5 Surprising Benefits of Drinking Coffee

For many, coffee is a way of life. You see little placards on office desks and signs that hang in kitchens, with people showing their love and need for coffee. While some might consider coffee to be unhealthy, even likened to energy drinks, there are actually several health benefits you get from your daily cup of joe. Of course, this comes without all of the creamer or sugar, but here are some of the ways that coffee boosts your health.

1. Reduces Chances of Heart Failure

When people think about caffeine, the mind tends to wander on how that can be negative for heart health. However, a study from the American Heart Association said that those who drink one cup of coffee per day are lowering their chances of heart failure by up to 12 percent. Those that drank two daily cups of java saw even lower chances, dropping all the way to 30 percent.

2. Good For the Liver

The liver tends to work overtime for our bodies, especially if we’re consuming one too many adult beverages. One beverage that actually helps your liver, though, is coffee. Multiple studies have seen a link between those that drink coffee on a regular basis and a lower amount of liver cancer diagnoses. On top of that, coffee drinkers have a much lower rate of liver cirrhosis, with four cups per day lowering these rates by up to 65 percent.

3. Coffee Can Help You Lose Weight

With a liver that’s fully operational, your body is more prone to staying at a healthy weight. We touched on how coffee can help your liver, but there are even more weight loss benefits. As a stimulant, coffee does a great job of boosting your metabolism. Those that drank coffee either with their meals or before their meals were likely to eat fewer calories. As an added bonus, coffee drinkers burn off more body fat throughout the day.

4. Reduces Risk of Depression

Coffee acts as a natural anti-inflammatory, which sounds more like it leads to less joint pain, but is also beneficial to your mental health. The properties of coffee also help to block the chemical adenosine that causes feelings of depression. One study showed that coffee drinkers are reducing their risk of depression by about one-third. Dr. Alan Leviton of Harvard University noted that the reduction of chronic illnesses is a big factor in this link.

5. Increases Skin Health

Let’s say that you don’t like the taste of coffee. That’s fine, not everybody does. You can still see massive benefits for your skin health simply with the touch of coffee grounds. When used in an exfoliating scrub, coffee (along with its antioxidant properties) helps to exfoliate skin and reduce the signs of aging. There’s also good news for those that want to drink coffee, as a major study in Japan showed that daily coffee intake reduces signs of aging and hyperpigmentation. So not only does coffee make you feel young when your day is dragging along, but it can also help you look younger, too!