“I put instant coffee in a microwave oven and almost went back in time.”
Steven Wright, Comedian
Advantages & Disadvantages of Drinking Coffee
Coffee is one of the most popular beverages on the planet. Every year, billions of coffee beverages are sold.
Since coffee contains caffeine, it is quite popular in the workplace since it can increase the productivity of employees.
However, apart from many other advantages related to coffee, there are also some problems related to it.
In this article, the pros and cons of coffee are shown.
Audio Lesson
Contents
Advantages of Coffee
- You get more productive
- Coffee is good to focus in the morning
- Coffee can increase your motivation
- Power boost in difficult situations
- Can be beneficial for your digestive system
- Moderate amounts of coffee can be beneficial for your physical health
- Coffee can decrease risk for mental problems
- Reasonable amounts of coffee may increase our life expectancy
- Some people build a lifestyle around coffee
- Important for many business owners
- Coffee is an important commodity
- People in poor countries can make a living from coffee
You get more productive
One great advantage of drinking coffee is that it makes you more productive, at least in the short run.
If you have a lot to do at work, you might find yourself quite lost and your mood may suffer since you might simply be overwhelmed.
However, by drinking one or even a few cups of coffee, you will sooner notice that your mood changes to a more productive state in which you will be able to work quite efficiently for a certain period of time.
Therefore, if you need a boost in productivity fast, drinking coffee is an easy but yet effective way to improve your performance.
Coffee is good to focus in the morning
Many people are also quite tired in the morning and have a hard time to really wake up.
This may lead to a state where they are physically present at work but they might still be in a state between sleeping and awake from a mental perspective.
This can become a problem if those people work in jobs where performance is already needed in the early morning.
Thus, for people who have a hard time getting up in the morning and to focus on their tasks, coffee can be a great way to increase the speed of waking up.
Coffee can increase your motivation
Let’s be honest. From time to time, everyone of us has quite little motivation to go to work.
We often have so many other things on our minds and working can be one of the least attractive options.
However, we also have to earn money and most of us will have to work for many decades until we are able to retire.
Hence, on days where you feel like you don’t want to go to work at all, get a coffee in the morning. You will notice that your motivation tends to increase and going to work will not be a big deal anymore.
Yet, when you grab a coffee, make sure to bring your own reusable coffee cup and refrain from using disposable cups in order to protect our planet.
Power boost in difficult situations
Everyone of us only has a limited amount of energy which we can use in our daily life.
However, there can be situations in life where it is crucial to really give 100% in order to achieve important goals.
In such situations, coffee can be a great tool to support the mission since it makes it possible to focus and to work efficiently on the respective project.
Thus, for a limited amount of time, coffee can give you a power boost which may allow you to work a few days with little to no sleep in order to finish an important project in time.
Can be beneficial for your digestive system
For people that have problems with their digestive system, coffee can give them some kind of relief since it can support our guts to do what they are meant to do.
Therefore, if you suffer from digestive issues, you may want to try to drink some cups of coffee each day and see what happens.
However, coffee can also lead to some digestive problems if you suffer from intolerance issues.
Thus, although coffee can assist our digestive system to do its work, it can also turn into the opposite if your body can not process coffee in a healthy manner.
Moderate amounts of coffee can be beneficial for your physical health
A reasonable coffee consumption pattern can also improve our overall physical health levels.
For instance, studies have shown that coffee can decrease the risk for serious diseases like diabetes, heart conditions or some sorts of cancer.
Hence, the moderate consumption of coffee might improve our overall health.
However, please note that the excessive consumption of coffee can also imply negative physical health effects.
It is therefore crucial to keep your coffee consumption on a reasonable level in order to avoid health issues of many sorts.
Coffee can decrease risk for mental problems
Many people in our nowadays society also suffer from serious mental health issues.
We are often flooded with information and our brain is often not able to process all this information in a healthy manner.
Studies have found that by drinking moderate amounts of coffee, the risk for mental health problems like depression decreases for the average person.
However, please note that coffee is not a tool to solve the causes of your mental problems.
It can just assist you a little bit with it, yet you have to find out what bothers you in order to assure your mental health in the long run.
Reasonable amounts of coffee may increase our life expectancy
Since the consumption of moderate amounts of coffee can reduce the risk for many serious physical health issues and it can also be helpful to reduce mental conditions, drinking coffee may also increase our overall life expectancy.
However, this is hard to prove in medical studies since numerous other factors affect our life expectancy.
Yet, drinking reasonable amounts of coffee can improve our overall health levels and chances are that also our life expectancy will be positively influenced.
Some people build a lifestyle around coffee
For many people, coffee is not only a beverage that can boost our performance.
Some people even build a whole lifestyle around the coffee culture, which can be rather seen as an important hobby for them.
Therefore, brewing and drinking coffee can be an interesting leisure activity which many people enjoy in their daily life.
Important for many business owners
Since coffee is one of the most consumed beverages on a global scale, numerous shop owners rely on selling coffee to their clients.
Many small shops make their livelihood through the production and the selling of coffee.
Also, many companies engage in coffee trading and production.
Thus, the coffee industry is quite important for millions of people on our planet to ensure their livelihood since they have built whole businesses around this beverage.
Coffee is an important commodity
Some countries have also specialized in the production of coffee and export large amounts of coffee beans to countries all over the world.
For instance, Brazil is the number one coffee production country.
Hence, through exporting this coffee, Brazil is able to make great amounts of money and without this commodity, the overall wealth levels of the country would significantly suffer.
People in poor countries can make a living from coffee
There are also many small coffee farming businesses around the world.
Especially people in poor countries heavily rely on the yield from their coffee farms in order to survive.
Since in those regions, there are often not too many other employment opportunities, coffee production is crucial for those farmers to ensure their livelihood.
Disadvantages of Drinking Coffee
- Caffeine is a drug
- Dependence
- Tolerance
- Withdrawal symptoms
- Nervousness
- Aggression
- Anxiety
- Swings in mood
- Dehydration of our bodies
- Excessive amounts of coffee can hurt your health
- Development of overweight & obesity
- Sleeping issues
- Nutrient deficiencies
- Problems during pregnancy
- Coffee intolerance
- Coffee can cause skin problems
- Coffee is often produced with poor working conditions
- Drinking coffee is not a magic pill
- Short-term gains vs. long-term problems
Caffeine is a drug
Although there are many advantages of coffee, drinking coffee also implies some issues.
One downside of coffee is that, although it is legal, caffeine is still a drug and it may not be that harmless.
For instance, people who consume excessive amounts of coffee often have a hard time if there is no coffee around for some reason.
Thus, while moderate amounts of coffee can be beneficial to improve our overall quality of life, too much of it can lead to serious trouble in the long run.
Dependence
Coffee can also lead to a certain level of dependence.
This can include some kind of mental dependence, but also physical symptoms.
Many people do not think about coffee as a drug since it is legal and can be bought in a legal manner.
Yet, coffee lovers may still become addicted to the substance and their body and their brain will likely scream for coffee after a while.
Thus, coffee is not that harmless and you should therefore make sure not to drink too much of it.
Tolerance
Like with any other drug, the consumption of coffee also implies the development of a certain level of tolerance.
This means that the first time you drink a cup of coffee, you will have the full boost in power and motivation.
However, if you continue to drink one cup of coffee over a few months, you will soon notice that the effect will not be the same as at the beginning and you will need more than one cup of coffee for the same effect.
Hence, the development of a caffeine tolerance may also lead to a state where you will consume excessive amounts of coffee in order to get the same effects as at the beginning, which can result in serious health issues in the long run.
Withdrawal symptoms
If you love drinking coffee and usually consume multiple cups of coffee per day, chances are that you will suffer from serious withdrawal symptoms in case you are not able to get your dose of coffee for some reason.
Those withdrawal symptoms can include serious headaches, but also a general restlessness and other mental issues.
Consequently, make sure to limit your coffee consumption in order to avoid caffeine addiction and the related withdrawal symptoms.
Nervousness
You might have seen this multiple times in the office or also at home.
People who drink many cups of coffee each day tend to be much more nervous compared to people who only drink moderate levels of coffee or none at all.
This nervousness can also translate into all kinds of problems, since it often leads people to make bad decisions which they might regret later on.
Aggression
People who are quite sensitive to caffeine may not only develop nervousness, but even a serious level of aggression.
Caffeine can not only boost our power levels, it can also lead to a state where people become aggressive, which may eventually result in serious problems.
However, it heavily depends on the individual person whether coffee consumption will lead to aggression or not and not everyone will develop those symptoms.
Yet, if you know you become aggressive after the consumption of coffee, you might want to refrain from or at least limit your coffee drinking habits.
Anxiety
For some people who are especially sensitive to caffeine, drinking coffee might even lead to anxiety issues.
If you are one of those persons who suffer from serious anxiety after you drink coffee, you should definitely refrain from coffee consumption at all since the downsides will clearly outweigh the upsides in such a case.
Swings in mood
Since caffeine is a drug and alters our perception of the world, it can also lead to significant mood swings.
This is especially true when people either drink too much coffee or when they suffer from caffeine withdrawal and urgently want to get the next dose of coffee.
Either way, those swings in mood often lead to rather unpleasant outcomes.
Hence, if you know you react quite sensitive to coffee, you might rather want to avoid drinking coffee and go for other beverages instead.
Dehydration of our bodies
Opponents of coffee also often claim that drinking coffee can lead to the dehydration of our bodies.
While it is true that we will have to go to the toilet more often, we can compensate for this effect by drinking additional water.
Thus, if you are a passionate coffee drinker, make sure to drink enough water to compensate for the loss of water due to coffee consumption in order to avoid any dehydration issues.
Excessive amounts of coffee can hurt your health
While moderate coffee consumption can improve our overall health levels since coffee can reduce the risk for many serious diseases, excessive consumption of coffee can have the opposite effect.
For instance, if you drink excessive amounts of coffee, your chances for heart conditions due to high blood pressure will likely increase.
Therefore, make sure to limit your coffee consumption to a moderate level in order to avoid unpleasant consequences for your health.
Development of overweight & obesity
Coffee consumption can also lead to serious obesity.
While it is not the coffee that really contributes to those issues, it is rather the sugar inside the coffee and the cookies and cakes that are consumed with it.
Thus, if you are eating plenty of cake and cookies while drinking coffee, your chances for overweight increases since your overall daily calory intake will increase.
Sleeping issues
If you drink too much coffee, you might also experience serious sleeping issues and insomnia.
This is especially true when you consume coffee in the late afternoon or evening, since you will still have a significant level of caffeine in your body which can prevent you from getting high-quality sleep.
Therefore, if you love coffee, make sure that you do not drink too much of it after a certain period of time in order not to put your sleeping quality at risk.
Nutrient deficiencies
Excessive coffee consumption can also affect our nutrient supply in an adverse manner.
Since coffee will stimulate our digestive system, we will have to go to the toilet more often, which also implies the expulsion of large amounts of beneficial nutrients.
Hence, if you do not replace those nutrients through a healthy diet, you might suffer from nutrient deficiencies of some sort over the long run.
Problems during pregnancy
Since caffeine is a drug, it can also imply serious problems regarding pregnancies.
If the mother of un unborn drinks too much coffee, her child might suffer from serious health issues.
Thus, if you are currently pregnant, you should limit your coffee consumption or avoid drinking coffee at all in order to protect your child.
Coffee intolerance
Some people may also suffer from coffee intolerance.
After drinking coffee, they might experience several unpleasant symptoms, which may greatly reduce the overall quality of life of the respective person.
Therefore, if you are one of those people who can’t drink coffee without developing serious symptoms, chances are that you suffer from some sort of intolerance and you should definitely refrain from coffee consumption in such cases.
Coffee can cause skin problems
Some people may also not be able to process ingredients in coffee properly and might therefore suffer from skin problems.
Although this might not be serious in most cases, it can still bother some people and if you are developing skin problems after coffee consumptions and you think it is a serious issue for you, simply refrain from drinking coffee in order to avoid those issues.
Coffee is often produced with poor working conditions
Although several food labels have been developed over time in order to prevent the exploitation of workers in poor countries of our planet, there are still many coffee farmers who get exploited by large coffee companies which only pay quite low wages.
This implies that farmers have to work quite long hours in an exhausting job while only earning enough to survive in most cases.
Thus, in order to avoid this kind of exploitation, make sure to only buy coffee with fair trade labels in order to minimize the chance for exploitation related to the production of coffee.
Drinking coffee is not a magic pill
Many people in our current society rely on certain substances to solve their problems.
However, like with any other substance, coffee is not a magic pill to solve your problems.
Even though it can give you a certain boost in power for a confined period of time, it will not improve your performance in the long run.
Thus, you should rather consider coffee as some kind of supplement that can help you achieve certain goals, but you should never rely on it as some kind of magic pill for success.
Short-term gains vs. long-term problems
Although coffee can help you maximizing your mental strengths in the short run, it can lead to serious problems in the long run.
People often use coffee to boost their overall performance levels in their daily life.
However, many people totally forget that the positive effects of excessive coffee use are only temporary.
For instance, if you think you do not have to sleep too much anymore since coffee will keep you awake anyway, you will suffer from serious issues in the long run.
Top 10 Coffee Pros & Cons – Summary List
| Coffee Pros | Coffee Cons |
|---|---|
| Coffee will make you more productive | Too much of it can be harmful |
| You may get more focussed | Withdrawal symptoms |
| Moderate coffee consumption can be healthy | Headaches |
| Increase in motivation | Aggression |
| Power boost | Nervousness |
| May be good for your digestive system | Mood swings |
| May increase life expectancy | Not suitable during pregnancy |
| Important commodity | Skin problems |
| Millions of jobs in the coffee industry | Coffee intolerance |
| May lower the risk for mental problems | Dehydration |
Should You Drink Coffee?
Drinking coffee has many important advantages and can help us to improve our overall performance in our daily life to a certain extent.
However, excessive coffee consumption also implies serious problems and it is therefore crucial that we confine our coffee consumption to a moderate level.
Only then will it be possible to successfully integrate coffee in our lives and to improve our quality of life in the long run.
If you don’t want to go for coffee, make sure to also check out the pros and cons of tea.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee
https://www.ncausa.org/about-coffee/history-of-coffee
https://www.statista.com/statistics/292595/global-coffee-consumption/
https://edition.cnn.com/2017/09/29/health/coffee-healthy-food-drayer/index.html
About the author
My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people of all ages about our environmental problems and how everyone can make a contribution to mitigate these issues.
As I went to university and got my Master’s degree in Economics, I did plenty of research in the field of Development Economics.
After finishing university, I traveled around the world. From this time on, I wanted to make a contribution to ensure a livable future for the next generations in every part of our beautiful planet.
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