Millions of people rely on caffeine for energy every day. It is the most widely used legal drug on the planet. So is it actually good for us? Like a lot of things, in moderation, maybe. As most of us get our caffeine from coffee consumption, I will just use this beverage for the article.

Coffee seems to be a very popular subject with the media. One week you may hear that drinking coffee will help with fat loss. A few weeks later there will be another story on it may actually make you gain weight. What do you believe? I personally believe that having one a day, black or with cream and no sugar, will not increase the waistline.

If you are putting on weight and are adamant that coffee is responsible, you are probably drinking too many of those Caramel-Mocha Frappucinos with extra cream. Stick to long-blacks or espressos and you should be fine.

Coffee and Cortisol

Why do we take caffeine? Simple, it is a stimulant which can help us stay awake or give us a kick start in the morning. What do a lot of people do for that pick-me-up when they are tired? They grab something sweet, drink a caffeine-containing beverage, or smoke a cigarette. Some will have all three at once! Caffeine, sugar and tobacco are all stimulants, which fire up your sympathetic nervous system (your fight or flight response). This triggers the release of an activating hormone, cortisol, which gives your brain the impression that its time to get up, or time for action.

Cortisol is released in response to stress and light. It is at its peak in the morning from about 6 to 9am and then dropping mid afternoon and at its lowest after the sun goes down. When cortisol drops, melatonin is released which increase the levels of repair and growth hormones. If we continue to consume coffee into the afternoon, we will continue to release cortisol, which will disrupt our sleep cycle. Caffeine can stay in your system for up to 18 hours (depending on the amount you consume).

Weight loss or weight gain

I am no expert on the effects of coffee but bare with me for a minute. Coffee contains caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant that has been proven to aid in weight loss (notice I did not say FAT loss). Caffeine also increases cortisol. Prolonged exposure to cortisol increases fat around the umbilical region. So, I guess you could say that excess coffee consumption can increase fat around the mid-section? I guess so.

So to reiterate from above, if we are stressed and we go for a coffee, we may actually increase our chances of gaining more fat around the mid-section. I guess if I was to put it that way, most of us may consider given up our favourite daytime beverage...Maybe.

Benefits of coffee

Now, I should also point out that some U.S studies have shown a lot of people get most of the antioxidants from coffee, so if they were to eliminate it from their diet, they may encounter other issues. Also, some research on pubmed has shown that coffee consumption may help prevent chronic diseases such as type-2 diabetes and Parkinsons disease. More recent studies have also shown that coffee drinkers are less likely to get Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

To give up or not to give up?

I think that giving up coffee is harder than cutting out the carbs. I have personally chosen to give it up for a few months and switch to green tea. I am actually a coffee-lover because of the taste – not because of the stimulant factor. This makes it even harder to say goodbye to my favourite black liquid!

So as you can see there are pros and cons to coffee consumption. If you are going to continue to drink coffee but want to keep any possible side effects to a minimum, I have given some suggestions below:

• Keep your coffee black without sugar. Adding cinnamon and cream is OK.

• Have no more than two small cups a day.

• Always have it with solid meals and never on an empty stomach.

• Have 45 minutes before a workout. As it raises cortisol, you may as well use that cortisol for an effective training session!

• Never have it post-workout – if you are trying to gain muscle you do NOT want cortisol (a muscle-destroying hormone) hanging around after your weights session!

• Do not have after lunch time as may interfere with your sleep cycles.

• Try drink organic coffee. This will be better to a degree as will contain no chemicals from herbicides and fungicides sprayed over the crops during the farming process.