Caffeine could weaken this part of your body over time

For most coffee drinkers, coffee is one of the best parts of the morning. As part of many people’s rituals, the smell and taste of coffee signals that it’s time to start the day and get things done. The boost of energy it delivers is one of the reasons it’s so popular, but also problematic.

While it would be great to have coffee all the time, too much can harm us. According to new research, it can increase your chances of developing osteoporosis.

The study, published in the British Journal of Pharmacology, found a link between high doses of caffeine and osteoporosis.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao via Unsplash

The researchers examined the data from 24 people who were divided into two groups. The first group was asked to chew a non-caffeinated gum; the second a caffeinated chewing gum. Within six hours, both groups were given more chewing gum, with the latter group consuming about 800 mg of coffee per day, which corresponds to about eight cups of coffee.

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The group that chewed the caffeinated gum experienced several changes in their system, including the presence of calcium in the urine. That percentage has increased by 77% compared to the start of the study, suggesting that the kidneys are clearing calcium from the body faster than the body can replenish it.

While this study is an enlarged picture of people’s coffee habits – eight cups of coffee a day is a bit of an exaggeration even for heavy coffee drinkers – it reflects the effects of caffeine on the body. There are a variety of caffeinated beverages on the market, which means that by drinking coffee, a bottle of soda, and an energy drink, you could introduce a lot of caffeine into your body without knowing the side effects.

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The FDA recommends consuming no more than 400 mg of coffee per day. Still, you should make up for this with regular exercise, as this will improve bone health and eat healthy meals that can increase the amount of calcium you consume.