Every month there is some new report coming out saying that coffee either prevents some sort of cancer or increases the chance of other kinds of cancer, and the same thing goes for just caffeine (caffe-ine =P). So is there any scientific consensus on the health effects of drinking coffee regularly? Or is it really just a matter of trends/who’s in charge of the “scientific report”?
We just did this one a few days ago. Caffeine isn’t harmful unless it causes you problems like tremors or sleep disturbances. The jury is still out on whether coffee is good or bad overall but the overall effects, whatever they might be, are so slight that they are hard to measure.
Moderate use seems to be OK for most dudes.
The evidence on coffee and health continues to accrue. It is still too early have reached any legitimate consensus.
That being said, however, the last few years have seen new lines of evidence developed to suggest that coffee protects against the development of type II diabetes (and, given the diabetes epidemic, that would be a MAJOR development if confirmed). Likewise, evidence now exists to support the notion that coffee also protects against liver cirrhosis.
Previously, although there was evidence to indicate that coffee protected against Parkinson’s Disease, there was also evidence to show that it promoted coronary disease. (Actually, it seems that boiled coffee is the form that promotes heart disease, whereas coffee prepared by other modes may, in fact, protect the heart).
- Karl