Coloradoans love their coffee.  Our state has been identified as one of the top places to live if good coffee is important to you.  According to a July 2015 Gallup Poll, coffee consumption habits of Americans have remained relatively unchanged since 1999, with most people consuming slightly less than 3 cups per day.  Over the years, coffee has been touted as a healthy beverage and demonized as bad for you, but drinking plain coffee in moderation can benefit your health in both the long term and short term.

Studies suggest that caffeinated drinks like coffee can improve motor and cognitive performance, short-term memory, accuracy of reactions and ability to make correct decisions, while decreasing both physical and mental fatigue. Caffeinated drinks such as coffee and tea can influence your risk for Type 2 diabetes. One study of the impact of sweetened vs. unsweetened beverages, showed, surprisingly, that subjects who drank coffee were among the lowest risk for Type 2 diabetes.  Furthermore, many studies have suggested that coffee contributes to a healthy heart. A 2011 study showed that coffee could “significantly” lower the risk of coronary heart disease, and a 2013 study showed that subjects who consumed a moderate amount of coffee per day had the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease.

Not to be indelicate, but According to the American Chemical Society, the highly acidic composition of coffee, can cause you to defecate more quickly. Coffee consumption stimulates your stomach to secrete a gastric acid that helps break down protein. Coffee also contains a compound called chlorogenic acid that contributes to the overall acidic level in your stomach.  The result is the stomach pushes its contents into the small intestine more quickly. How does all of this coffee-assisted poop affect your health? Defecating is your body’s natural way of removing waste and toxins.

So drink up!  Coffee is good for you, like many other things, if you consume it in moderation.

Andrea Groth Wellbeing Detective

Andrea wants to live in a world where the neighborhoods are walkable, bike lanes are plentiful, and the food is fresh, delicious and readily available.

A 20-year veteran of the health and wellness industry, she started her career in the fitness industry while earning a master’s degree in Exercise Science and Health Promotion, and then on to the burgeoning field of worksite wellness. Andrea has competed in collegiate level soccer, worked as a personal trainer, fitness instructor, wellness coach, and master trainer, climbed 14ers, and completed cycling centuries and metric centuries. All of these experiences give her the opportunity to view well-being from many different perspectives.
When she’s not helping others to be their healthiest self, you can find her at a farm to table restaurant, down dogging at the yoga studio, or experiencing the Colorado landscape on a bicycle, snowshoes, cross country skis or on foot.