Do you recommend drinking coffee?

The Devil's juice?! I've never heard coffee described that way before!

In an effort for full disclosure, I'm writing this as I'm drinking my first cup of coffee of the day.

There are some people who are very caffeine sensitive and cannot tolerate coffee and some people with heart disease are instructed by their physicians to avoid coffee but if you don't fit either of these categories, drink away!

In fact, 1-2 cups of coffee has been shown to protect your heart, there is also data suggesting that coffee can actually improve exercise performance and I've seen some literature suggesting that coffee has antidepressant properties (I do know that I'm a whole lot happier after I've had my coffee in the morning!)

If you're thinking about having coffee before you exercise, keep in mind that it's a diuretic, so just make sure that you're staying hydrated throughout the day. Exercising dehydrated is never a fun experience.

So in short, I would continue to enjoy your coffee and the health benefits that come along with it!

Hi Sharbel,

Here's the deal with coffee:

1. Although tons of studies show that caffeine increases exercise performance and increases fat mobilization out of fat cells and coffee obviously contains caffeine, most studies show that coffee doesn't increase exercise performance. Dr Terry Graham (probably the world's foremost expert on caffeine and exercise performance) has shown several times that caffeine increases performance. There are also studies showing that tea increases performance but not coffee. There seems to be a chemical or chemicals in coffee that blunt the effects of caffeine.

2. Coffee decreases insulin sensitivity, so it may not be a great idea to have a lot of carbs around the same time you drink coffee. Although, strangely, people who drink a lot of coffee have a lower risk for diabetes and (as Lauren says above) heart disease. It also protects the liver! So overall coffee is a healthy beverage full of antioxidants and health benefits but is not useful for exercise performance and may have small disadvantages for those trying to lose fat and gain muscle (although the positive studies are much stronger than the negative - I still drink a coffee or two per day, just not before training as it seems to curb the benefits of caffeine).

When I'm hardcore dieting, I tend to only drink one coffee a day.

Hi guys,

Does it matter exactly what kind of coffee you're drinking? How does freshly ground coffee compare to the instant stuff?

Also, I drink about a 500ml mug of freshly ground coffee every morning (a cappuccino made in our canteen) and sometimes an additional, also depending on how stressed out I get, 750ml (also freshly ground) from the coffee shop. Is that too much? What is the measurement for "one cup"?

Hi Liam

One cup is about 250mL (slightly different in different countries). Coffee can differ dramatically in caffeine content. Studies show that it can vary from about 100mg of caffeine or a bit less to around 500mg (of course you probably only hit the 500 mark if you order the large size). Even a coffee ordered from the same coffee shop on a different date can have dramatically different caffeine levels. Some types of coffee are higher in caffeine than others but I'd have to look that up and you can probably google it as well as I can.

Just remember, although coffee has proven health benefits for the liver, heart and vascular system, kidney and long-term risk of diabetes, it DOESN'T increase sports performance like straight caffeine or several cups of tea and it messes up your insulin function for a few hours, which COULD (but no one knows for sure) lead to less fat loss, or fat gain, or less glycogen or creatine or protein storage in muscle - someone should do a study on this to find out!!