For years now, coffee has been one of the top most popular beverages in the world. While this is true, coffee consumers have heard conflicting facts about their favorite drink—it does wonders for your health, but does so at a poor cost. With all the studies and research happening in the coffee industry, it gets difficult and confusing to separate the fact from fiction.
Since we are on a mission to help you understand and appreciate all aspects of coffee, we thought this would be a good time to bust some of the most common myths surrounding coffee.
Myth 1: Coffee Causes Dehydration
While caffeinated beverages like coffee may have some diuretic effect, meaning they can make you want to urinate, it has not been proven that coffee increases the risk of dehydration. It’s certainly not as hydrating as plain water, but a cup of coffee won’t hurt.
Myth 2: Decaf Won’t Give You a Buzz
Decaffeinated coffee means that almost all of the caffeine from the coffee beans has been removed. Since the caffeine is not completely eliminated, it doesn’t actually mean that it’s completely free of caffeine. Studies have even found that drinking five cups of decaf coffee, can have the same amount of caffeine as one or two cups of caffeinated coffee.
Myth 3: Coffee Helps You Lose Weight
Caffeine is an active ingredient in many weight-loss products and it does temporarily suppress your appetite, but drinking a cup or two every day does not have the dramatic effects that you may expect, And, drinking several cups a day may cause problems like increased heart rate and blood pressure. Coffee isn’t the fast weight-loss fix, and can’t nip obesity in the bud, especially if you take your coffee with cream and sugar.
Myth 4: Coffee Cures Hangovers
No matter how magical that sounds, it’s far from the truth. Coffee does not suppress or slow the effects of alcohol. Coffee simply boosts your energy, which gives you the false impression of sobriety, but you may very well still be under the influence. Contrary to common belief, the combination of caffeine and alcohol can actually be potentially toxic in your system.
Myth 5: Coffee Makes You Stay Awake at Night
If you’re a regular coffee drinker, you’ve surely heard this more than a few times. Coffee actually only stays in your body for about six hours at the most, so what you drink by afternoon will have little if any effect on your sleep. If you do drink your coffee late into the night, then it will, in fact, make you stay awake longer. Also, people who have sleep problems process caffeine at a slower rate, so for those drinkers, it’s best to consume coffee only in the morning.
Have you heard any coffee myths that need busting, or do you have unanswered coffee questions? Share them with us here, and we would be happy to help you! For all of your coffee and tea needs, please be sure to visit us at CoffeeAM!
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