Here's What Just 2 Cups Of Coffee Per Day Will Do To Your Body
Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.


The health effects of coffee are quite controversial. Depending on who you ask, it is either a super healthy beverage, or incredibly harmful. But despite what you may have heard, there are actually plenty of good things to be said about coffee.

For example, it is high in antioxidants and linked to a reduced risk of many diseases. However, it also contains caffeine, a stimulant that can cause problems in some people and disrupt sleep. This article takes a detailed look at coffee and its health effects, examining both the pros and cons.

Coffee Contains Some Essential Nutrients And Is Extremely High In Antioxidants

Coffee is more than just dark brown water... many of the nutrients in the coffee beans do make it into the drink. A typical 8oz (240 ml) cup of coffee contains (1):

  • Folate: 1% of the RDA.
  • Manganese: 3% of the RDA.
  • Potassium: 3% of the RDA.
  • Magnesium: 2% of the RDA.
  • Phosphorus: 1% of the RDA.



Caffeine Is A Stimulant That Can Enhance Brain Function & Boost Metabolism


There are numerous studies showing that caffeine can lead to a short-term boost in brain function… including improved mood, reaction time, vigilance and general cognitive function (7, 8). Caffeine can also boost metabolism (calories burned) by 3-11% and even increase exercise performance by 11-12%, on average (9, 10, 11, 12). However, some of these effects are likely to be short-term. If you drink coffee every day, then you will build a tolerance to it and the effects will be less powerful (13). There are also some downsides to caffeine, which I'll get to in a bit.


Coffee May Help Protect Your Brain In Old Age, Leading To Reduced Risk Of Alzheimer's & Parkinson's

Alzheimer's disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease and a leading cause of dementia. Studies have shown that coffee drinkers have up to a 65% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (14, 15, 16). Parkinson's is the second most common neurodegenerative disease and caused by the death of dopamine-generating neurons in the brain. Coffee drinkers have a 32-60% lower risk of Parkinson’s disease. The more coffee people drink, the lower the risk (17, 18, 19, 20).

Bottom Line: Several studies show that coffee drinkers have a much lower risk of dementia, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease in old age.

Coffee Drinkers Have A Much Lower Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is characterized by elevated blood sugars due to resistance to the effects of insulin. This is a very common disease... it has increased 10-fold in a few decades and now afflicts over 300 million people. Interestingly, coffee drinkers appear to have a significantly reduced risk of developing this disease, some studies showing that coffee drinkers are up to 23-67% less likely to become diabetic (21, 22, 23, 24). In one large review study that looked at 18 studies with 457,922 individuals, each daily cup of coffee was linked to a 7% reduced risk of type 2 diabetes (25).


Coffee Drinkers Have A Lower Risk Of Liver Diseases

The liver is an incredibly important organ that has hundreds of different functions in the body. It is very sensitive to modern insults like excess alcohol and fructose intake. The end stage of liver damage is called Cirrhosis, and involves most of the liver being replaced with scar tissue. Coffee drinkers have up to an 84% lower risk of developing cirrhosis, with the strongest effect for those who drink 4 or more cups per day (26, 27, 28). Liver cancer is also common… it is the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Coffee drinkers have up to a 40% lower risk of liver cancer (29, 30).


People Who Drink Coffee Are At A Much Lower Risk Of Depression & Suicide

Depression is an incredibly common problem. It is the world's most common mental disorder and leads to a significantly reduced quality of life. In one Harvard study from 2011, people who drank the most coffee had a 20% lower risk of becoming depressed (31). In one review of 3 studies, people who drank 4 or more cups of coffee per day were 53% less likely to commit suicide (32).

Bottom Line: Studies have shown that people who drink coffee have a lower risk of becoming depressed and are significantly less likely to commit suicide.

Some Studies Show That Coffee Drinkers Live Longer

Given that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of many common, deadly diseases (and suicide), it makes sense that coffee could help you live longer. There is actually some good evidence to support this. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2012 looked at the habits of 402,260 individuals between 50 and 71 years of age (33). In this study, people who drank coffee had a much lower risk of dying over the 12-13 year study period:

The sweet spot seems to be at 4-5 cups per day, with men having a 12% reduced risk and women a 16% reduced risk. You can read more about it in this article on how coffee can make you live longer.

Bottom Line: Some studies have shown that coffee drinkers live longer, which makes perfect sense given that they have a lower risk of many diseases. The strongest effect is seen for 4-5 cups per day.

Caffeine Can Cause Anxiety And Disrupt Sleep

It wouldn't be right to only talk about the good stuff without mentioning the bad. The truth is… there are some important negative aspects to coffee as well (although this depends on the individual). Consuming too much caffeine can lead to jitteriness, anxiety, heart palpitations and may even exacerbate panic attacks (34). If you are sensitive to caffeine and tend to become overstimulated, then perhaps you shouldn't be drinking coffee. Another unwanted side effect is that it can disrupt sleep (35). If coffee reduces the quality of your sleep, then try avoiding coffee late in the day, such as after 2pm. Caffeine can also have some diuretic and blood pressure raising effects, but this usually goes away with regular use. However, an increase in blood pressure of 1-2 mm/Hg may persist (36, 37, 38).


Caffeine Is Addictive And Missing A Few Cups Can Lead To Withdrawal

One issue with caffeine, is that it can lead to addiction in many people. When people consume caffeine regularly, they become tolerant to it. It either stops working as it used to, or a larger dose is needed to get the same effects (39). When people abstain from caffeine, they get withdrawal symptoms like headache, tiredness, brain fog and irritability. This can last for a few days (40, 41). Tolerance and withdrawal are the hallmarks of physical addiction. A lot of people (understandably) don't like the idea of being literally dependant on a chemical substance in order to function properly.


The Difference Between Regular And Decaf

Some people opt for decaffeinated coffee instead of regular. The way decaffeinated coffee is usually made, is by rinsing the coffee beans with solvent chemicals. Each time this is done, some percentage of the caffeine dissolves in the solvent and this process is repeated until most of the caffeine has been removed. However, it's important to keep in mind that even decaffeinated coffee does contain some caffeine, just much less than regular coffee. Unfortunately, not all of the health benefits of regular coffee apply to decaffeinated coffee. For example, some studies show no reduction in the risk of type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's or liver diseases for people who drink decaffeinated coffee.


How To Maximize Its Health Benefits

There are some things you can do in order to maximize the beneficial health effects you get from coffee. The most important is to NOT add anything unhealthy to it. This includes sugar and any sort of artificial, chemical-laden creamer. Another important thing is to brew coffee with a paper filter. Unfiltered coffee (such as Turkish or French press) contains cafestol, a substance that can increase cholesterol levels (42, 43). Also keep in mind that some of the coffee drinks at places like Starbucks can contain hundreds of calories and a whole bunch of sugar. These drinks are NOT healthy. There are some more tips in this article on 8 ways to make your coffee super healthy.


Should You Be Drinking Coffee?

There are some people who would definitely want to avoid or severely limit coffee consumption, especially pregnant women. People with anxiety issues, high blood pressure or insomnia might also want to try limiting coffee for a while to see if it helps. There is also some evidence that people who metabolize caffeine slowly have an increased risk of heart attacks from drinking coffee (44).

All that being said… it does seem clear that for the average person, coffee can have important beneficial effects on health. If you don't already drink coffee, then I don't think these benefits are a compelling reason to start doing it. There are downsides as well. But if you already drink coffee and you enjoy it, then the benefits appear to far outweigh the negatives. I personally drink coffee, every day… about 4-5 cups (sometimes more). My health has never been better.

Take Home Message


Despite having been demonized in the past, the evidence points to coffee being very healthy… at least for the majority of people. If anything, coffee belongs in the same category as healthy beverages like green tea.

