Food Safety | Are you drinking coffee correctly? Here is the correct way to open it

Brewing a cup of coffee in the morning to refresh the mind has become a habit for many office workers. Some people also say that drinking coffee can cause cancer. So is there any scientific basis for this controversy about the harm to human health?

The claim that coffee causes cancer is not groundless, because coffee beans need to be roasted during the coffee production process, which produces acrylamide. Studies have shown that large doses of acrylamide have shown certain neurotoxicity and carcinogenic risks in animal experiments, but there is currently a lack of evidence of its relevance to human carcinogenesis. In real life, acrylamide is widely present in the food processing industry. For example, baked foods such as potato chips, biscuits, and popcorn, fried foods, grilled foods, and puffed foods all contain a certain amount of acrylamide. In a normal diet, the intake is far below the dangerous level, and more attention should be paid to the "high fat" and "high sodium" problems. Therefore, eat less baked foods of all kinds, especially high-oil and high-sugar baked foods, and eat a balanced diet.

Coffee has become a part of modern life. Drinking coffee has many health benefits. For example, coffee is rich in caffeine, which is a substance that can burn fat and is one of the few known substances that can help adipose tissue mobilize fat and improve metabolism. Therefore, drinking coffee has a certain fat-reducing effect. Coffee also contains phenolic substances, which are good antioxidants that can help remove sweet free radicals and delay aging.

In addition, drinking coffee can also reduce the risk of diabetes, gout, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. A study of one million people showed that people who drink coffee every day have a 25% to 31% lower risk of diabetes than those who do not drink coffee. Studies have also shown that coffee has the effect of reducing serum uric acid levels and the risk of gout. Men who drink 4 to 5 cups and 6 cups of coffee a day can reduce the incidence of gout by 40% and 59%; women who consume 1 to 3 cups and more than 4 cups of coffee a day can reduce the risk of gout by 20% and 57%. The reason why coffee has this benefit is probably because of the large amount of potassium or other special ingredients in it. Other studies have found that there is a dose-related protective effect between coffee consumption and the reduced risk of cardiovascular events and the reduced mortality from cardiovascular disease. Appropriate coffee consumption can reduce the long-term risk of chronic cardiovascular disease.

Drinking coffee in moderation has certain benefits. To drink coffee healthily, you should keep the following points in mind:

Drink coffee in moderation. The recommended maximum intake for an average adult is 3 to 5 cups. Drinking more than 5 cups may cause negative reactions. For example, excessive caffeine intake can affect the heart, causing a faster heartbeat or even an irregular heartbeat, which can trigger a heart attack.

Drink freshly brewed black coffee. Try to choose freshly brewed, hand-brewed black coffee and avoid drinking three-in-one instant coffee. Because instant coffee contains a lot of sugar and fat, which is not good for health.

Do not drink on an empty stomach. Drinking coffee on an empty stomach will put a heavy burden on the gastrointestinal tract. The best time to drink coffee is after breakfast or lunch, which helps promote gastrointestinal motility and aid digestion.

Finally, I would like to remind everyone that if you experience discomfort such as accelerated heartbeat, nausea, dizziness, etc. after drinking coffee, which is similar to the phenomenon of "tea drunkenness", it means that there is too much caffeine in the body and you need to adjust and reduce your coffee intake in time.

Experts interviewed: Gu Zhongyi, Director of Beijing Nutritionist Association and Beijing Nutrition Society