Should you drink coffee on an empty stomach?

Coffee is such a popular beverage that its consumption is second only to water in some countries. In addition to helping the body reduce fatigue and maintain a state of alertness, the amount of caffeine in coffee has the ability to improve mood, enhance brain activity and improve exercise performance.

Coffee promotes weight loss, prevents diseases such as type 2 diabetes, temporary memory loss and heart disease. Many people often have the habit of drinking coffee the day after waking up in the morning, others think that empty stomach and drinking coffee can be harmful to health.
Research shows that the bitter taste in coffee can stimulate the body to increase stomach acid. Therefore, some people believe that coffee can irritate the stomach, making symptoms such as intestinal disorders, heartburn, stomach ulcers, nausea, and acid reflux worse.
Others think that drinking coffee on an empty stomach is harmful because there is no food in the stomach that prevents acid from damaging the stomach lining. However, no studies have proven a link between drinking coffee on an empty stomach and digestive problems.
For a group of users who are particularly sensitive to coffee, frequent heartburn, vomiting, and indigestion showed that these symptoms were not more severe when they drank coffee on an empty stomach than when they were drinking coffee. previous consumption of other foods.
Paying attention to the body's reactions is very important to consider and adjust the diet to suit the digestive system and health of each person.

Another popular view is that drinking coffee on an empty stomach can increase levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands and helps the body regulate metabolism, blood pressure, and blood sugar. However, too high levels of Cortisol can cause health problems, including reduced bone density, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.
The concentration of natural Cortisol in the body is highest around the time of waking up, decreases gradually during the day and rises again in the early stages of sleep.
Drinking coffee can increase the production of the hormone Cortisol, so some people think that drinking coffee the day after waking up when the level of Cortisol in the body is already high can be harmful to health.
However, research shows that the amount of Cortisol produced after drinking coffee is usually lower in people who consume coffee regularly, even in some people, Cortisol levels do not increase after drinking coffee. In addition, there is little evidence that drinking coffee when it is can inhibit this process. Even the process of increasing Cortisol is only temporary in people who do not drink coffee regularly, so the rate of causing disease is very low.

Drinking coffee has certain downsides, even if it's taken on an empty or full stomach. For example, the fact that coffee can be addictive, for some people, is genetically sensitive to coffee. Coffee addiction occurs when a person's regular use of coffee alters brain activity so that the body always requires larger amounts of caffeine to produce the same effect.
Drinking too much coffee can lead to anxiety, restlessness, heart palpitations and make the body go into a state of panic. Drinking coffee can even lead to headaches, migraines, and high blood pressure in some people.
For this reason, most experts recommend a coffee limit of about 400 mg per day - the equivalent of 4 dogs to 5 cups (1.12 liters) of coffee. Because the effects of caffeine can potentially last up to 7 hours in adults, coffee consumption can also cause insomnia, especially when taken in the evening hours.
Besides, caffeine has the ability to cross the placenta and has a longer effect in pregnant women, up to 16 hours. Therefore, pregnant women are advised to consume no more than 1 to 2 cups (240 to 480 ml) per day.
Customers can directly go to Vinmec Health system nationwide to visit or contact the hotline here for support.
Reference article Healthline.com