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I drink anywhere from three to eight cups of coffee a day. Half of it is caffinated (in the morning) and after 12PM I switch to decaf. I put about a tablespoon of heavy cream and bit of cinnamon in each cup.

Any reasons why this would be unhealthy?

Edit: I'm not talking from a caffeine perspective, just the coffee itself. Some people tell me that there is something to do with the acidity.

Edit2: I'm VLC if that matters.

Edit3: Reasons I drink that much coffee: I seriously just love the taste of coffee. I make a nice green tea with lemon, which is good.. but I just prefer the taste of coffee. Also, I've found that it works to suppress my appetite for snacks (I do a lot of computer work.)

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 Why are you having that much? Do you simply enjoy drinking coffee that much? Do you drink that much for it's energy? Do you think if you were to drink less you'd have an issue? – ben61820 Sep 20 2011 at 12:44
If you drink that much coffee to get through the day (not saying you do) you have deeper issues buddy :P – Flavio M. Sep 20 2011 at 13:40
I hear ya on preferring the taste of coffee. I think it just goes hand in hand with computer work, kind of like cigarettes and clubbing, wine and cheese, or camping and beer. I'm not suggesting those are all healthy combos, but there does seem to be a powerful aesthetic pairing. It is way too easy to mindlessly suck coffee down at the computer (I'm doing it right now). If you are thinking you might want to cut down your total consumption, you might have to make the computer a beverage free experience, and force yourself to take real coffee breaks. – Happy Now Sep 20 2011 at 20:49

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Coffee can inhibit mineral absorption...

"Inhibition of food iron absorption by coffee" TA Morck, SR Lynch and JD Cook

http://www.ajcn.org/content/37/3/416.abstract?ijkey=f63b84e86ae3b7e451190f577cb7de8cdf66b4d0&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha

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Interesting, just iron? Fix that with a supplement? (Hypothetically) – CS Sep 20 2011 at 4:25
I'd imagine the tannins affect absorption of various nutrients, protein, zinc and magnesium certainly. – David Moss Sep 20 2011 at 6:06
This is a good thing for man. Bad for premenopausal woman. Thx for paper, great find. – majkinetor Sep 20 2011 at 9:49
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not a big believer in the idea that we need an acid-base balance in our food intake to maintain blood ph, the human body is pretty good at regulating that. However STOMACH PH can be effected and long-term intake of high-acid foods, particularly things like soda and coffee that are taken without the buffer of other foods. This can be an issue as it can mess with the HCL production in the stomach.

regarding the decaf, do remember that it is not caffeine free. (for example, starbucks decaf has almost the same caffeine content as folgers regular)

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Your recommendation? Back off a bit? – CS Sep 20 2011 at 5:09
I'd lean toward cutting back, but mostly cause of the caffeine dependance. – Moonablaze Sep 30 2011 at 5:52
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I love coffee but 8 cups a day is excessive - sorry, but I prefer to be honest!

I would be thinking of cutting back in order to preserve good adrenal function - coffee promotes the release of adrenalin, and doing it on such a regular basis at that level isn't natural. You risk burning out your adrenals, it's not something one can easily bounce back from either.

The other effect of coffee at that amount is hallucinations - I don't have a ref but there was a study conducted about this just in the last few months.

I get high anxiety if I overdo coffee, my tolerance is low at the moment. But, speaking from experience, it can have a detrimental effect on mental health ay different doses for different people.

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It is a high oxalate food (not as high as spinach, but if you are drinking 8 cups it could be a decent dose), and if you are doing VLC too, there is a slight increase in the risk of kidney stones if you don't have a good amount of oxalobactor in your gut. Magnesium is supposed to bind with oxalate, so it might be a good idea to supplement with a bit more than your ordinary person would need to.

My recommendation is to drink a cup or two of the real stuff in the morning, and then drink herbal teas for the rest of the day (chamomile has a paradoxical effect on me in that it actually wakes me up when I'm a bit over-caffeinated), supplementing with an adaptogen like Siberian Ginseng(Eleuthero) and a hefty dose of some B vitamins in the afternoon will give you a lift and help protect your adrenals.

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Coffee is a low oxalate food, perfectly fine to drink for previous kidney stone sufferers. The only concern is the diuretic effect of the caffeine, which can lead to calcium and magnesium loss in the urine. Which could have a role in kidney stone formation. But coffee in and of itself is not a stone-forming beverage. ohf.org/docs/Oxalate2008.pdf – Nemesis Sep 20 2011 at 11:47
Thanks Nemesis, I was working from some old-school info on that one, but after more research today, it does look like there is still a call for "moderate consumption", might just be the magnesium wasting and dehydration angle though. It does still have 5mg./serving though (I suspect a little more for the strong coffees we are drinking these days) and a mug has 2 servings (I assume that's how he's measuring "cups", so if you multiply that by 8, it could still add up and you would get 5mg.x16=80mg. – Happy Now Sep 20 2011 at 20:34
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Since you are a man I think there are no bad effects for you if you drink more then 3 cups. 1-2 cups of coffee has been shown to produce negative effects. 3 or more did none, adaptation I think. Man have problems accumulating iron, premenopausal woman have opposite problem.

Coffee may promote dehydration (this is what is often claimed) but I failed to find any reliable info about it.

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I find it hard to find reliable studies about coffee, and I suspect it's because it's such a money industry and because people are so addicted to it. My experience is that too much coffee taxes your adrenals and it's harsher on the system than tea. I have to stick to decaf because just one full-caf cup and I'll have to drag myself out of bed the next day and I get zits on my chin. (Some people's adrenals are more resilient.) I can drink 3-4 cups of green tea in a day though and not have the same problem.

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What she said. For me, I can have one nice cup a day, if out to dinner then an espresso, but anything more than that and I react the opposite and instead of "wheee!" it's "zzzzzz". Total crash. And with green tea only one mug a day, with just a light steep, or I'm nauseous. @Grafikkid.. umm.. why are you drinking so much coffee? Curious.. – jesuisjuba - paleorepublic.com Sep 20 2011 at 12:48
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How is your decaf processed? Just from a toxins standpoint, some decaffeinated coffee is prepared by soaking out the caffeine in plain water, others use chemical processes. Personally, I don't really see the point in drinking decaf.

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Other than potential adrenal fatigue, that much coffee is a set up for chronic dehydration due to its diuretic properties. Chronic dehydration can lead to a plethora of life long ailments that can impair the quality, and likely the quantity of your life.

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Yep. Big issues are adrenal fatigue and dehydration.

Larger context: probably any question about potential side effects from eating/drinking too much X, equates to asking "Is it possible to consume too much X?" Uh, yep. It is.

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I mentioned this on another coffee thread once. Raises homocysteine.

http://www.ajcn.org/content/72/5/1107.abstract

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