We all enjoy a good cup of coffee.

But bizarre facts about it have sprung up over time. Allow me to deconstruct some of them for you.

1. Coffee is bad for you.

If you drink thirty-five cups of triple-shot coffee a day, then it’s definitely bad for you.

But in moderation (3 to 4 cups a day), it may actually do you some good. Studies indicate that a moderated coffee intake may reduce your chances of developing Parkinson’s disease, type 2 diabetes, and liver disease.

2. Coffee can help with weight loss.

100 milligrams of caffeine (between half and a full 8oz coffee) offers a metabolism boost that can make you burn up to 100 calories a day.

Doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

Well, one study showed that the majority of its 58,000 participants put on weight over 12 years due to an increased caffeine intake.

The issue isn’t the caffeine itself, though. Plain black coffee is very low in calories, so it helps you achieve or maintain a healthy weight. The issue is actually all the extra stuff we add to our coffees!

A normal 8oz coffee with full-cream milk can have 120 calories and seven grams of fat. So, someone who drinks four cups of coffee a day with full-cream milk and sugar swallows around 760 calories a day, which is about 38% of our daily intake. Here’s information about the benefits of drinking decaf coffee.

3. Coffee can sober you up, and can cure hangovers.

A lot of people believe this because they think a metabolism boost can process alcohol faster.

I’m sorry to say this, but it actually doesn’t do much to sober you up.

Caffeine can dehydrate you, and can also make you feel more awake and alert. This isn’t what you want after a big night out on the town.

4. An afternoon coffee will keep you up at night.

Because caffeine stimulates you, it’s believed that you won’t sleep at night if you drink some in the afternoon.

But most caffeine should disappear from your system within 4 to 7 hours, so if you have a coffee at 3:00pm, it should be gone by 10:00pm.  You can check out the link for more information about coffee and tea.

Caffeine during pregnancy may not be a good idea

Women who are pregnant or trying for a baby should consider avoiding caffeine.

International researchers looked at 37 observational studies about the effects of caffeine on the following negative pregnancy outcomes:

  • miscarriage;
  • stillbirth;
  • childhood leukaemia;
  • low birth weight;
  • childhood obesity; and
  • pre-term birth.

A total of 42 separate findings were reported in 37 studies. Of these, 32 found that caffeine significantly increased the risk of poor pregnancy outcomes, while 10 found no or inconclusive associations. While these studies cannot establish cause-and-effect, the authors say the results suggest the current health recommendations around caffeine during pregnancy require “radical revision”.