The following morning routine might seem familiar to you:
You wake up a bit groggy early and wish you could sleep a little longer. Being your good employee, you force yourself out of bed and head to the kitchen. This is where you likely drink your first cup of coffee while having breakfast. The smell of coffee alone is enough to perk up your senses and make you feel awake, never mind drinking it. After filling your belly and making yourself presentable, you grab your things and head to work.
Once at the office, it’s not time to work yet! First, it’s time to take advantage of the office’s coffee service and have another cup of coffee to get the heart pumping, the brain into high gear, and the fingers typing!
If your day starts something like this, you’re a lot like the hundreds of millions of other coffee drinkers around the globe. Many of us can barely function without that first cup of Java in the morning. Indeed, you could say most of us are slightly reliant (or addicted?) to coffee.
But is coffee perfect for productivity in the workplace? Is it healthy? How much coffee is too much? What are the benefits and disadvantages of drinking coffee regularly? We will explore all these questions in greater detail below. Let’s start with some of the astounding coffee usage statistics worldwide.
Worldwide coffee statistics
Coffee has truly become the worldwide symbol of energy and productivity. Our statistics will focus mostly on the U.S. since this is where the most accurate and reliable figures are based. The stats can pretty much be replicated worldwide.
- Fins consume the most coffee globally (3+ cups per day for the average consumer!). Closely followed by Swedes. America drinks the 8th most coffee of any country.
- Of everyone 18 years and above, more than 50% of people drink coffee daily. Of the rest, 30% drink it occasionally, leaving around 15% of the population that rarely consumes it.
- On average, American coffee drinkers have one specialty/gourmet coffee (mocha, latte, frappuccino) daily.
- We like our coffee most in the morning. 65% of consumers say they drink a cup with breakfast every day.
- Women mostly drink coffee to relax, while men drink itfor productivity.
This consumption drives a global, multi-billion dollar industry growing with each passing year by up to 20%.
- The global coffee industry is worth $42.5 billion. The U.S. alone is $18 billion.
- Brazil is the world’s top producer, producing 33% of coffee. Vietnam and Columbia come in 2nd and 3rd.
- In that order, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the U.S. imports the most coffee.
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Coffee nutritional values
Coffee’s nutritional information varies greatly between brands, variants, types of preparation, and sources. The values below are, therefore, an estimate of the average values. You will need to check your specific product for accurate weights.
Filter coffee (black)
- Calories: 2.4
- Fat: 0g
- Sugar: 0g
- Protein: 0.3g
- Potassium: 116mg
- Vitamin B2 riboflavin: 0.2mg
- Magnesium: 7.1mg
- Caffeine: 95mg
Instant coffee (black)
- Calories: 0.6
- Fat: 0g
- Sugar: 0g
- Protein: 0.1g
- Potassium: 8.9mg
- Vitamin B2 riboflavin: 0.0mg
- Magnesium: 1.2mg
- Caffeine: 7.7mg
As you can see, except for vitamin B2 (which has many health benefits and is a strong antioxidant, coffee doesn’t offer a huge percentage of your daily nutritional needs. What we are interested in here is caffeine. Caffeine is behind most of the effects coffee has on our bodies. As you can see, brewed coffee has considerably more of that than instant coffee. We will discuss all these in the next section.
What we add to our food (condiments, seasoning, additives) often determines whether it is healthy or not; coffee is no different. We know that, on average, most people have at least one gourmet coffee along the way. The following values show you how much the nutritional value can differ:
Caffè Vanilla Frappuccino Blended Beverage (tall, with cream)
- Calories: 300
- Fat: 11g
- Sugar: 48g
- Protein: 3g
- Carbohydrates: 50
- Caffeine: 65mg
As you can see, the values are dramatically different. A tall, regular coffee can go up to 370 mg of caffeine. It also has much higher fat, sugar, and a little more protein. It’s easy to see why you should be careful with these beverages.
Benefits of Coffee
Coffee has a remarkable list of benefits. It might even seem like some miracle cure-all. Almost all these benefits are well-ground and not some say-so folk cure.
- Increase energy levels – Thank you, caffeine! Coffee is a much healthier energy source than energy drinks containing large amounts of sugar.
- Burn fat and lose weight – Not only does coffee help burn fat cells, but it also reduces cravings for sugary foods by regulating blood sugar levels.
- Improve physical performance – Research says a cup of coffee can increase your performance by up to 12% through adrenaline. This is good for a physically demanding job or just a gym session.
- Some essential nutrients – Coffee contains vitamins and minerals like Vitamin B2 riboflavin, magnesium, potassium, and manganese.
- Lower levels of depression and higher happiness levels – The caffeine in coffee stimulates your central nervous system. This promotes the release of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, both mood enhancers. People who consume more than two cups of coffee daily run a 50% lower risk of suicide.
- Antioxidants – Coffee is the only strong antioxidant that forms part of the “western diet.”
- More focused and alert – Unless you drink too much coffee (over 6 cups a day), coffee helps your mind focus on a task and stay wide awake. This is particularly useful if you work in an office. Make sure your office workstation is set up correctly, too.
- Fight off death – All the benefits above attribute coffee to fighting off death. Many studies with control groups that either drink coffee or don’t drink it have found that coffee drinkers live longer lives by quite some margin.
Lowers the risk of the following disease
Type 2 diabetes
We already mentioned that coffee helps regulate blood sugar levels, making you crave less sugar. It also helps regulate insulin by diminishing its sensitivity and lowering the build-up of glucose tolerance. Decaf coffee has the same effect, only slightly lower.
Alzheimer’s and dementia
According to the European Journal of Neurology, there is evidence that coffee may protect against Alzheimer’s. Coffee generally works wonders on the brain, and the effect extends to dementia.
Parkinson’s (possibly)
Drinking coffee every day can impair the onset of Parkinson’s. This is because it activates the area of the brain that is affected by Parkinson’s.
Cancer
Caffeine helps the body rid itself of free radicals. Free radicals lead to cancer over time. Daily coffee consumption reduces all types of cancer risk by 20-25%. Coffee is effective in preventing the following types of cancer:
- Liver
- Colorectal
- Prostate cancer in men
- Endometrial cancer in women
Stroke
If you drink a healthy amount of coffee daily, your stroke chance is reduced.
Cirrhosis of the liver
Although we don’t condone drinking (certainly not in the workplace), there is good news for those who enjoy an alcoholic drink now and then.
There are many misconceptions about the consumption of coffee. One of the most dramatic is that coffee leads to heart problems. Simultaneously, coffee beans indeed contain cafestol and kahweol, two substances suspected of leading to higher LDL cholesterol levels. This amount is too small to affect people with normal levels of cholesterol. For people with high cholesterol, filtering coffee is still fine, as the filtering process filters most of those substances.
Risks of coffee consumption
All these benefits might make coffee seem like some miracle substance. Many of us would even swear by its powers. Nothing is perfect, and coffee is no exception. There is always the risk of too much of a good thing. You should be aware of the following:
- Sleeplessness and insomnia – This depends a lot on your caffeine tolerance. It’s good to stay below 400 mg of caffeine (around 4 cups).
- Tone down when pregnant – Although the effect isn’t clear, fetuses are sensitive to caffeine, and whatever you consume makes its way there eventually. It is recommended to stick to one cup a day when expecting.
How can coffee help us in the workplace?
As you can see, the established benefits of coffee far outweigh the potential risks. The reason why coffee is such a boon in the office space should also be clear, looking at its positive effects on us.
Not only does coffee have amazing everyday benefits like upping our focus, keeping us alert, improving our mood, raising our energy levels, and keeping our bodies healthy, but it also fights the risk of many chronic (and life-threatening) illnesses. Not only does this keep your employees productive and happy, but it keeps them coming into the office in the first place!
A survey conducted by The Daily Buzz, a company that specializes in corporate coffee bars, found out the following from employees:
