Improve Your Health, Drink Black Coffee (10 Reasons Why)

We all find it hard to start our day without our first cup of coffee. Aside from the caffeine kick, it’s the ritual many of us find satisfying. But did you know that by foregoing that splash of cream or that dash of sugar, that satisfying morning ritual could benefit your health as well? Black coffee has many health benefits, above and beyond helping you start your morning off right. In fact, the World Health Organization took coffee off the list of potentially carcinogenic foods and stated that the coffee you love possibly protects against certain cancers. In 2015, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee declared that three to five cups of coffee a day can even be part of a healthy dietary pattern. So what other health benefits can you expect from your cup of black coffee?

1. Decreases diabetes risk.

Containing ingredients that both lower your blood sugar and increases your resting metabolic rate, coffee has been shown in multiple studies to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Additionally, nutrients in coffee help your body use insulin, which is necessary to use and store sugar you get from food. According to a review of 18 studies, each daily cup of coffee was associated with a 7% reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. Drinkers of both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee receive these benefits from their beverage of choice.

2. Improved cognitive function and decreased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

The caffeine in your morning cup of joe not only wakes you up, but it also blocks a specific neurotransmitter in your brain that improves your mood and other aspects of brain function. In fact, a 2002 study found that lifetime caffeine use may be correlated to better performance on cognitive tests among women and slower cognitive decline among men. In 2017, Alzheimer’s and Dementia found that four-five cups of coffee a day led to a decreased risk of dementia over the 28-year study. The coffee drinkers also showed less medial temporal atrophy, which is linked to Alzheimer’s.

3. Boosts liver health.

Black coffee can lower the level of harmful enzymes in your liver, which is extremely helpful to the largest organ in your body that manages more than 500 vital functions. Regular intake of black coffee has been shown to reduce the risk of liver cancer, fatty liver disease, hepatitis, and alcoholic cirrhosis.

4. Helps you burn fat and lose weight.

Instead of your traditional pre-workout drink, consider making coffee a part of your pre-workout routine. People who drink caffeine before working out are able to work out longer and burn more fat during the workout. This is because black coffee stimulates your nervous system to break down fat cells so that they can be used as fuel during workouts.

5. Boosted antioxidant and nutrient intake.

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, based on the amount of coffee consumed by Americans, it is one of the greatest sources of antioxidants in their diet. This is because the coffee we drink is rich in antioxidants and nutrients such as riboflavin, pantothenic acid, manganese, potassium, magnesium, and niacin. It is also a vitamin powerhouse with vitamins B2, B3, and B5.

6. Lowers stress and fights depression.

Black coffee has been shown to lower the risk of depression in women who drink four or more cups a day by up to 20%. Black coffee can also help you feel less stressed, which is one of the biggest triggers of depression. Drinking black coffee can help lift your mood by stimulating your nervous system to produce serotonin, or the happy hormone, in the body which will help keep stress and depression at bay.

7. May lower your risk of Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, right behind Alzheimer’s. Like Alzheimer’s, it has no known cause or cure but, again like Alzheimer’s, coffee may help. Studies have shown that coffee drinkers have between a 32%-60% lower risk of developing the disease. Decaf drinkers have not been shown to have the same risk reduction as caffeine drinkers.

8. May lower risk of certain types of cancer

Coffee has been shown to reduce the risks of numerous types of cancer including liver, breast, colon, and rectal cancer. Consuming between one-three cups per day can begin to lower your risk while drinking six cups a day produces the maximum benefit. One reason for this decrease in cancer risk could be due to the fact that black coffee has been shown to lower the overall level of inflammation in the body, which inhibits tumor growth.

9. Cleanses your stomach

Coffee is a diuretic. This means that it makes you go to the bathroom more often. When you drink black coffee without cream or sugar, it cleanses the unwanted and unneeded toxins that build up in your stomach from your diet.

10. Improves cardiovascular health

You may have heard that drinking black coffee will increase your blood pressure. That is true, but the effect diminishes over time if you drink it regularly. What doesn’t diminish over time is black coffee’s effect of lowering your risk of heart disease or stroke.