Coffee and Caffeine

Coffee is one of the most popular beverage nowadays, but even there are so many people who love to drink coffee there is also a lot of health concern about drinking coffee.

So here is what the experts are saying ;

• 2 to 3 cups of coffee a day will not do you any harm. Around 4 cups per day is considered by nutritionist to be a moderate amount, and research suggest that even as many as six cups is probably quite safe, therefore more than six cups could already post a health risk on the coffee drinker.
• Coffee has caffeine, which is a mild stimulant. The amount in a couple of cups of coffee has been shown to improve mental alertness, concentration, reasoning, reaction time and memory. Caffeine is also found in tea, cola drinks, cocoa and chocolates. Some people are more sensitive to the effects than others, and find that too much caffeine can make me feel anxious, restless or unable to sleep at night.

• The amount of caffeine you are getting depends on the type of coffee you are drinking. An average cup of freshly ground filter coffee contains most caffeine- about 80 mg., while a cup of instant coffee has about 60 mg. and a cup of decaffeinated coffee only 3mg.

• There are some concerns about Decaffeinated coffee containing harmful chemical residues. Solvent Methylene Chloride is the harmful chemicals that caused all the concern during the early 1980's, that chemical is used in the process of removing caffeine from coffee. This Methylene chloride has been linked with cancer in some research. In Europe this substance is still being use legally, but in a safe level, but it is rarely being use nowadays for decaffeination. Most coffee manufacturers are now using either liquid carbon dioxide or steam to remove caffeine from beans. Both process doesn't contain harmful chemicals. The European Union imposes strict limits on the level of permitted residues in decaffeinated coffee, so products offered for sale will only contain very small amounts, often none at all. The label will not indicate the method of decaffeination used, but you can take it that all are now perfectly safe.

Can coffee help for hangover ?

Strong coffee may wake you up, but in all other respect it is more likely to make your hangover symptoms worse. It contains a lot of caffeine which is a diuretics, it stimulates urine production, so depleting body fluids. Dehydration is one of the main culprit of hangover, responsible for giving you a headache, dry mouth, tiredness and raging thirst. It is best to drink a lot of water before retiring to bed to counteract the dehydrating effect of alcohol. Drink plenty of water again or diluted fruit juice in the morning to rehydrate you, and eat a light breakfast.