According to a global survey commissioned by Le Méridien and discussed in a recent online article, 78% of people would rather give up alcohol, social media or sex with their partner for a year than give up their precious coffee fix. Also revealed is the fact that more than half of the people surveyed (53% in fact) said that if they were going to post a beverage picture on any of their social media channels whilst they were travelling, it would probably be a picture of their coffee. Now that we’ve got your attention with these mind-blowing statistics, we have some great news for you coffee lovers out there – coffee is good for you so don’t worry if you’re becoming an addict…it’s all good. (Um…in moderation, of course)

Coffee helps you burn fat

If you’re struggling a little with the calories and you’re worried that coffee will add another calorie or two don’t worry. Caffeine in coffee is a stimulant which affects the nervous system to raise your metabolism and in so doing, can help burn fat. It can also help mobilise fatty acids from the fat tissues. Yah!

Drinking coffee helps reduce the risk of Type II diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

Many, many studies have shown that coffee significantly helps to reduce the risk of getting Type II diabetes which affects almost 300 million people worldwide, as well as lowering the risk of both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s which are the number one and two neurodegenerative disorders in the world (by between 32-60%)

Coffee can make you smarter

Well, the Caffeine in coffee blocks an inhibitory neurotransmitter (Adenosine) in the brain and in so doing increases neuronal firing in the brain. Controlled trials have proven that this can improve your mood, reaction time, memory and more.

Coffee is good for your liver (booze on the other hand is NOT)

Again, through many studies and trials it has shown us that drinking coffee can protect the liver against certain diseases such as cirrhosis (by up to 80%) and also against liver cancer (by up to 40%). Remember that your liver is under pressure all the time from booze and other food items (with too much fat and sugar), so protection is always a good idea.

Coffee’s got a few nutrients and antioxidants that you need

Believe it or not, some of the nutrients in coffee beans actually do make it into the final drink, and they contain the following vitamins and minerals:

6% of the RDA for Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5); 11% of the RDA for Riboflavin (Vitamin B2); 2% of the RDA for Niacin (B3) and Thiamine (B1); and 3% of the RDA for Potassium and Manganese.

So if you’re having a few cups every day, those mineral counts escalate quite quickly. Also, coffee is the biggest source of antioxidants in the western diet, and outranks both fruits and vegetables combined – crazy, hey?

So is coffee really ok? Of course, provided you’re not going overboard. Anything in moderation is always a better idea. Also, adding sugar to your coffee isn’t great – coffee is best without any additives. And, if you struggle to sleep with too much caffeine in your system, don’t drink coffee after lunchtime. Happy coffee drinking!