Caffeine - Good or Bad for your body

[jon]

PROOF starbucks are evil - there's hidden messages in their logo (site linked to contains swearing, in big letters).

Anyway, there's caffeine in Starbucks 'coffee'? Brewed so weak it's hard to tell

 

[EHocking]

Caffeine raises the level of calcium in urine, putting you at risk for kidney stones.

High levels of calcium in your diet is most likely to have an effect on the chance of developing calcium / oxalate kidney stones. Having recently dealt with kidney stones, my urologist never suggested at any point to cut down on coffee.

Especially if you aren't drinking enough water to keep hydrated.

This was most probably the cause of my stones. The urologist suggested an increase in *any* form of fluids would be beneficial. Tea, coffee, beer, he didn't care, as long as I was increasing my hydration. While doctor's are not infallible, I would have thought that if there was a chance that coffee affected calcium levels to a degree that would cause stones, I would have been warned off by the specialist.

http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/Kidney_stones.html
"A diet with a high content of calcium and oxalate can increase the concentration of these chemicals in the urine and make it more likely for stones to form. Other factors include:

• excess vitamin D,
• overactive parathyroid glands,
• medical conditions such as cancer, some kidney diseases, or a disease called sarcoidosis."

 

[Ririon]

*Reads EHocking's link. Scrolls down to Prevention.*

So I should cut down my green vegetable intake? I knew it! You should always listen to the signals the body is giving you...

 

[EHocking]

*Reads EHocking's link. Scrolls down to Prevention.*

So I should cut down my green vegetable intake? I knew it! You should always listen to the signals the body is giving you...

With a face like that, you are *definitely* eating too many greens.

 

[Outhere]

Caffeine/bone loss

Drinking coffee causes increased levels of calcium in the urine because the calcium is being lost from bones. Drinking coffee, colas, or eating chocolate all have this effect. Some medical advisors recommend drinking a cup of milk for each cup of coffee. I take calcium pills every day anyway, and hope I am countering all the caffeine I consume, because I have osteopenia and my doctor said ingesting lots of caffeine can lead to osteoporosis.

 

[Hellbound]

Drinking coffee causes increased levels of calcium in the urine because the calcium is being lost from bones. Drinking coffee, colas, or eating chocolate all have this effect. Some medical advisors recommend drinking a cup of milk for each cup of coffee. I take calcium pills every day anyway, and hope I am countering all the caffeine I consume, because I have osteopenia and my doctor said ingesting lots of caffeine can lead to osteoporosis.

Can you source this?

 

[Soapy Sam]

I DON'T CARE!

Just smell the aroma!

The good things in life are all lethal. Goddidit.

 

[TriangleMan]

I, for one, welcome our caffeine-providing overlords!

I will now proceed with prayers to our great overlords by partaking in the substance that they provide.

 

[Kaylee]

Per today's NY Times article *

Researchers have found strong evidence that coffee reduces the risk of several serious ailments, including diabetes, heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver.

So it's not only OK to drink coffee but feel free to pour in the sugar and have it before you go out for beer with your buddies. The coffee will lower the risks …

But you might not want to drink any coffee before you go jogging on a plane ..

A study published in January in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, for example, suggests that the amount of caffeine in two cups of coffee significantly decreases blood flow to the heart, particularly during exercise at high altitude.

* Will need to register, but registering is free.

 

[Forty-Two]

It's a conspiracy: All Starbucks sell the New York Times.

 

[Mouthfire]

Per today's NY Times article *




So it's not only OK to drink coffee but feel free to pour in the sugar and have it before you go out for beer with your buddies. The coffee will lower the risks …

But you might not want to drink any coffee before you go jogging on a plane ..



* Will need to register, but registering is free.

Heheh... along those lines, did you know a combination of caffeine and alcohol (aka Caffeinol) is being used to treat acute strokes in major medical centers?

 

[Cuddles]

Heheh... along those lines, did you know a combination of caffeine and alcohol (aka Caffeinol) is being used to treat acute strokes in major medical centers?

Vodka and Red Bull? Why do I bother going to night clubs?

 

[EHocking]

Originally Posted by Outhere

Drinking coffee causes increased levels of calcium in the urine because the calcium is being lost from bones. Drinking coffee, colas, or eating chocolate all have this effect. Some medical advisors recommend drinking a cup of milk for each cup of coffee. I take calcium pills every day anyway, and hope I am countering all the caffeine I consume, because I have osteopenia and my doctor said ingesting lots of caffeine can lead to osteoporosis.

Can you source this?

My opinion is that a number of studies are being paraphrased and misrembered, then passed on as "fact" by doctors, nurses and in some cases, support groups. Health departments (ie UK's NHS) don't mention caffeine as a cause for either osteoporosis, nor kidney stones. Oh - and osteopenia is caused *by* osteoporosis, it is not the cause of osteoporosis. Another, misremembering.

Certainly my mother and mother-in-law have stated that doctors have told them the above, the source of this would appear to be a 1994 study by Harris, Dawson-Hughes that is often quoted as a cite for calcium loss,
"Daily consumption of caffeine in amounts equal to or greater than that obtained from about two to three servings of brewed coffee may accelerate bone loss from the spine and total body in women with calcium intakes below the recommended dietary allowance of 800 mg."

Note the "with calcium intakes below the recommended dietary allowance" point.

This article is also combined with a Barrett-Connor article that has the additional piece of quoted material, "Lifetime caffeinated coffee intake equivalent to two cups per day is associated with decreased bone density in older women who do not drink milk on a daily basis."