Stick to one cup Coffee a day

Your Health

Up - Study found coffee to be a significant source of antioxidants, protecting against Cancer and Heart Disease. Researchers also found drinking more than four cups daily protects against gallstones and liver cirrhosis. This is thanks to its soluble fibre, which also explains your morning toilet visits.

Down - Coffee doesn't provide the same variety of antioxdants that fruit and veggies do, and they are harder to absorb. And there's a bitter taste in the post-dinner cup: Drunk within an hour of a meal, coffee reduces absorption of iron and immune-boosting zinc.


Your Heart

Up - Easing fear of heartbreaking news for heavy drinkers as researchers found drinking more than six cups of coffee a day didn't increase heart disease risk. Even better news were found men who drank four cups of coffee a day had a 53% lower risk of dying of heart disease than those who never took a sip.

Down - Caffeine constricts your arteries raising your blood pressure. If you do not have hypertension to begin with, the temporary blood pressure increase isn't a problem. Plus, the impact on blood pressure tends to be significantly lower in regular caffeine drinkers because their bodies become tolerant to its effects.


Your Brain Power

Up - Beyond merely preventing you from nodding off during that 9am meeting, one to two cups of coffee before tasks can increase your short term recall and alertness. Caffeine also has a mild mood elevating effect because it releases dopamine, which stimulates the area of your brain responsible for pleasure. In longer term, caffeine has been found to slash your risk of developing Alzheimer by as much as 60 per cent and also drinking four cups a day can halve your risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

Down - Drink more than four cups per day and that caffeine hit merely relieves withdrawal symptoms rather than lifts your mental abilities above the caffeine-free competition. To ensure the java keeps you full of beans, limit yourself to just two cups a day and sink your mug 10 mins before crunch time.


Your Waistline

Up - Caffeine's an appetite suppressant, which also turns up calorie-burning heat of your heart rate and metabolism. Drinking six cups per day combined with exercise and a low-fat diet can boost fat-burning by up to a fifth. Down - Without diet and exercise changes, there's currently no proof it has any significant effect on it's own.


Your Muscles

Up - Caffeine pumps up your nervous system, increasing heart rate and breathing, which primes your body for peak performance. And it may also have direct effect on your muscles. Experts reckon it triggers a release of extra calcium in your muscles, and this means stronger muscle contractions. Down - Other chemical compounds in coffee appear to counteract caffeine's ability to impact your exercise session. So to achieve these positive effects, you're better off using caffeine pills or caffinated energy drinks.


Your Aching Head

Up - Big night? Stick the kettle on. Research found Caffeine increases production of stomach acid, helping your body absorb pain relief drugs more quickly. Down - Go cold turkey and your grey matter won't thank you. Sudden caffeine withdrawal invariably causes headaches, so wean yourself off by cutting your intake by half every other day. Or swap beans: Arabica beans have about 1 per cent caffeine. Roasting reduces caffeine content, so a stronger taste can actually mean lesser caffeine.


And Your Smile

Up - An espresso a day may keep the dentist away. The chemicals in coffee prevent tooth decay by stopping bacteria from attaching to your enamel. Down - A scrape could still be needed. It prevents bacteria from sticking to your enamel by sticking to the enamel itself, which can cause discolouring. Our tips: Brush with a toothpaste containing bicarbonate of soda to keep your whites pearly.


Stoke it your fitness
Study found that the equivalent of a single espresso before exercise can increase your endurance levels by up to 25 per cent, mobilising fatty acids and providing fuel for active muscles. But the downside is that coffee is also a liquid-leeching diuretic - it's up to 10 times less effective than water for replenishing body fluids. And if you drink more than four cups immediately prior to exercise, you could put a potentially lethal strain on your heart.


Advise "Stick to one cup"