• Question: Is coffee good for you? /:

    Asked by reem to Amy, Karen, Sarah, Vijay, Will on 11 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Will Reynolds

      Will Reynolds answered on 11 Jun 2012:

      Hi reem. Good question. This is actually a question still being debated by scientists. Caffine can improve your concentration and wake you up which is why lots of people including me, drink lots of tea and coffee. Too much cafine (more than 300 mg a day, which is 4-8 cups depending on strength) is bad for your liver because it has to be cleaned out of your blood. However coffee also contains other beneficial compounds like antioxidants and things called polyphenols which have been shown by some scientists to be good for your liver. So the answer is I don’t know and there are lots of people still trying to determine that right now! Thanks for your question.

    • Photo: Karen Reed

      Karen Reed answered on 11 Jun 2012:

      I’d say in large quantities is not good for you, but in small quantities its probaly fine and probably has some health benefits. But for me, its certainly bad for me as I get horid migrains from drinking coffee (and tea).

    • Photo: Amy Birch

      Amy Birch answered on 11 Jun 2012:

      Hi reem, Coffee can be good if you need some energy or to wake up but too much coffee is definitely bad for you! This is because of the caffeine in it. There was a cool study done by NASA in the 90s that gave spiders different types of drugs and then looked at the differences in how they made their webs. It is very surprising how much caffeine affected the spiders! You can read about it here: http://caffeineweb.com/?p=15
      Also, if you drink too much coffee this may stop you getting to sleep which is also a bad thing!

    • Photo: Sarah Martin

      Sarah Martin answered on 11 Jun 2012:

      Hi reem, Will’s given a great breakdown with the pros and cons – “everything in moderation” is a good way to think about it. The other thing is that drinking coffee makes you wee more, so you have to also drink more water to stay hydrated. Being dehydrated isn’t good for you and gives you headaches! Do you like coffee?

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