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How nice to start your day with an invigorating cup of coffee! Then drink a couple of at work, at lunch, pull out a girlfriend’s coffee, well, and then skip one more for inspiration … Stop, stop, stop! And how many cups of coffee should I drink during the day?
Who is threatened with caffeine poisoning?
Paracelsus also said: “Everything is a medicine and poison, and only a dose determines both.” These words perfectly characterize the influence of coffee on human health, because the one who uses this drink in moderate amounts, extracts a lot of benefit from it, but the one who abuses – can provoke certain health problems. Unsustainable consumption of coffee can lead to caffeine poisoning, which is characterized by increased nervousness, headaches, tachycardia, insomnia, panic attacks. For people with cardiovascular diseases, this drink is generally contraindicated, since caffeine is a powerful stimulant that promotes increased blood pressure, increased blood circulation, and increased stress on the heart. Those who are too nervous system, it is also better to avoid coffee, however, as well as patients with peptic ulcer, gastritis (with high acidity), diabetes and pancreatitis.
How much coffee can you drink without harm to your health?
The safe dose of coffee depends not on the number of cups drunk, but on the caffeine contained in the drink. After all, one person is used to drinking strong espresso, and the second prefers diluted water. Experts calculate a safe dose, based on the fact that in a single reception in the body of a healthy adult should not exceed 100-200 milligrams of pure caffeine (which is 3 teaspoons of natural ground coffee or 2 teaspoons of soluble). A day is recommended to drink no more than 2-3 such servings of coffee, then the drink will have a mild toning effect, without causing harm to health.
Which coffee is more useful?
The most useful natural coffee, prepared from freshly ground grains. Soluble coffee is inferior to the ground in taste, the strength of the aroma and, of course, in terms of utility. The fact is that instant coffee is deprived of lipids, tannins, vitamins, mineral salts, tannins, carbohydrates and organic acids contained in coffee beans. The only thing that remains in this drink is naked caffeine, which acts on the body more aggressively. The situation with decaffeinated coffee is not any better. The fact is that the removal of caffeine is impossible without organic solvents, which, in the already decaffeinated beverage, form dangerous chemical compounds for the development of oncological processes in the stomach and intestines of a person. That’s why doctors recommend either to give up coffee altogether (if there are health problems), or to try to reduce the caffeine content in the drink in a different way.
How to reduce the concentration of caffeine in coffee?
In different grades of coffee, the amount of caffeine is different. For example, in “Arabica” of this invigorating substance is 30% less than in “robusta”. In addition, brewing a drink can resort to some tricks. So that caffeine does not have time to completely switch from grains to water, brewing time should be reduced to a minimum. To do this, freshly ground grains are not poured cold, as is customary to do, but hot water (can be boiled water). After that, the drink is put on the fire and brought to a boil. Further it should be immediately filtered and poured into cups.
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How much caffeine is contained in the cup of espresso?
The amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee can vary depending on the degree of roasting of the grains and the method of preparation of the drink. According to the American National Association of Soft Drinks Manufacturers, the European cup contains 115-175 mg of caffeine, espresso 80-100 mg of caffeine (twice the concentration of this substance above), American coffee 80-135 mg, cappuccino – 70-80 mg, in soluble – 65-100 mg, and in decaffeinated – 3-4 mg of caffeine. However, do not forget that the digestibility of caffeine also depends on many factors, for example, on the absence or presence of coffee, milk, sugar and other additives in a cup of coffee. So, the espresso of caffeine can be the same as in coffee in American style, but the concentration of this substance in the first case will be higher because of the small amount of water, hence, and the digestibility of espresso will be more rapid. But cappuccino or americano with milk will be absorbed more slowly, which means that the effect of caffeine on such drinks will be less aggressive.