How many cups of coffee a day is healthy?

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September 14, 2022

How many cups of coffee a day is healthy?

Is coffee healthy or unhealthy? The answer to this question is: that coffee can be healthy if you don't drink too many cups a day. If you do, coffee can be unhealthy again. The boundary between healthy and unhealthy differs per person, but in general you can say that healthy people should drink five or six cups of coffee a day.

What makes coffee healthy?

Coffee is not healthy because of the caffeine it contains. This temporarily provides extra energy, alertness and concentration, but you can hardly call that healthy. The healthy component of coffee is the antioxidants it contains. These reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke and other (chronic) diseases. It is best in this regard to drink filtered coffee from a filter coffee machine . Unfiltered coffee contains cafestol, which raises cholesterol and thus increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

And what about caffeine?

In small amounts, caffeine temporarily provides extra energy, alertness and concentration. It works pretty fast. You will notice the effects after half an hour. Too much caffeine is not good for you. It can make you restless, even anxious, and cause sleeping problems or headaches. But what is too much? The nutrition center recommends the following maximum amounts of caffeine for different population groups:

  • Healthy adults: 400 milligrams
  • Children up to 13 years: 0 milligrams
  • Children aged 13 to 18: 80 milligrams
  • Pregnant and breastfeeding women: 200 milligrams

At these numbers, caffeine has no harmful effects. Incidentally, men in the Netherlands consume an average of 600 milligrams of caffeine and women 500 milligrams. Virtually no one has these amounts of complaints.

Translation to cups of coffee

Caffeine is not only found in coffee, but also in tea, cola, energy drinks and chocolate. You can use the following values per unit:

  • Cup of filter coffee (125 ml): 56 milligrams
  • Cup of espresso (50 ml): 67 milligrams
  • Cup of black tea (125 ml): 28 milligrams
  • Cup of green tea (125 ml): 19 milligrams
  • Cola (glass 200 ml): 22 milligrams
  • Energy drink (250 ml can): 80 milligrams
  • Chocolate milk (180 ml cup): 8 milligrams
  • Powdered chocolate milk (180 ml cup): 30 milligrams
  • Dark chocolate (2 cubes): 7 milligrams
  • Milk chocolate (2 cubes): 2 milligrams

From these figures from the Nutrition Center you can conclude that the following amounts are justified:

  • Healthy adults: five to six cups
  • Children up to 13 years: 0 cups
  • Children from 13 to 18 years: one cup
  • Pregnant and breastfeeding women: two to three cups

These are of course averages. You may be able to handle more caffeine on your own, or less. Just pay close attention to the signals your body is giving you. If you want to consume less caffeine, but still enjoy a few cups of coffee a day, decaffeinated coffee may be an alternative. It contains only 2 to 4 milligrams of caffeine per cup.

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