10 Common Myths About Coffee

Everyone loves coffee. This magical black drink perks up your mornings and gives you the strength to kick off your daily activities. The latest research shows that frequent consumption of coffee would cause health benefits which are yet to be proven.

Many misconceptions are put forward to confuse what is in your cup of coffee. For instance, Instant coffee inhibits growth! Of course, that is not true. To be honest, there are tons of myths being passed around regarding the adverse impacts of consuming coffee.

These are just misconceptions, and they should not change your love for espresso shots. Below are ten common myths about coffee you are bound to hear while others you have already heard.

1. Pregnant women should not take Coffee

Caffeine would not harm the fetus; however, it’s advisable that pregnant women should limit coffee intake since it contains too much caffeine.

They should limit coffee intake to one cup a day. Coffee can pass through the mother’s placenta and reach the growing baby, but there’s no detailed study saying it is harmful. So what’s your take on this myth? Just be careful.

2. Coffee stunts Growth

This misconception has been revolving around for a long time that is why most people think they hover above the same feet. However, this belief is nothing more than the old wives’ tale. No person has been in a position to prove how coffee stunts the growth of a person.

Also, there’s no correlation between coffee intake & growth, stunted growth, or anything related to that. It is still unknown how this myth started, but there is no scientific proof supporting it.

3. Coffee causes dehydration

Have you ever heard of this myth? Because coffee is a diuretic that makes people urinate more once taken, this makes them believe that it causes dehydration, but this is not true. It is just a myth.

As a matter of fact, caffeine acts as a mild stimulant, and studies show that taking caffeinated drinks in moderation does not cause dehydration. Besides, a cup of coffee is approximately 98% water; the rest is just the sweet essence of the bean and other ingredients.

4. Coffee is addictive

As a coffee lover, you may hold to this myth because of the frequent headaches you get once you skip coffee in just a day. You cannot compare coffee with alcohol, cigarettes, and other hard drugs which make people exhibit drug-seeking behaviors.

Although all are stimulants, coffee does not have the same effect on people as these drugs. It does not have, or it has not proven to have any devastating and negative long-term effect on the body. For this reason, over-dependence on a coffee cannot be considered severe.

5. Coffee causes cardiovascular diseases

Research done has shown a connection between caffeine found in coffee, and coronary heart diseases, but this remains unclear. Obesity and other dietary factors play a significant role in cardiovascular disease, but results and evidence remain conflicting.

Besides, it’s good to remember that caffeine reactions vary between people. Some experience arrhythmias or elevated blood pressure commonly referred to as abnormal heart rhythms. Ideally, some suggestions have shown that caffeine consumption can lower the risks of heart disease.

6. Caffeine can lead to bone loss

Is it the first time you have heard of this myth, does it sound like a misconception to you? Studies have shown that too much intake of caffeine can lead to bone loss, although this mechanism and evidence remain unclear.

Calcium helps in bone development & maintenance, so putting milk in your coffee can help relieve the caffeinated consequences. Besides, weight-bearing workouts and sufficient intake of calcium and vitamin D are ideal practices for lowering the chances of osteoporosis and bone loss.

7. Coffee helps in weight loss

Not exactly. This is impractical because if you take say 100mg of caffeine, it’ll burn about 75-100 calories per day due to a metabolism boost. However, this is not foolproof.

Research conducted found that people who continue taking coffee over the time ended up gaining extra pounds than those who kept a constant caffeine intake.

8. Too much caffeine intake increases the risk of death

Are you worried about this myth? You should not. Studies have found no correlation between caffeine consumption and increased risks of death. As a coffee lover, how much caffeine is too much?

In fact, it is safe to take 400 milligrams of caffeine (equivalent to one cup of coffee) daily. This is double an average American gets in a day

9. Coffee causes Insomnia

Do you still hold to this myth? Biologically, coffee gets absorbed very fast since the liver processes it. It also has a short half-life, meaning that it takes 5- 7 hours to pass half of it from your body as urine, and by ten hours, 75% of it is expelled.

So drinking one cup of coffee at night or daytime will not interfere with your sleep, but it will keep you awake due to the frequent passing of urine.

10. Coffee can sober you up

What you need to understand is that coffee cannot help accelerate the rate at which alcohol is metabolized than your body would. In fact, most experts recommend people avoid anything rich in caffeine altogether when drunk.

But the fact is that coffee won’t help you sober up. Studies show that those individuals who mix alcohol with coffee are more likely to cause road fatalities or drink heavily because drinking caffeine tricks the brain into thinking that you are sober than you are in the actual sense.