The average American adult consumes over 10 pounds of coffee per year, which amounts to a total of 2.4 billion pounds a year in the United States alone.  

Just as Dr. Hu with the Finnish National Public Health Institute pointed out, the issue of coffee’s health impact is important because it is one of the most consumed drinks (at least in Western countries), and coffee drinkers may therefore accelerate or worsen their health problems.

Caffeine is a drug; it just happens to be a very common legal drug, but it's a drug nevertheless -- with very powerful actions.

It’s true that there have been studies attesting to coffee's contribution in cutting your risk of developing certain kinds of cancers and diabetes. But coffee drinkers are also likely increasing their risk of other deadly diseases, such as stomach cancer, leukemia, stroke and rheumatoid arthritis.

Drinking coffee also has other well-documented problems, such as:

• Coffee may interfere with your body's ability to keep homocysteine and cholesterol levels in check, most likely by inhibiting the action of the vitamins folate, B12 or B6.
• Studies have shown that caffeine can raise your levels of stress hormones. If consumed in large quantities it can lead to heart palpitations, jitters and nervousness.
• Since coffee is a stimulant, it will only worsen the symptoms of anxiety. People with panic or anxiety disorders may find that they are especially sensitive to caffeine and may find that even a small amount of the stimulant exacerbates their symptoms.  
• Caffeine will linger in your body for hours after you drink it, so it may keep you up at night even if you drink it long before bedtime, adding to insomnia.

When is Coffee Abstinence Truly Required?

I believe most people would serve themselves well to limit or avoid coffee as much as possible. If you are pregnant, however, you’re surely in a category that should avoid coffee completely, as there is a substantial amount of research showing it clearly increases your risk of spontaneous abortion.

Caffeine is a stimulant drug that easily passes through the placenta to the developing fetus, and transfers through breast milk, which is why you should never drink coffee while pregnant or nursing.

During pregnancy, and in infants, the half-life of caffeine is increased, which means that it will stay in your body, and your infant's body, longer. Moreover, fetuses have no ability to detoxify caffeine.

Research suggests that drinking more than 300 mg of coffee daily, or the equivalent of two to three 8-ounce cups, may increase the risk of miscarriage, birth defects such as cleft palate, and low birth weight. Preliminary studies also suggest that drinking four cups of coffee or more per day may put the infant at an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Caffeine can also make it more difficult for women to maintain necessary levels of iron and calcium, which are especially important during gestation.

Coffee May Be a Lesser Evil For Some…

Your best choice beverage is pure water--but coffee is far less dangerous than fruit juice or soda.

While I do believe that eliminating (or at the very least limiting) coffee should be one of your goals, if you are in the midst of other dietary changes (such as those outlined in my nutrition plan), eliminating coffee can be put toward the bottom of your list, while striving to eliminate soda and fruit juice from your beverage list first.

Also, remember that caffeine will affect you differently, depending on your nutritional type, so learn to listen to your body. Protein types will tend to get jittery from just a few sips, whereas a strong Carb type could drink a pot of coffee and go straight to bed, completely bypassing insomnia-ville to the land of sweet dreams. However, it may still affect other physiological functions, such as raising your blood pressure, or reducing your vitamin absorption.

Quitting Coffee Doesn’t Have to be a Headache

If you try to stop drinking coffee "cold turkey," you will likely experience symptoms of withdrawal that can include severe headache, fatigue, and depression.  

Avoid this scenario by cutting down the amount you drink gradually over a period of days, or even weeks. During your weaning process, these tips can reduce the chance of harmful effects until you can kick the habit completely:

• Use organic coffee. Coffee is a heavily sprayed crop, so drinking organic coffee might reduce or eliminate your exposure to toxic herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers. It will also help the people working in the coffee fields, as they will be exposed to fewer pesticides as well.
• Try "Swiss Water Process" decaf. If you are going to drink decaffeinated coffee, be sure that it 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 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. Also, make sure you don’t substitute sugar with any type of artificial sweeteners, which are even worse than regular sugar.
• Only use 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.

Once you’re ready for the next step, these few tricks can help you with any withdrawal symptoms you may experience, and reinforce your commitment to quitting:

• Drink plenty of water during the weaning process to keep your body well hydrated.
• Use the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to help with your caffeine addiction and withdrawal symptoms.
• Try replacing coffee with organic tea for a partial solution.
• If you find that you miss your morning coffee-drinking ritual, replace it with a new tradition that will also boost your health and energy. Vegetable juice makes a great coffee replacement. It will give you the energy boost that you're looking for in the morning without the negative effects of caffeine.