Not that Americans need a special occasion to celebrate coffee, but September 29 is National Coffee Day, followed by International Coffee Day on October 1.
The average adult in the U.S. drinks about 2.7 cups of coffee daily. That’s a staggering 400 million cups consumed daily by 150 million Americans, or 140 billion cups every year.
The first National Coffee Day celebration is thought to have occurred around 2005, but it wasn’t widely recognized as a holiday until September 29, 2009, when the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans designated it as Coffee Day to mark the first New Orleans Coffee Festival.
Coffee is grown in more than 50 countries around the world, including Hawaii, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Columbia, Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Yemen, Indonesia, and Vietnam, per NCA.
The Coffee Craze
Daily coffee consumption is at a 20-year high, up nearly 40% since 2004, according to an April 2024 poll.
“67% of American adults had coffee in the past day (more than any other beverage, including tap or bottled water), compared to 49% in 2004. 75% of American adults have had coffee in the past week,” according to the National Coffee Association’s (NCA) Spring 2024 National Coffee Data Trends report.
“NCA’s exclusive research has tracked coffee trends for more than 70 years, and America’s favorite beverage has only ever continued to grow in terms of overall popularity and in innovating to meet consumers’ evolving tastes. This year’s two-decade high is only the latest proof of America’s enduring love affair with coffee,” stated NCA President and CEO William “Bill” Murray.
Drinking coffee has become a morning routine or a social activity for many, but this practice may come with health benefits.
One benefit of black coffee, especially for those watching their waistline, is that it contains zero calories, as long as you refrain from adding high-calorie ingredients such as creams, sugars, and syrups.
A report released in March 2023 by the BMJ Medicine journal indicates that consuming coffee on a regular basis may offer various health advantages, such as lowering body fat and decreasing the likelihood of developing Type 2 diabetes, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The latest September 2024 study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism has confirmed these findings, adding that moderate caffeine consumption could provide protection against Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and stroke.
“Coffee beans actually have over 100 biologically active compounds. These substances can help reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, improve insulin sensitivity, boost metabolism, inhibit the gut’s absorption of fat and block receptors known to be involved with abnormal heart rhythms,” explained Peter M. Kistler, MD, professor and head of arrhythmia research at the Alfred Hospital and Baker Heart Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and the senior author of the study: Good News for Coffee Lovers: Daily Coffee May Benefit the Heart published in the American College of Cardiology.
The Sweet Spot
Researchers have discovered that consuming two to three cups of coffee daily is the right amount for the most health benefits, including possibly reducing the risk of dementia, liver disease, and more, reported Today.
However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that excessive caffeine intake can result in a rapid heart rate, anxiety, restlessness, headaches, and sleep disturbances.
“Of course, if you’re getting jittery, it’s too much caffeine,” said Dr. Nicole Clark, MD, a neurologist at St. Peter’s Health Medical Group in Helena, Montana, and an AMA delegate for the Montana Medical Association.
“But, in general, about two 8-ounce cups of coffee should be the limit because a cup of coffee has between 100 and 200 milligrams of caffeine,” Clark added.