Coffee Will Heal You/Save You/Kill You. What's the "Grounds Truth" on Java Studies?

Aug. 19, 2013— -- We use the java bean regularly, whether it’s in a mocha choca frappe or a deeper darker espresso. We’ve had it with caramel and tried it with soy milk. Sometimes we even wash our faces with it or wear leggings filled with it (srsly, weightloss weirdness).

We have a love/hate relationship with coffee, and our skin and moods can attest to the highs and lows that blessed bean brings.

Problem is, all the web does is lie to us about coffee.

Over and over we get misinformation, conflicting data and so much nonsense that it makes us want to scream.

The latest: Coffee will kill you. Thanks!

For instance:

"Coffee will kill you if you drink more than four cups a day (and are under 55)."

Let’s decode that rather frightening headline as we wipe away our latte moustache. A recent report bythe Mayo Clinic suggested that those who chug more than four cups a day are at higher risk of dying and exhibit a host of heart and lung issues.

However, the study also found that a lot of coffee drinkers are also smokers, which adds another element to this whole puzzle. The researchers couldn’t say WHY there were higher health risks in younger drinkers, suggesting that it was potentially due to caffeine stimulation and its related effects. “Coffee has the potential to stimulate the release of epinephrine, inhibit insulin activity, and increase blood pressure," said Xuemei Sui, a co-author on the study.

Doesn’t sound ideal, but if we take our time machine and go back a year, what do we find:

"Older Coffee drinkers have LOWER risk of death"

The National Institutes of Health reported a study that declared “coffee drinkers were less likely to die from heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes, and infections.” The study looked at older adults between 50 and 71. Once again, there were a number of factoids that were vague and variable, such as how the coffee was prepared.