Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, the seeds of berries from certain Coffea species. All fruit must be further processed from a raw material—the fruit and seed—into a stable, raw product; un-roasted, green coffee

Nanci Guest, MSc, RD, CSCS, Registered Dietitian, discusses The Facts About Drinking Coffee and Your Health

What’s interesting about coffee is there has been a lot of research around coffee over the past three or four decades.

And the results of studies were really inconsistent. Some showed that coffee was harmful to you. Others show there was health benefits. So it’s really confusing what is the final answer.

And it wasn’t until we started doing genetic testing that we found that there was actually a relationship to whether coffee was harmful or not, especially to the heart, depending on a certain genetic variation.

There are some people in the population that should avoid coffee and this includes women who are pregnant, those who are trying to become pregnant, those who are using in vitro fertilization procedures, as well as children and teens.

We’re particularly concerned with teens and young adults that mix energy drinks containing caffeine with alcohol. And this is because the stimulating effects of caffeine can make you feel like you’re not getting as drunk.

And therefore there’s an increase in alcohol consumption when combining with the caffeinated energy drinks. And this can result in increased levels of inebriation and subsequently partaking of more risky behaviors.

We also want to make sure that those with a genetic variation that increases the risk to heart health when consuming coffee should know their genotype in order to reduce that risk and therefore reduce their intake of coffee to one large cup a day.

For individuals that have more questions about their coffee or caffeine intake, they should speak with a registered dietitian or another health care professional. Featured Speaker on Smart Food Now 

Presenter: Ms. Nanci Guest, Registered Dietitian, Toronto, ON

Local Practitioners: Registered Dietitian