Many of us have a common question: How many cups of coffee can I drink per day without dying in the attempt?
Things are not good neither in excess nor in defect, so moderation is always recommended to get the best effects. Applied to coffee In what does moderate consumption translate? How many cups of coffee can we take per day without doing any harm to our selves?
Coffee has practically no calories input but has increased levels of caffeine, which is a powerful stimulant to the central nervous system of the human body. What does this mean? We do not desire to always be like a motorcycle because, in the end, our body will bear the consequences.
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How much coffee can I drink per day?
The average consumption of caffeine is recommended up to a maximum of 300 milligrams or about 3 cups of coffee per day for a healthy individual. Although in some medical blogs they mention that we can go up to 400 milligrams.
This daily volume of caffeine is approximately equivalent to:
- About 5 shots of espresso
- 1 extra large cup from Starbucks
- 5 cans of energy drink (e.g. Red Bull)
- 11 bottles of Coke
A cup of coffee includes on average between 80 and 90 milligrams of caffeine and, for instance, a cup of black tea about 40-50 milligrams. Let’s see some examples:
- Espresso coffee shot (60ml) 80mg
- French press coffee (200ml) 90mg
- Black tea (220ml) 50mg
- Can of Coke (355ml) 40mg
- Energy drink (250ml) 80mg
- A bar of dark chocolate (50g) 25mg
- A bar of milk chocolate (50g) 10mg
According to the European Food Safety Authority, it is harmless to get up to 400mg of daily caffeine for an individual, and 200mg in a single shot just before taking an intense activity, like sports.
We are presenting here below an interesting table in which it is addressed the consumption of caffeine by age:
Over 75 years 22-417mg
Between 65 and 75 years 23-362mg
Adults (18-65 years) 37-319mg
Youths (10-18 years old) 0.4-1.4mg / kg
Children (3-10 years) 0.2-2.0mg / kg
Babies (12-36 months) 0-2.1mg / kg
Do not take caffeine before sleeping at night, or it is possible that only 100 mg of this powerful stimulant may keep you awake or cause sleeping disorders. This is the general practice, but then many cases must be taken into account:
Caffeine: 20 years of scientific study
Despite 20 years of research, many of us still prefer coffee without caffeine because they think that harms their health. However, a recent study shows that in balance – a few cups of coffee daily – it is a safe beverage that may even give some benefits to our health.
This recent analysis has not only proved that modest consumption of coffee does not do harm, but also potential benefits have been identified.
Coffee may decrease the risk of developing gallstones, discourage the cancer development of human colon, enhance the cognitive capacity, decrease the risk of liver damage in people at high risk of liver disease, and decrease the risk of Parkinson’s syndrome.
Caffeine has also been proved to enhance performance in long-term physical activities.
So all you have to do is get a good coffee maker with grinder or not, a decent quality of coffee beans and enjoy your coffee mugs every single day. You will be grateful for the health benefits in the long run.
Source: Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School.
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