nosh magazine
THE
TRUTH ABOUT
COFFEE
Dr Joanna McMillan explains the role
of caffeine in a healthy lifestyle.
love coffee. Actually I’ll qualify that
by saying I love good coffee. It’s one
of the things I miss most about Sydney
when I travel overseas – few places can
compete in the delivery of a good cup of
coffee. But why is it that this feels like a
confession? Because coffee is bad for us….
isn’t it? The public perception is that coffee
is bad, while tea is generally considered
good. Coffee has been anecdotally linked
to numerous health problems from anxiety,
heartburn and insomnia to heart disease
and cancer. But is there evidence to show
that coffee really is to blame or are these
accusations unjust?
I
First up in coffee’s favour is the fact that it
is not a new drink and has been enjoyed
for several hundred years. The word coffee
is thought to be derived from the word
kaffa – a region in Ethiopia where coffee
trees are believed to have originated. At
first the fruit of the tree was probably
chewed and eaten as a food, but at some
point native people discovered that a rich
aromatic brew could be made from the
de-hulled and roasted bean (or seed) of the
fruit. The drink became popular in the
Arab world in the 15th century with coffee
houses emerging in Egypt, Yemen, Saudi
Arabia, Iran and Turkey. Even back in
those days the drinking of coffee divided
opinion and it was forbidden among
orthodox and conservative imams due to
its stimulant effect. Conversely in 1538 one
of the first Westerners to describe coffee, a
German physician called Léonard Rauwolf,
noted the potential for medicinal effects: “A
beverage as black as ink, useful against
numerous illnesses, particularly those of
the stomach.” Coffee didn’t become
popular in Europe until the 17th century
when cafés soon became meeting places for
both social and business activities. The
famous insurance firm, Lloyds of London,
started life as a coffee house.
So coffee has long been a social drink and
enjoyed, at least in part, for its stimulatory
effect. This can be attributed almost
entirely to the presence of caffeine, which is
the most widely consumed
pharmacologically active substance in the
world. It is a mild stimulant of the central
nervous system and accounts for the
changes we associate with coffee, such as
increased alertness and decreased
sleepiness. But does coffee really do us any
harm? Well the evidence is not nearly as
damning as you might think and coffee
may even be doing us some good.
Dr Joanna McMillan, PhD APD
Learn more about Dr Joanna: website | profile
Adopted by the nation as an honorary Aussie, media nutritionist Dr Joanna McMillan’s ever-growing
following is the result of her high profile within the media, health and fitness industries, and through
her roles as Vice President of the Australian Lifestyle Medicine Association (ALMA), Ambassador
for Diabetes Australia, and Ambassador for Australian Pineapples (to name a few).
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www.n4foodandhealth.com
Caffeine can make you anxious – but only at
high doses. The available studies to date
conclude that consuming more than 600mg
of caffeine can increase anxiety. Since a
typical cup of coffee contains 80mg to 140mg
of caffeine, that equates to several cups of
coffee a day. Normal intakes of caffeine
equivalent to two to three cups of coffee a day
have not been shown to increase anxiety in
either healthy subjects or those with existing
anxiety disorders. There is even some
evidence to show that small amounts caffeine
can reduce anxiety. So a cup of coffee before
that all-important presentation may well help
to calm your nerves.
It may also improve your performance.
Caffeine has been shown to increase
several aspects of mental performance,
including the ability to process new stimuli
and increase the amount of information
processed. In research studies subjects have
been shown to perform better on tasks
requiring concentration, such as driving,
after consumption of caffeine. (Note this
doesn’t mean you can sober up enough to
drive by drinking a couple of strong
espres 6