Coffee and Estrogen

I have been asked on several occasions what my thoughts are on consuming coffee. My standard answer is, no more than two cups per day, especially if you are a female. Let us delve a little deeper into why I give this standard answer. Well let’s face it, we all love coffee. Plus there are several benefits of its consumption such as proper bowel movement, increase muscle strength, may lower risk of oral cancer, and possibly reduce the development of dementia and Alzheimer's later in life.

But again what is the deal with my two cups limit, especially for women? Well in a study done in 2001, concluded that drinking more than two cups of coffee daily, appeared to boost estrogen levels in women and could worsen conditions such as endometriosis and breast pain. According to the researchers, women who drank the most coffee had higher levels of estradiol, a naturally occurring form of estrogen, during days 1 to 5 of their menstrual cycle. In fact they found that estrogen levels were 70% more.

Higher estrogen levels is really not good for anyone, but more so for women, especially with family histories of breast or ovarian cancer.

Interestingly enough, the study also found that regardless of age, body mass index (BMI), caloric intake, smoking, and alcohol and cholesterol intake, the estrogen were still elevated. This was most evident in the females that consumed at least 500 milligrams of caffeine daily, the equivalent of four or five cups of coffee, compared to those that had no more than 100 mg of caffeine daily, or less than one cup of coffee.

Now please note that I am not saying to completely eliminate coffee if you enjoy it. But according to some health advocates such as Dr. Mercola, if you do drink coffee, keep it to no more than two cups per day and do the following:

• Use organic coffee - Coffee is a heavily sprayed crop, so drinking organic coffee might reduce or eliminate the exposure to toxic herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers. Check sites such as www.thenibble.com for info on organic fair trade coffee.

• "Swiss Water Process" decaf - If you are going to drink decaffeinated coffee, be sure that it is one that uses a non-chemical based method of decaffeination. The "Swiss Water Process" is a patented method and is the best choice. Most of the major brands are chemically decaffeinated, even if it says "Naturally Decaffeinated" right on the container. If you are unsure of the methods, contact the manufacturer.

• Avoid sugar and/or milk - These are actually much worse for you than the coffee itself. Don't compound the detrimental health effects by adding milk or sugar to your coffee.

• Unbleached filters - If you use a "drip" coffee maker, be sure to use non-bleached filters. The bright white ones, which most people use, are chlorine bleached and some of this chlorine will be extracted from the filter during the brewing process.

I hope you found this information useful. Stay fit and well family.