5 Good Reasons To Drink Coffee

Caffeine helps compensate for loss of strength. Whether you are athletic or not, drinking coffee after physical activity will energize your muscles.

If you have always thought that drinking coffee is a vice, you will be happy to know that, in fact, this drink helps you stay healthy.

If you exercise, caffeine can benefit your body even more. 

Here are 5 good reasons to drink coffee, while maintaining an active lifestyle to fully enjoy the benefits that this drink offers us.

Coffee

Many people start their day with a little coffee, and a recent study found that drinking a cup of coffee promotes weight loss.

This Spanish study was published in the Revista Internacional de Nutrición Deportiva y Metabolismo (International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Metabolism). She found that athletes who consumed caffeine before exercising burned nearly 15 percent more calories during the three hours after exercise than those who ingested a placebo.

To achieve this result, the athletes consumed a dose of 4.5 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight.

Every morning, a 68 kilogram woman can ingest more or less 300 milligrams of caffeine. This amount is equivalent to the amount contained in approximately 12 ounces of brewed coffee.

1. It improves blood circulation

A recent Japanese study looked at the effects of coffee in the bloodstream in people who don’t drink coffee regularly.

Each participant drank a cup containing 5 ounces of regular or decaffeinated coffee. Next, the scientists measured the blood flow in the finger. This made it possible to know what influence coffee has on the smallest blood vessels in the body.

They observed a 30 percent increase in blood flow over a 75-minute period in those who drank coffee with caffeine, compared to those who drank the decaffeinated version.

So drinking coffee in the morning or after a meal helps improve circulation.

2. It reduces muscle pain

Scientists at the University of Illinois have found that consuming caffeine (2-3 cups of coffee) an hour before high-intensity exercise for 30 minutes helps reduce the perception of muscle pain.

The bottom line is that caffeine can help you exercise a little more intensively. This then helps increase muscle strength and / or endurance.

3. It improves memory

A study was published this year by Johns Hopkins University. Thus, drinking coffee improves memory for up to 24 hours after consumption.

Researchers gave people who don’t drink coffee regularly, either a placebo or 200 milligrams of caffeine five minutes after they viewed a series of images.

The next day, they asked the two groups to recall these images. The group that ingested the caffeine performed much better.

This means that coffee can help us improve our memory. Thus, the stimulus it provides to the brain can prove to be very useful and practical in everyday life.

4. It helps preserve muscles

Following a recent study on animals, scientists at Coventry University who specialize in sports have made a discovery. Thus, caffeine helps compensate for the loss of muscle strength that accompanies old age.

The protective effects are observed as well on the diaphragm, the main muscle that we use to breathe, as on the muscles of the skeleton.

The results indicate that moderate caffeine consumption helps maintain overall physical condition. But also to reduce the risk of injuries due to age.

5. It gives energy to the muscles

A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that consuming a small dose of caffeine after physical activity is beneficial for the body, especially for endurance athletes who train day after day.

The study showed that, unlike the consumption of carbohydrates,  the combination of caffeine and carbohydrates produced a 66% increase in muscle glycogen within four hours of intense exercise.

Glycogen is the form in which carbohydrates build up in muscles. It thus acts as a vital energy during exercise to fuel the movements of strength.

Thus, if you have a large reserve of glycogen, you will be able to increase your sports performance. Great news for those who want to drink coffee!