Start networking and exchanging professional insights

Register now or log in to join your professional community.

Follow

About how many cups of coffee does the average person drink daily?

All I want to know How many cups of coffee should we take daily , me personally have more than4-5 cups , How many cups do you take per day ?

user-image
Question added by Shaik Sayed Md Rashidul Hossain , Deputy Manager , BRAC
Date Posted: 2017/05/27

To be honest, I never thought about how many cups of coffee I drink per day. I recently purchased a new coffee machine that can use coffee capsules. By the way, I can recommend them to you, because the quality is at the highest level, look at this site. Now I can count how many capsules I use per day, which is somewhere around 5-6 cups.

The active ingredient in coffee is caffeine, the most commonly consumed psychoactive substance in the world.

The caffeine content in a cup of coffee is highly variable, ranging from to+ mg per cup.

A small home-brewed cup of coffee could contain mg, while a big oz Starbucks grande can contain over mg.

As a general rule, you can assume that an average8 ounce cup of coffee contains around mg of caffeine.

Several sources suggest that mg of caffeine, or4 cups of coffee, are safe for most healthy adults .

However, many people (including myself) drink much more than that without any issues.

Keep in mind that there are many other sources of caffeine besides coffee, including tea, soft drinks, energy drinks, chocolate and certain medications

Bottom Line: The amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee can range from to over mg. Many sources recommend mg of caffeine per day as the safe upper limit for healthy adults.

 

Short-Term Symptoms of Too Much Caffeine

When it comes to the health effects of coffee, there are both short- and long-term symptoms.

Let’s talk about the short-term symptoms first, which are mostly related to the caffeine itself.

Caffeine works primarily in the brain, where it affects the function of neurotransmitters and exerts a stimulant effect.

If you drink too much coffee in a short amount of time, you will experience symptoms mostly related to your brain and digestive system.

Here are some common symptoms of ingesting too much caffeine:

  • Restlessness.
  • Anxiety.
  • Dizziness.
  • Upset stomach.
  • Irritability.
  • Insomnia.
  • Fast heartbeat.
  • Tremors.

If you experience such symptoms after drinking coffee, then you may be sensitive to caffeine and may want to cut back your intake (or simply avoid caffeine altogether).

It is possible to die from a caffeine overdose, but this is next to impossible to do with coffee alone. You would have to drink more than cups in a single day.

Bottom Line: Ingesting too much caffeine can cause various symptoms, mostly related to the brain and digestive system.

 

Coffee Drinkers Have a Lower Risk of Some Diseases

Coffee consumption has also been linked to reduced risk of various diseases.

Here are some of the main findings:

    • Type2 Diabetes: The more coffee people drink, the lower the risk of type2 diabetes. One study found a7% decrease for each daily cup .

 

    • Liver Cirrhosis: Drinking4 or more cups of coffee brings the greatest reduction (up to%) in liver cirrhosis, a severe consequence of some liver diseases.

 

    • Liver Cancer: The risk of liver cancer is reduced by% for each2 daily cups per day.

 

    • Alzheimer’s Disease: In one study,3-5 cups per day were linked to a% decreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease .

 

    • Parkinson’s Disease: Coffee is linked to a reduced risk of Parkinson’s, with the greatest reduction seen at5+ cups per day.

 

  • Depression: Studies have shown that4+ cups of coffee per day are linked to a% lower risk of depression and% lower risk of suicide .

Looking at this, aiming for4-5 cups of coffee (or more) seems to be optimal.

It’s important to keep in mind that all of these studies are observational in nature. These studies can not prove that coffee caused the reduction in disease, only that the coffee drinkers were less likely to get the disease.

However, given that the results are strong and consistent among many studies, it seems like there could be some truth to them.

In most cases, decaf coffee should have the same beneficial effects. An exception is Parkinson’s disease, which seems to be primarily affected by the caffeine.

Bottom Line: Coffee consumption has been linked to a reduced risk of many diseases, with the greatest effects seen at around4-5+ cups per day.

 

Caffeine Should be Minimized (or Avoided) During Pregnancy

In pregnant women, caffeine can cross the placenta and reach the fetus, which has problems metabolizing caffeine.

Some studies have linked a high consumption of caffeine in pregnancy to increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery and lower birth weight .

It is generally recommended that women limit their intake to- mg of caffeine per day (about1-2 cups of coffee).

However, many experts recommend avoiding coffee completely during pregnancy. If you want to be absolutely safe, then this is a smart choice.

Bottom Line: Concerns have been raised about caffeine in pregnancy, and it is generally recommended to avoid or minimize coffee when pregnant.

4-5 Cups May be The Sweet Spot

 

From looking at the evidence, it seems like4-5 cups per day may be the optimal amount to drink.

This amount is linked to the lowest risk of premature death, and a lower risk of numerous common diseases, some of which affect hundreds of millions of people.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that people need to drink coffee.

People who are caffeine sensitive, have certain medical conditions or simply don’t like coffee, should definitely avoid it.

Also, if you like coffee but it tends to give you anxiety or interfere with your sleep, then you may be doing more harm than good.

It’s important to remember that it is easy to negate the benefits of coffee by adding sugar or other unhealthy, high-calorie ingredients to it.

For some tips on getting the maximum amount of benefit from your coffee, read this article on 8 ways to make your coffee super healthy.

Take Home Message

For people who enjoy drinking coffee, there is very little evidence of harm and plenty of evidence of benefit.

Even though4-5 cups per day may be optimal, many people can tolerate more than that without any problems.

If you like drinking a lot of coffee, then there doesn’t seem to be any good reason to discourage it.

I personally average around5-6 cups per day. Some days more, some days less.

I’ve been drinking this amount for years now, and my health has never been better.

 

 

Babar Khan
by Babar Khan , General Manager (GM) , IMG II, LLC

1 to 2 cups are fine, though the caffeine presence in the coffee is not good for health.

More Questions Like This