With designer coffee shops dispensing lattes on almost every corner, supermarket aisles overflowing with flavored beans and even episodic soap opera coffee commercials on prime time TV, is there any doubt caffeine is an essential part of the fabric of American life?
Perhaps more than alcohol, coffee is the country’s drug of choice: It wakes us up, calms us down, is a part of our meals, and frequently accompanies business and social intercourse.
On any given day in 1996, about 49 percent of the American adult population drinks coffee, says Robert Nelson, president of the American Coffee Association, a coffee industry trade organization. And an average coffee drinker downs 3.7 cups a day.
It’s a lot of java but not as much as in 1962 when 75 percent of Americans were drinking an average of 4.2 cups of coffee each day.
But is all this coffee/caffeine good for us?
The news is pretty good.
“For most people, if coffee is drunk in reasonable amounts, it presents little problem,” says John B. Allred, professor of nutrition at Ohio State University.
Unlike alcohol, coffee seldom is blamed for traffic accidents, marital breakups and fatal diseases.
That doesn’t mean coffee is completely safe.
People with accelerated or irregular heartbeats, those with high blood pressure, and people taking beta blocker drugs, for instance, should talk to their physicians about drinking coffee or other beverages containing caffeine, says Allred.
“But if you don’t have disease or aren’t on medication, (a couple of cups of coffee a day are) not a real problem.”
Caffeine, the primary active component in coffee, tends to exaggerate the response of some hormones, adrenaline in particular.
For example, if you do something to stimulate adrenaline response, such as heavy physical exertion or another stressful activity, caffeine will enhance the adrenaline and extend its power.
The heart will beat faster, arteries will constrict and fat will be mobilized as energy, Allred says. That is why some marathon runners believe caffeine can improve their performance and why consumption is restricted by the International Olympic Committee rules.
The downside is that a lot of coffee can put extra strain on the heart because it increases its rate. This is especially true if the heart is already working fast, as it does in a long distance race.
The caffeine itself doesn’t cause an energy surge, says Allred, but it prolongs the effect of the adrenaline.
That added stimulus is something the body may get used to, though Allred stops short of calling it an addictive drug.
“Your cells may adapt to it for an extra boost. And if you stop quickly, you could get a reaction,” he says.
One study at Johns Hopkins University found some people had withdrawal symptoms after going cold turkey on doses as low as one cup a day.
Headaches probably are the most common withdrawal response, probably because the blood vessels become dilated without the caffeine/adrenaline stimulus.
And what about other ill effects?
— Birth defects: Research on whether heavy caffeine consumption is dangerous for pregnant women tends to fluctuate. Several years ago, laboratory studies in which caffeine was added to tissue cultures predicted caffeine might interfere with development of a fetus because it has a similar molecular structure to nucleic acids, the building blocks of living cells.
But there have been few clinical studies to support that theory and there is little evidence that two cups of coffee a day should have any effect on a developing baby, Allred says.
Nevertheless, the American Dietetic Association officially advises pregnant women not to consume caffeine, and, if they do, to do so in moderation, says Kathleen Zelman, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the ADA.
“Still, scores of pregnant women continue to drink coffee without any ill effects,” she says.
— Cancer: Although a few studies have linked coffee to several forms of cancer, many more have not. The American Cancer Society and the World Health Organization have stated there is no known association between coffee, tea or other caffeinated beverages and cancer.
— Osteoporosis: According to some research, heavy coffee drinking may lead to a decrease in bone density in older persons, because caffeine tends to accelerate the use of calcium stores. However, this is offset by getting adequate calcium in the diet.
People have been consuming caffeine for at least 500 years. Its presence today is ubiquitous: It can be found in coffees, teas, colas, chocolate and some soft drinks such as Mountain Dew.
Because coffee is a stimulant, the best advice is to drink it in moderation, probably no more than three cups a day, says Zelman. She advises those who want to cut back on coffee or to stop altogether to taper off slowly.
“Try to reduce your servings from three to two and then to one,” she says. “Or try mixing regular coffee with decaf before brewing. Then reduce the proportion of caffeinated until you get all decaf.”
Some may complain that the proliferation of coffee outlets promotes more coffee consumption, says Zelman. But they also are providing alternatives for the no-caffeine crowd. They can just as easily hang out sipping a decaf cappuccino or cafe au lait.
“You can even get it with skim milk,” she says.
Steven Pratt’s e-mail address is SMPratt@aol.com
CREAM WITH YOUR COFFEE?
What do coffee and thigh reduction creams have in common?
Aminophylline, the active ingredient in those recently popular salves that promise to eat away leg fat, has a molecular structure very similar to caffeine.
Theoretically it operates on your thighs just like caffeine does in the body: by mobilizing the fat from the cells, says John B. Allred, professor of nutrition at Ohio State University.
“But there’s no evidence that the compound will be absorbed through the skin. It might work if you somehow could find a method of injecting aminophylline directly into the fat cells.”
