Three cups a day keeps the doctor away, apparently

By Phoenix Cronin

Are the claims just another PR opportunity for coffee corporations? Credit: Pexels

Research by The British Journal of Medicine (BMJ) has concluded that "three cups [of coffee] a day confers greatest benefit" for coffee consumers.

In a world where we are constantly finding out what is and isn’t good for us, coffee gets the go-ahead, and it feels great. It’s always good to have science on your side as you go to fetch your morning brew, and it’s even better when it is the incentive for health reasons, but how does this research hold up in the real world?

First and foremost, your coffee must be black. No sugar and no milk. We’re about espresso shots and hot water now, Lattes are out, Long Blacks are in – that is, as long as you keep the amount below 250 ml (as per the recommended coffee size).

As for the research itself, after a few minutes deciphering the scientific vernacular you’ll begin to understand just how ‘airy’ it all is. In fact, the authors themselves write “most of this evidence comes from observational research that provides only low or very low-quality evidence.”

Sorry, what?

A few more minutes and you’ll read “consumption of four or more cups of coffee a day is associated with an 18% lower risk of mortality”. Wonderful, except, they came to this conclusion using a "broad inclusion criteria" where they extrapolated information to infer the results.

Of course, it succeeds in making solid links, but how many times have you heard coffee causes cancer, or microwaves cause cancer, or deodorants cause cancer.

What I’m getting at here is no, three coffee a day isn’t good for you, but it’s not bad either.

The research by the BMJ doesn’t really tell us anything, if you fancy three coffee’s a day, go for it, but it’s on your head, the caffeine crash, that is.

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