What coffee myths do you wish would vanish?
Jessica Mason
Table of Contents
Myth: Coffee Helps You Lose Weight
The number one myth I regularly hear about coffee is that it helps you to lose weight. Caffeine can increase your metabolism slightly, but you would need to drink gallons of coffee every day to see or feel any benefits. While caffeine may reduce your desire to eat for a short time, the effects wear off quickly. One positive about drinking coffee when trying to lose weight is that it will make you feel more alert, meaning you are more likely to want to exercise.
On a similar note, it is often said that caffeine can make you dehydrated. While this is true, the amount of water that a cup of coffee contains cancels out any dehydrating effects of caffeine. If you drink a lot of coffee shots such as espresso you may experience dehydration, but you will be fine with your regular morning cup of coffee.
Myth: You Have to Warm Your Cup
Here’s a simple experiment you can perform if you’re convinced that heating an espresso cup is necessary for keeping coffee at the right temperature.
Take two cups.
The first one should be about 72 degrees, which is room temperature. The other should be heated in boiling water. Remove the cup from boiling water and fill both cups with hot coffee. 15 seconds after extraction measure the coffee’s temperature.
I measure a one-degree difference in the two cups, but I badly scald my fingers with a preheated cup! The handle is helpful.
Repeating this a couple of times, it’s nearly the same with a 0.4-degree deviation. So, make sure your cup is hot, or else your espresso will be cold? Most likely not.
Jamie Hickey
Matt Woodburn-Simmonds
Myth: Caffeine Can Improve Performance at Work
The one myth I wish would disappear forever is that coffee, or more specifically caffeine, improves performance at work. Caffeine gives you energy and gets everything firing but doesn’t make you any better at performing tasks, especially complex ones. If you’re doing something simple and repetitive, you may get a small boost from a cup of coffee, but it will disappear as you get more tolerant to caffeine.
A tired brain filled with caffeine will be no better at a complex task than a tired brain with no caffeine. Coffee is delicious, has health benefits, and is a greatly enjoyable social drink, but can we stop pretending that it gives us mini-superpowers?
Myth: Coffee is Unhealthy
Coffee is a superfood that has a lot of myths surrounding it. There is one coffee myth that I highly dislike and that I wish would disappear. The myth is that coffee has zero health benefits.
A lot of people don’t believe coffee can be healthy for you. In fact, they believe coffee is actually unhealthy. In reality, a number of scientific studies have linked [coffee] to a variety of health benefits.
It can decrease the risk of developing depression. Over 200 studies have found drinking three to four cups of coffee a day can contribute to living a longer life. It has even been linked to improved lung function.
Ali Redmond
Lucas Travis
Myth: Afternoon Coffee will Make You an Insomniac
Caffeine acts as a stimulant. Nonetheless, the coffee in your post-lunch mug is metabolized quickly by the liver, and virtually all of it (about 75 percent) is washed out of your system for about four to seven hours. So, if you drink your second cup at 3 p.m., it’ll be entirely gone by night.
Myth: Coffee Makes You Infertile
This is the [prevailing] belief in our hometown. I remember my father preventing me from drinking more than one cup of coffee in a day as it causes impotence and infertility. There even came a time when he went wherever I went in the house just to make sure I would be able to sire an heir in the future.
Tony Grenier
James Ville
Myth: Coffee Sobers You Up
One of the myths about coffee that needs to go away is that coffee sobers you up. It does make intoxicated people more alert, but there is no evidence that it makes them less intoxicated. Also, all coffee does not contain the same amount of caffeine. It truly depends on the cup being brewed.
Myth: The More You Roast, the Stronger the Coffee
The one myth that I wish would vanish is that the more you roast the beans, the stronger the coffee would turn out to be.
This is far from the truth as roasting does not affect the amount of caffeine in the beans. To make strong coffee, you need to add more beans instead of roasting it mindlessly. You should also try a variety of beans as all beans do not have the same amount of caffeine.
Sandra Blair
Christopher Anson
Three Common Coffee Myths
The top coffee myth that we’d wish would disappear is that a cup of coffee will sober you up. This assumption is simply not true. Coffee does not reverse the negative cognitive impacts of alcohol, nor does it speed up the metabolism of the alcohol already in your system. The caffeine of coffee will help make a drunk person more alert, but it won’t make you feel instantly sober.
Don’t be fooled by this myth! If you want to sober up quickly after having a few drinks, focus on rehydration and replenishing your lost electrolytes. Drink some water and maybe even have a sports drink too to restock on those key vitamins and minerals. Eat other foods to raise your blood sugar levels, too.
We bet you’ve also heard that coffee can help you lose weight. Unfortunately, this is a bit of a myth, too. The caffeine that coffee provides can slightly increase your metabolism, which is a key component of any weight loss strategy. However, that small speed increase won’t be significant enough to make a dent in your progress. Caffeine may also reduce your desire to eat for a small amount of time, but there is insufficient evidence to show that long-term coffee consumption can aid in weight loss.
So, can coffee support your weight loss strategy? Maybe just a bit. However, it likely won’t provide enough support to make a significant dent in your progress. It’s best to just focus on proper nutrition and regular exercise instead.
There’s another myth that has been around for decades that we just absolutely hate. Have you ever heard the expression that coffee stunts your growth? It’s been a popular saying for many years, but it has no factual basis in reality. There is no scientific evidence that supports this theory and it’s unclear how coffee could even inhibit your growth. If you ever hear another person repeat this myth, make sure you correct them.
Myth: Coffee Stains your Teeth
The myth is that coffee stains your teeth. False. Coffee’s main ingredient is water, so there are no harsh acids in the drink to eat away tooth enamel or create tiny cracks in dental enamel allowing bacteria to accumulate inside your mouth, eventually leading to cavities.
Jenna Lofton
Tim Mitchum
Myth: Espresso Contains More Caffeine Than a Regular Cup of Coffee
One pervasive myth is that espresso contains more caffeine than regular coffee. The myth came from the fact that espresso has a stronger taste. However, it’s simply more concentrated due to its lower water content. Caffeine content depends on several factors such as the type of coffee and the brewing method that was used.
Three Coffee Myths
Myth 1: If you’re pregnant, you should give up coffee
Many women think that coffee is the reason so many babies are born with low birth weights. They believe that the caffeine in coffee will be passed to her unborn baby through the placenta and cause the baby to grow too fast too early, causing low birth weight. That doesn’t happen! A fetus doesn’t absorb caffeine until after birth. Busting this myth was important for me, because I loathed it when my pregnant friends refused to have coffee with me.
Myth 2: Coffee is addictive
Many coffee drinkers believe that if they give it up for a few days, they’ll go through withdrawal symptoms. Caffeine is a drug and can be habit-forming. If you’re drinking one to two cups per day, there’s no evidence that you’ll have withdrawal symptoms when you stop. The average person notices an effect from the caffeine in about 20 minutes after consuming it and feels the peak effect about 60 minutes after that. That’s the time you usually feel the need to have your second cup of coffee.
Myth 3: Coffee should be hidden in milk or sweetener
To discourage someone from drinking coffee, people often hide the coffee in milk or add sweetener. That is a huge mistake! Coffee is meant to be enjoyed as black as possible, preferably with one of those java spoons. If you’re going to have milk in your latte, introduce it gradually, stirring until it starts to come together in a smooth creaminess.
Lynda Fairly
Leo Young
Myth: You Need Expensive Equipment to Make Good Coffee
If there is one myth I wish would disappear, it is that you need super expensive equipment to make a good cup of coffee. You don’t need a large, expensive coffee machine that takes up a lot of counter space. The coffee beans are more important than the machinery. All you need is a French press or a simple plunger. The higher the quality of the coffee, the less important the coffee machine becomes.
Instant Coffee is Bad and Other Myths
Myth 1: People with heart troubles should drink decaf coffee
Coffee does not cause any irregular heartbeats. Coffee increases the heart rate, but you can consume it if your physician gives his approval. Coffee will not have any harmful effects on your heart.
Myth 2: Instant coffee is bad
Instant coffee might seem like it pales in taste compared to regular coffee. However, instant coffee has far more antioxidants than regular coffee.
Myth 3: The more coffee you drink, the more you’ll need
This is not true because it is not as addictive as people think. You know when to stop and it doesn’t create any problems.
Andrea Boyd
Jordan Smyth
Myth: Coffee Dehydrates You
There’s a lot of myths about coffee that I wish would disappear. For example, there is a myth that coffee dehydrates you. Black coffee is 95% water and can meet the body’s needs for fluids.
Another myth is that coffee stunts your growth. That’s untrue. There is generally no harm in children drinking coffee from time to time.
Two Coffee Growth Myths
Myth 1: You shouldn’t drink coffee while pregnant
There have been studies that show that coffee does not have any adverse effects during pregnancy. You should still have coffee in moderation as your baby will get a little kick, too. Check in with your physician or nutritionist about the quantity.
Myth 2: Coffee impedes teenage development
Coffee has no role in stopping a teenager from growth. There has been no evidence in numerous studies that having coffee will stop bone development or growth. Add some milk or milk powder to your kid’s coffee and give him some calcium while you’re at it.
Jennifer L. Bennett
Hilda Wong
Three Coffee Health Myths
Myth 1: Coffee can make you diabetic
This is contrary to the truth. The fact is that consuming coffee reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes in a person. Try to add a cup of coffee to your daily routine.
Myth 2: Coffee is unhealthy
Coffee has several nutrients that are beneficial for you. It contains potassium, magnesium, niacin and many antioxidants. Coffee is the top antioxidant in an average American’s diet. Research has found that coffee reduces cancers, Parkinson’s disease, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Myth 3: Drinking coffee after breakfast will make you insomniac
The liver processes coffee at quick speeds. Within four to seven hours, you will sleep like a baby.
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