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For years, coffee had a bad reputation, but science has been rewriting that story: far from being a vice to avoid, moderate daily consumption is associated with several health benefits and is safe for most adults. The key is the amount and, above all, how it is consumed.
How much coffee is considered “moderate”
The starting point is the dose. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, moderate consumption is around 3 to 5 cups per day, or up to about 400 milligrams of caffeine, an amount considered safe for most healthy adults. It is a broad range that leaves room for morning and afternoon coffee without entering excessive territory.
What effects does it have on the body
At that moderate range, the evidence associates coffee with several positive effects. According to specialists from the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard, moderate consumption is linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer. The explanation they propose lies in its composition: coffee, both regular and decaffeinated, contains anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds that could be behind those benefits.
A study coauthored by Derrick Alperet, a researcher in the Department of Nutrition at that institution, found that drinking four cups of coffee a day, without cream or sugar, was associated with a reduction of around 4% in body fat. This is an association, not a proven cause-and-effect relationship, but it points in a favorable direction.
Caffeine also plays a role on another front: according to Elizabeth Mostofsky, an instructor in Harvard’s Department of Epidemiology, it can block brain receptors associated with pain and enhance the effect of some pain relievers, which is why it appears in several headache medications.
What really matters: how you drink it
The benefits are associated with coffee itself, not with what is added to it. Alperet himself pointed out that coffee adds to “a healthy diet made up of fruits, vegetables, fish, and whole grains, with less sugar, artificially sweetened beverages, and red and processed meats”.
In other words, black coffee or coffee with a little milk is very different from one loaded with sugar, cream, and syrups, which add calories and sugars capable of neutralizing the good. The body fat study, in fact, found the effect precisely in coffee taken without cream or sugar.