Two interesting publications for you about the consumption of coffee. One, available ahead of print on the journal Hepatology’s website, makes the case that drinking coffee is good for you and can lower your risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), an obesity related condition. The other was published ahead of print on the website for the Mayo Clinic Proceedings warns us of the dangers of high consumption of coffee and the effect on cardiovascular health.
So what does it all mean? Well, it would seem people younger than 55 years of age had an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death when they consumed more than 4 cups of coffee a day. However, a potential problem with this sort of study is the type and caffeine content of the coffee being consumed. The caffeine content of a cup of coffee varies widely, as does the content of other components of the coffee. Apparently a cup of coffee brewed using a paper filter, does not contain as much (if any) of the oils, called diterpenes, compared to coffee brewed with a metal filter as they adhere to the paper.
According to the other publication, drinking up to 4 cups of coffee a day can help protect you against NAFLD by stimulating hepatic fat oxidation. Luckily they also say that tea can work so if you are concerned about your coffee intake you could always drink a few cups of tea aswell.
So, 4 cups are good for you, more than 4 is bad, a fine line indeed. So the next important question, how big should the cup be?
Take a look at the evidence yourself on the following webpages:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025619613005788
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hep.26667/abstract