This seems like an impossible question, right? Of COURSE you are drinking enough coffee. It’s your lifeblood. You’re undoubtedly drinking enough.
According to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, you may not be. The committee is a panel of academics and scientists who advise US agencies on various topics, and these agencies do include the Food and Drug Administration as well as the Department of Agriculture. The committee has determined that drinking coffee is indeed good for you (hooray!), but you should drink 3-5 cups of coffee a day to obtain the full benefits of the beverage. Most Americans, they found, drink only 1.7 cups a day.
The committee has determined that consuming 3-5 cups of coffee per day:
1. Does not have long-term health risks.
In fact, those who say that coffee has long-term health risks have been proved wrong time and time again with current research.
According to recent research, coffee reduces lower heart and stroke risk factors such as heart rhythm disturbances and arrhythmia.
Coffee is a natural diabetes fighter, but if you add sugar to your coffee, you aren’t helping fight diabetes in the slightest.
We’ve gone over this before in a previous blog post, so we won’t rehash it here. But if you’re curious how this is possible, visit the link above.
5. Can be incorporated into a healthy dietary pattern.
According to committee member Tom Brenna, “Coffee’s good stuff. I don’t want to get into implying coffee cures cancer—nobody thinks that. But there is no evidence for increased risk, if anything, the other way around.”
In other words, turn your brewer back on and pour yourself another cup of coffee. Chances are, you haven’t had your required dosage today.