in their lives. Those people choose to be addicted to anything, like the rest of us. Addiction itself may not always be a choice, but giving it up is.

Red Bull should not be used as an example of why COFFEE is bad for you. Caffeine is not the only ingredient in either coffee or Red Bull, so it is not the only culprit, but it is the only ingredient coffee has IN COMMON with energy drinks of all kinds. Energy drinks throw in a lot of other crap to hype you up, so of course drinking too much will do nasty things to your body. All energy drinks warn not to drink too much of them in a day. Many of them warn against drinking them every day as well, even if it is only one. To bring up energy drinks as an example of why coffee is bad for you is a logical fallacy. It is distraction. An example one brings up when trying to win an argument they have already lost. Drinking the same amount of coffee as Red Bull does not stop people's hearts. People drink that much coffee EVERYDAY and many of them are 'fine'. Therefore, coffee and Red Bull cannot even be properly compared because the same amount of each has completely different effects on a person.

To argue the ills of caffeine is a distraction technique that those who believe coffee is bad for you use to win their arguments. They distract from the main point with pithy reasons why caffeine in mass quantities is harmful for your health...but they neglect to mention that decaf exists and has a lot less caffeine in it. Every study also agrees that one cup of coffee a day (even if it is regular) is NOT bad for you because it will never have enough caffeine to do any damage. The coffee naysayers neglect to mention all the health benefits that come from the vitamins and minerals that are found in coffee.

This isn't pseudoscience, this is fact. Coffee is a food/beverage just like all others we consume. It has been studied as such for years and has been proven to contain many of the same elements found in other natural beverages that lead those doing the studies to believe it can have MORE benefits than consequences if consumed in moderation.

Anything, if taken too much, can be bad for you. Too much fruit and vegetables can overdose you with vitamins and fiber. Causing problems for your liver and digestion.

Too much protein has been linked to numerous health problems like cancer and heart disease. That especially includes soy protein. Though not enough protein is very bad for you, that especially includes soy protein.

Too much vitamin E has been linked with cancer, too much vitamin A is linked with liver disease.

Anything if you get too much is bad for you, anything. But then, there are some things where not getting enough is bad for you.

With coffee, you don't have to drink it. The vitamins and minerals present in coffee are present in other everyday foods and drinks as well. But still, the health benefits far outweigh the risks in terms of responsible consumption.

Coffee, overall, is more of a health benefit than risk. This fact is plastered all over the internet, along with all the bad things about CAFFEINE as well.

Resources:

I would love to list them, but there are really too many to name. So here is what I typed into the search bar on Google to get the information I got.

'benefits of coffee'
'dangers of coffee'*
'amount caffeine one cup coffee'
'vitamins in coffee'
'minerals in coffee'
'chemicals in coffee'

*It is important to note that all of the health risks associated with coffee are actually associated with caffeine. Since decaf is available, and caffeine is good for you in small doses....I again assert that the benefits of coffee far outweigh the risks.

The research is all there though, go ahead and see for yourself.

Learn more about this author, Ahava Yardenah.

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