Caffeine is the most widely used substance on the planet. Are there health benefits from caffeine or is most of the world just poisoning themselves?
We’ve dug through our archives and put together a list of some of the possible caffeine health benefits according to different studies that have been conducted over the years.
21 Possible Caffeine Health Benefits
1- In Japan, researchers have shown that caffeine increases memory. Also, a newer study out of Johns Hopkins University showed that a 200mg caffeine pill helped boost memory consolidation.
2- Caffeine mixed with carbs replenishes muscle glycogen concentrations faster after exercise.
3- Caffeine detoxes the liver and cleanses the colon when taken as a caffeine enema.
4- Caffeine helps keep you alert while driving during periods of sleep restriction. Here’s the research
5- Caffeine can stimulate hair growth on balding men and women.
6- Caffeine relieves post-workout muscle pain by up to 48%.
7- Caffeine helps ward off Alzheimer’s.
8- Caffeine increases stamina during exercise.
9- Caffeine protects against eyelid spasm.
10- Caffeine may protect against Cataracts.
11- Caffeine may prevent skin cancer. A new study out of Rutgers University found that caffeine prevented skin cancer in hairless mice. Another study showed that caffeinated coffee drinkers have less risk of developing melanoma.
12- People who consume caffeine have a lower risk of suicide.
13- Caffeine may reduce fatty liver in those with non-alcohol related fatty liver disease. This study comes out of Duke University.
14- Caffeine is shown to reduce liver fibrosis risk in patients with hepatitis C. As little as 100 mg per day is believed to have protective benefits.
15- Caffeine consuming men showed increased semen volume and significantly less sperm DNA fragmentation than non-caffeine consuming men.
16- Men who consume 250-375mg of caffeine per day have a much lower risk of developing ED (erectile dysfunction). Reduced risk was even observed among men consuming as little as 85mg of caffeine daily. This research was conducted by The University of Texas Medical School.
17- Caffeine may prevent ringing in the ears (tinnitus) in women: A study recently published in The American Journal of Medicine followed a group of 65,085 nurses since 1991. The women who consumed the most caffeine had the lowest incidences of tinnitus reported.
18- Caffeine Reduces Kidney Stone Risk. In a large 217,883 person study, those that consumed caffeine from any source had less kidney stone formation than those that did not consume caffeine. The researchers believe that this is because caffeine makes urine more dilute.
19- Caffeine improves reaction time and logical reasoning during times when sleep isn’t possible or restricted.
20- Caffeine helps those with asthma. A study published in the U.S. National Library of Medicine concluded that caffeine seems to open airways and help asthmatics breathe easier similarly to theophylline a drug currently used and one that’s a close cousin to caffeine. The study.
21- Reduces Driver Error: A recent study conducted by the Australian Department of Defence found that caffeine consumption improves driving performance and reduces driver error. Caffeinated gum was used in the study on soldiers that had been sleep-deprived for 50 hours.
There can be negative health consequences from consuming too much caffeine, so don’t go too crazy.
Also some of the benefits of caffeine have only been researched within the context of caffeinated coffee.
Here are some further health benefits when the caffeine is consumed via coffee.
It is also interesting that these benefits didn’t carry over to those that drank decaffeinated coffee.
Caffeinated Coffee Health Benefits
1- Caffeinated coffee cuts mouth and throat cancer risk by 50%.
2- Coffee can reduce the risk of stroke as much as 22%.
3- Shown to reduce the risk of several types of cancer.
4- Heart rhythm disturbance hospitalizations decrease with coffee drinkers.
5- Coffee decreases the risk of type 2 diabetes.
6- Caffeinated Coffee may help with weight loss. Research out of Melbourne, Australia is finding that study participants are reporting decreased appetite when drinking regular coffee as opposed to decaf or caffeine tablets as part of an ongoing study.
7- People who drink at least 4 coffees or teas have lower blood pressure according to a new study out of Paris. Tea drinkers had the most blood pressure benefit, while coffee drinkers had just slightly less.
8- Research out of Greece shows that Greek boiled coffee may increase longevity and heart health.
While this list might seem like a green light for caffeine consumption, it does come with a few caveats. In most cases the caffeine health benefits were realized by those who consumed moderate coffee/caffeine amounts. Also in some of the studies above, the caffeine was concentrated and applied directly to the body area being researched, i.e. cataracts and baldness etc.. Therefore, dietary caffeine would not produce the same results.
We can conclude that caffeine consumed via natural sources is probably the best since many of the health benefits of caffeine are probably largely due to the high antioxidant levels found in regular coffee and tea.