In the ever-scrutinised world of nutrition, professionals are often looking at and researching what people should/shouldn’t be putting into their bodies. I’m personally a fan of allowing space in any nutrition plan for foods/drinks you enjoy, whether they are traditionally “healthy” or not. There’s nothing worse than having a food plan that’s completely full of things that you don’t like. If only there were health benefits to all the tasty things!
Luckily, when it comes to one of the nation’s favourites, there is. A recent study showed the average Brit drinks 6 cups of ground coffee a day. That’s a lot! So let’s have a quick look at why this growing trend of drinking coffee can actually be hugely beneficial, as we view 5 positives a simple cup of black coffee can provide.
1. Antioxidants – There’s toxicity everywhere these days. The large amounts of antioxidants in coffee fight against this, and therefore have massive benefits in terms of slowing the ageing process and protecting the body against damage.
2. Improved Physical Performance – Coffee is proven to improve alertness and give short-term benefits to mental and physical performance. In terms of training, this should allow you to train longer and with a greater output. This arguably makes coffee perfect for a pre-workout drink.
3. Improved Cognitive Function – Evidence also shows that coffee increases blood flow to the brain, therefore improving cognitive function. On top of this, dopamine is also released into the brain. This can make you feel happy for a short period of time – a perfect pick-me-up!
4. High in Fibre – A lot of people don’t get enough fibre in their diet. Coffee is a great way of tackling this, with 1.8g of fibre on average per mug
5. Liver protection – Coffee can stimulate the liver and improve blood circulation. This is vital in a society where people intake a large quantity of alcohol, as it can massively fight off alcoholic liver disease.
Of course there are arguments against having too much coffee, which we will tackle another time though. For now, I’m out of time – the kettles just finished boiling and I’m off to have my third cup of the day!
