Research Question

How the health benefits of coffee have changed through the years

Issue Exploration Essay

In past discussion of coffee, a controversial issue has been whether coffee is harmful to your

health. On one hand, in the past, some argue that coffee will cause blindness, and stroke. From

their prospective being as early as the 15th century, not much was known about research and

health. My own view is today research have come a long way. Although I concede that important

studies are still being conducted. I hope to find enough evidence to prove that coffee is not

harmful to your health, and that it may be a health benefit.

As early as the 15th century coffee was under debate. A headline in the 1500s reads Coffee

leads to illegal sex. What? What would lead people to believe that? According to legend an

Ethiopian goatherder noticed his goats unusually lively after eating red berries and green leaves.

It is said that after the goats ingested the berries and leaves they ran around dancing and bleated

excitedly. The goatherder then tried the leaves for himself. He felt that he would never be angry

or sleepy again. He ran home and told his Father about the magical trees.

In history, it is said that the Arabs opened the first coffee houses, leading to the Major of

Mecca to band coffee, calling it an intoxicant. According to Ralph Hattox, coffee house patrons

were more likely to gamble and participate in criminally unorthodox sexual situations. As

coffee spread throughout the world different believes and laws began to surface. In Turkey not

having enough coffee was grounds for divorce. In London women sign petitions against coffee,

saying it caused their men to become impotent. At the same time in London coffee was called a

cure for alcoholism.

 Many of the headlines go along with the economic times. America was at war in the 1800s

and coffee supply was running short. C.W. Posts ran ads stating coffee will make you go blind,

also saying that coffee was as bad as nicotine, cocaine, and morphine. C.W. did this to promote

his Postum brand. The headlines continue into the 19 00s here in American. Coffee stunts

your growth, and coffee caused heart disease.

By the 1970s and 1980s studies by the hundreds were being done to prove the risks of

coffee consumption. Many of these studies found that the caffeine in coffee causes hypertension

and other heart problems, however, these studies did not take into consideration other risk factors

like smoking and obesity.

In an article Coffee&health.org from the institute for scientific information on coffee states:

In a 2011, meta-analysis including eleven prospective studies, with 10,003 cases of stroke.

479,689 participants, found that moderate coffee consumption may be weakly, non-linearly,

inversely associated with risk of stroke. On the one had the study suggested coffee in some way

no matter how small did show some risk of stroke. On the other hand, reading more carefully

into the study, the participants were not screened for other risk factors like smoking and obesity.

I would like to point out that there is a difference between the caffeine in coffee in these

studies and what the actual coffee bean contains. Lets study the coffee bean itself. The coffee

bean is a seed of the coffee plant very much like a cherry. When it is opened a green seed is

found inside. In this green seed, there is Nonvolatile and volatile compounds. These compounds

such, as caffeine keep animals and insects away from eating them, and give flavor to the bean

when it is roasted. The coffee bean also contains Triglycerides and of course caffeine. Before

the coffee bean is roasted it contains a higher amount of the chemical Chlorogenic acid. It is now
widely used for its many health benefits like reducing blood pressure, and for weight loss by

affecting how the body uses blood sugar and metabolism.

In a 2017 study Stanford University School of Medicine scientist found a correlation between

aging, inflammation, cardiovascular disease and caffeine use. Mark Davis a PhD professor of

Microbiology and Immunology believes that the inflammatory system gets weaker with age, and

is thought to cause cardiovascular disease, Alzheimers disease, osteoarthritis, and even

depression. As we get older metabolites breakdown the molecules in our bodies. This can trigger

the inflammation process. The researchers found that the metabolites found in caffeine may

counter act the inflammation process. David Fruman a professor at the Stanford Institute for

Immunity, says Its well-known that caffeine intake is associated with longevity. Many studies

have shown this association. Weve found a possible reason for why this is so.

Another article from Coffeeandmood.org suggests that the caffeine from coffee can improve

mental health, mood, behavior and cognition. The article goes on the say that the mood-

enhancing effects work better on adults than younger people. If fact they suggest that caffeine

might be used as a nutritional supplement for older adults. Another part of this same article I

found interesting is that the moods for habitual consumers were more improved than non-

consumers. Meaning people who just bought coffee with little involvement in the purchase, and

didnt care where the coffee came from had better mood and emotion changes than a person who

has more knowledge of the product. The article did say that consuming too much caffeine can

cause anxiety, nervousness and the jitters. I know this fact to be true. In a 2016 meta-analysis

346,913 people with 8,146 of those people reporting depression found that drinking four cups of

coffee a day did have a beneficial effect on their depression.

 An article on caffeineinformer.com has a list of twelve harmful effects of caffeine. One of

those harmful effects, a Mayo Clinic partnered study found that drinking more than four 8oz.

cups of coffee a day may cause an overdose of caffeine and possible death. On one hand, I agree

with this study. On the other hand, the study goes on to say that the individuals studied also were

likely to have poor fitness and smoke.

Many of the article and research I did suggests that drinking less than four cups of coffee a day

will not negatively affect your health, and may also be beneficial.

My belief is coffee in moderation just like anything else in this world is ok. We all know that

eating or drinking too much of anything can have possible side effects. I have concluded that

coffee in moderation is good for all of us and may even help with our overall health and

emotional balance. In conclusion, I would like to share my favorite warning about coffee as

given to me by my grandfather Drink coffee it will put hair of your chest.