Mixed messages: Is coffee good or bad for us? It might help, but it doesn’t enhance health

Coffee has health benefits. Or it isn’t. Perhaps it is, then it is not, and then it is once more. If you consume coffee and follow the news, you may have observed this pattern.

A recent study revealed that coffee, even when sweetened, has health benefits. Other studies, however, have produced mixed results.

What is causing these swings in the perceived healthfulness of coffee? As complex as a good cup of coffee, the answer appears to boil down to human nature and scientific method.

Each day, approximately two billion cups of coffee are consumed globally. That’s a lot of coffee, and many coffee drinkers want to know what it’s doing to our bodies besides waking us up.

As a species, we are frequently delusional in our optimism. We want the world to be better, and perhaps simpler, than it currently is. We squint at our morning cup through the same rose-colored lenses because we want our coffee to provide us with health, not just a cheerful disposition.

The World Health Organization has announced that coffee consumption does not cause bladder cancer, as reported by CBC News.

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