Is Coffee Good Or Bad For A 12 Year Old Boy?!
Question: I drink anywhere from 1-4 cups of coffee a day. I do it because it gives me a good feeling and makes me feel relaxed temporarily. Then by the end of the day, I'm depressed and gloomy. I try to sleep it through but that morning I'm gloomy and I reach for two cups of coffee. I use it when I'm mad or angry. I use it to give me a high. I read it prevents cancer. Is it true that it prevents cancer? Is it ok to drink it?
Answers: I drink anywhere from 1-4 cups of coffee a day. I do it because it gives me a good feeling and makes me feel relaxed temporarily. Then by the end of the day, I'm depressed and gloomy. I try to sleep it through but that morning I'm gloomy and I reach for two cups of coffee. I use it when I'm mad or angry. I use it to give me a high. I read it prevents cancer. Is it true that it prevents cancer? Is it ok to drink it?
Most of us have a morning cup of coffee. Regular coffee has caffeine in it, therefore it must be bad for you, right? Well, that depends on who you are.
Caffeine is considered a mild stimulant, which can make you more alert and awake. It can cause the heart to beat a little faster or a little harder. Caffeine also causes the blood vessels to the brain to relax and allow more blood to flow. The same mechanism that enhances blood flow to the brain also causes the esophageal sphincter (the muscular valve that sits at the opening of the esophagus into the stomach) to relax.
These effects of caffeine are dose related: The more you consume, the greater the effect. But not everybody responds to caffeine in the same way. For some people, even a single cup of caffeinated coffee will result in jitters (a result of overstimulation of the brain), where other people live on 10 to 20 cups of coffee a day and are steady as a rock A few people have severe palpitations and irregular heart beats with several cups of coffee while most others tolerate the coffee just fine. Because of the effect on the esophageal sphincter, some people will experience heartburn. For some people, there is even a price to pay for withdrawing from caffeine -- headaches.
The good news is that there is very little evidence that caffeine or coffee has serious or long-term effects, except in certain people. It does not cause high blood pressure (except when associated with smoking), strokes or heart attacks. The French method of brewing coffee has been associated with elevations in cholesterol, but not the more common percolator or paper filter drip method. Any associations of coffee with cancer are very weak at best, so the risk of cancer from drinking coffee is probably minimal.
There has been some good associated with coffee: those who drink coffee are more likely to be more alert, less likely to commit suicide and less likely to suffer from cirrhosis of the liver.
The role of coffee in stomach problems is more complex. Some of the proteins in coffee appear to stimulate the production of stomach acid. For someone with a tendency towards ulcers, coffee, even decaf, is the wrong medicine. Since coffee causes reflux (backup of stomach acids into the esophagus where they don't belong), the added acid is insult to injury. However, coffee does not burn a hole in your stomach (your stomach can do that all by itself).
Caffeine is not only found in coffee. There is some in tea, some in chocolate and lots of it in certain soft drinks and often it is combined with aspirin or acetaminophen for a headache remedy (remember the withdrawal headaches). So people may be getting more caffeine than that which is in their coffee.
The amount of coffee that is safe to drink is subject to debate. You have to decide for yourself; there are no overall rules.
You'll stop growning.
i heard it prevents cancer to...i dont think its that bad for you to drink then. But you might want to watch how much you drink a day, just because of your age. =)
Coffee isn't good for anyone, especially kids/teens. That amount of caffeine can cause health problems for you...especially since you are still growing.
you're still growing! don't drink it yet...ik how good it is, i just had a cup. But i'm a highschool girl who unfortunatly as stopped growing...haha, 5'3"...pretty short. If i'd drinken coffee before i stopped i might even be shorter.
if your going to drink it add more milk to it! i use to at a younger age and i called it coffee milk. at your age you dont need a whole lot of caffeine so keep it to minimal???
Coffee is very high in caffeine. At least try decaf. I've never heard coffee prevents cancer..? But maybe that's true. If you aren't drinking decaf, drink only 1 cup a day. If you are, 1-2 cups. 4 cups a day for anyone is a lot.
not a good idea Austin !
There is no compelling evidence that coffee stunts the growth of children, but as an article from Yahoo! Health points out, it's generally a bad idea to give kids caffeine. It can interfere with sleep habits, exacerbate hyperactivity, and contribute to dehydration. Caffeine is a diuretic, which means it causes the body to eliminate water.
What's Caffeine and How Does It Affect Kids?
A stimulant that affects children and adults similarly, caffeine is a drug that's naturally produced in the leaves and seeds of many plants. Caffeine is also made artificially and added to certain foods. Caffeine is defined as a drug because it stimulates the central nervous system. At lower levels, caffeine can make people feel more alert and like they have more energy.
In both kids and adults, too much caffeine can cause:
jitteriness and nervousness
upset stomach
headaches
difficulty concentrating
difficulty sleeping
increased heart rate
increased blood pressure
Especially in young children, it doesn't take a lot of caffeine to produce these effects.
Other reasons to limit kids' caffeine consumption include:
Consuming one 12-ounce (355-milliliter) sweetened soft drink per day increases a child's risk of obesity by 60%.
Not only do caffeinated beverages contain empty calories (calories that don't provide any nutrients), but kids who fill up on them don't get the vitamins and minerals they need from healthy sources, putting them at risk for developing nutritional deficiencies. In particular, children who drink too much soda (which usually starts between the third and eighth grades) may miss getting the calcium they need from milk to build strong bones and teeth.
Drinking too many sweetened caffeinated drinks could lead to dental cavities (or caries) from the high sugar content and the erosion of the enamel of the teeth from the acidity. Not convinced that sodas can wreak that much havoc on kids' teeth? Consider this: One 12-ounce (355-milliliter) nondiet, carbonated soft drink contains the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar (49 milliliters) and 150 calories.
Caffeine is a diuretic that causes the body to eliminate water (through urinating), which may contribute to dehydration. Whether the amount of caffeine in beverages is enough to actually cause dehydration is not clear, however. It may depend on whether the person drinking the beverage is used to caffeine and how much caffeine he or she has consumed that day. To be on the safe side, it may be wise to avoid excessive caffeine consumption in hot weather, when children need to replace water lost through perspiration.
Abruptly stopping caffeine may cause withdrawal symptoms (headaches, muscle aches, temporary depression, and irritability), especially for those who are used to consuming a lot.
Caffeine can aggravate heart problems or nervous disorders, and some children may not be aware that they're at risk.
One thing that caffeine doesn't do is stunt growth. Although scientists once worried that caffeine could hinder a child's growth, this concern isn't supported by research.
Coffee contains several compounds which are known to affect human body chemistry. The coffee bean itself contains chemicals which are psychotropic (in a way some find pleasing) for humans as a by-product of their defense mechanism. These chemicals are toxic in large doses, or even in their normal amount when consumed by many creatures which may otherwise have threatened the beans in the wild.
Coffee contains caffeine, which acts as a stimulant. For this reason, it is often consumed in the morning and during working hours. Students preparing for examinations with late-night "cram sessions" frequently use coffee to keep themselves awake. Many office workers take a "coffee break" when their energy is diminished.
Recent research has uncovered additional stimulating effects of coffee which are not related to its caffeine content. Coffee contains an as yet unknown chemical agent which stimulates the production of cortisone and adrenaline, two stimulating hormones.
For occasions when one wants to enjoy the flavor of coffee with almost no stimulation, decaffeinated coffee (also called decaf) is available. This is coffee from which most of the caffeine has been removed, by the Swiss water process (which involves the soaking of raw beans to absorb the caffeine) or the use of a chemical solvent such as trichloroethylene ("tri"), or the more popular methylene chloride, in a similar process. Another solvent used is ethyl acetate; the resultant decaffeinated coffee is marketed as "natural decaf" because ethyl acetate is naturally present in fruit. Extraction with supercritical carbon dioxide has also been employed.
Decaffeinated coffee usually loses some flavor over normal coffees and tends to be more bitter. There are also coffee alternatives that resemble coffee in taste but contain no caffeine (see below). These are available both in ground form for brewing and in instant form.
BENEFITS
Reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease
Several studies comparing moderate coffee drinkers (about 2 cups a day) with light coffee drinkers (less than one cup a day) found that those who drank more coffee were significantly less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease later in life.
Reduced risk of gallstone disease
Drinking caffeinated coffee has been correlated with a lower incidence of gallstones and gallbladder disease in both men and women in two studies performed by the Harvard School of Public Health. A lessened risk was not seen in those who drank decaffeinated coffee.
Reduced risk of Parkinson's disease
A study comparing heavy coffee drinkers (3.5 cups a day) with non-drinkers found that the coffee drinkers were significantly less likely to contract Parkinson's Disease later in life. . Likewise, a second study found an inverse relationship between the amount of coffee regularly drunk and the likelihood of developing Parkinson's Disease.
Cognitive performance
Many people drink coffee for its ability to increase short term recall and increase IQ.
Likewise, in tests of simple reaction time, choice reaction time, incidental verbal memory, and visuospatial reasoning, participants who regularly drank coffee were found to perform better on all tests, with a positive relationship between test scores and the amount of coffee regularly drunk. Elderly participants were found to have the largest effect associated with regular coffee drinking. Another study found that women over the age of 80 performed significantly better on cognitive tests if they had regularly drunk coffee over their lifetimes.
Analgesic enhancement
Coffee contains caffeine, which increases the effectiveness of pain killers, especially migraine and headache medications. For this reason, many over-the-counter headache drugs include caffeine in their formula.
Antidiabetic
Coffee intake may reduce one's risk of diabetes mellitus type 2 by up to half. While this was originally noticed in patients who consumed high amounts (7 cups a day), the relationship was later shown to be linear.
Anticancer
Coffee can also reduce the incidence of cirrhosis of the liver and has been linked to a reduced risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, a primary liver cancer. Coffee consumption is also correlated to a reduced risk of oral, esophageal, and pharyngeal cancer.
Cardioprotective
Coffee reduces the incidence of heart disease, though whether this is simply because it rids the blood of excess lipids or because of its stimulant effect is unknown.
Laxative/diuretic
Coffee is also a powerful stimulant for peristalsis and is sometimes considered to prevent constipation; it is also a diuretic. However, coffee can also cause loose bowel movements.
Practitioners in alternative medicine often recommend coffee enemas for "cleansing of the colon" due to its stimulus of peristalsis, although mainstream medicine has not proved any benefits of the practice.
Antioxidant
Coffee contains the anticancer compound methylpyridinium. This compound is not present in significant amounts in other food materials. Methylpyridinium is not present in raw coffee beans but is formed during the roasting process from trigonelline, which is common in raw coffee beans. It is present in both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, and even in instant coffee.
Prevention of dental caries
The tannins in coffee may reduce the cariogenic potential of foods. In vitro experiments have shown that these polyphenolic compounds may interfere with glucosyltransferase activity of mutans streptococci, which may reduce plaque formation. In rat experiments, tea polyphenols reduced caries.
Gout
Coffee consumption decreased risk of gout in men over age 40. In a large study of over 45,000 men over a 12-year period, the risk for developing gout in men over 40 was inversely proportional with the amount of coffee consumed.
RISKS
Many notable effects of coffee are related to its caffeine content. Amongst other known negative health associations it is not clear whether these are due to the caffeine or other unidentified compounds (suggesting that these may be modified by switching to decaffeinated coffee).
Anxiety and sleep changes
Many coffee drinkers are familiar with "coffee jitters", a nervous condition that occurs when one has had too much caffeine. It can also cause anxiety and irritability, in some with excessive coffee consumption, and some as a withdrawal symptom. Coffee can also cause insomnia in some, while paradoxically it helps some sleep more soundly.
Constipation
Due to its diuretic effect, coffee use can lead to dehydration in some individuals, and as a result, contribute to constipation.
Cosmetic
Like tea, coffee causes staining of the teeth.
Cholesterol
Coffee brewed using a French press method contains oils otherwise trapped by more commonly used paper filters. These oils have been shown to significantly raise LDL cholesterol levels. The risk is not present in paper filtered coffee.
Blood pressure
A recent study by Harvard Med that set out to prove that the caffeine in coffee would put people at risk for high blood pressure ended up rejecting the theory. 155,000 nurses were followed for 12 years and the results showed that large amounts of coffee did not induce a "risky rise in blood pressure" As a note, this study did not include men.
Coronary artery disease
A 2004 study tried to discover why the beneficial and detrimental effects of coffee conflict. The study concluded that consumption of coffee is associated with significant elevations in biochemical markers of inflammation. This is a detrimental effect of coffee on the cardiovascular system, which may explain why coffee has so far only been shown to help the heart at levels of four cups (24 fl oz or 600 mL) or fewer per day.
The health risks of decaffeinated coffee have been studied, with varying results. One variable is the type of decaffeination process used; while some involve the use of organic solvents which may leave residual traces, others rely on steam.
A study has shown that cafestol, a substance which is present in boiled coffee drinks, dramatically increases cholesterol levels, especially in women. Filtered coffee contains only trace amounts of cafestol.
Polymorphisms in the CYP1A2 gene may lead to a slower metabolism of caffeine. In patients with a slow version of the enzyme the risk for myocardial infarction is increased by a third (2-3 cups) to two thirds (>4 cups). The risk was more marked in people under the age of 59.
A Harvard study over 20 years of 128,000 people published in 2006 concluded that there was no evidence to support the claim that coffee consumption itself increases the risk of coronary heart disease. The study did, however, show a correlation between heavy consumption of coffee and higher degrees of exposure to other coronary heart disease risk factors such as smoking, greater alcohol consumption, and lack of physical exercise. The results apply only to coffee filtered through paper filters, which excludes boiled coffee and espresso, for example. Additionally, the lead researcher on this study acknowledged that subsets of the larger group may be at risk for heart attack when drinking multiple cups of coffee a day due to genetic differences in metabolizing caffeine.
its ok 2 have coffe, but id say a maximum of 2 cups a day, oh and it dosent stunt your growth, ive been drinking cofee since 3 years ago ive grown 1 foot since then
2 cups a day, no sugar.