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For many of us, what energizes us and increases our productivity at work is a cup of coffee, whether on our sleepy way to work or after lunch. Being our best friend, there are lot of stories that are told about coffee; some say more than three cups of coffee a day can be harmful to our health, others say Americano is a healthier choice than Latte. So in this article, we will investigate the popular misconceptions and truths about coffee, our mysterious best friend.

The popular belief that coffee helps us lose weight is actually wrong. Caffeine in coffee may help though, since it controls our appetite in the short term and prevents us from gaining weight by boosting our metabolism. However its effect is not so significant in shedding pounds and there's no clear evidence to show that it continuously helps. Rather, when we consume caffeinated products to lose weight, we may suffer from many side-effects including higher blood pressure, vomiting, nervousness, and insomnia. So it's never wise to believe in the rumours and drink coffee too often. A balanced diet and regular exercise are always our best bet.

Vegetable oils like olive oil or perilla oil contain healthier fats that benefit us by preventing diseases and maintaining our health. So many people think non-dairy creamers, considering the fact that they're made of vegetable oil (palm oil to be specific), are good for our health. But this is sadly not true, as palm oil, unlike other kinds of vegetable oil, is abundant in saturated fat which is harmful to our body. For adult males, the average daily basal metabolic rate (BMR) is 2,000 Kcal and the recommended amount of saturated fat intake is about 10 grams a day. But the amount of creamer needed to make a cup of coffee contains about three to four grams of saturated fat. While a cup of coffee with creamer can't be too harmful, having too much creamed coffee means that your saturated fat intake becomes excessive. That can lead to a surge in cholesterol levels within your body, leaving you much more vulnerable to adult diseases and cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, be sure NOT to have too much of creamers at all times.

Most people tend to drink their coffee as soon as they get it at a café. However, doing so can be very unhealthy; when people heat their coffee, it creates 'furan', a kind of carcinogen. So how long do we have to wait until our coffee cools down to a safer level? As furan is very volatile, about 61~90% of it disappears in five minutes. So it's always better not to drink our coffee as soon as we get it from our baristas, but to drink it slowly with some patience.

If you consume too much caffeine, you may suffer from insomnia or anaemia. It may even hamper the growth of children. So what is the main cause of caffeine addiction? Is it coffee or energy drinks? We’ve compared the amount of caffeine in each drink per serving; energy drinks were noted to contain 99mg of caffeine whilst the coffee we get from cafés contained 123mg. It was followed by liquefied coffee at 84mg and coffee mix at 48mg.

The recommended daily dose of caffeine for adults is 400mg, which means you would want to have a maximum of 3.3 cups of coffee at a café or 4 cans of energy drinks. Also the recommended caffeine intake for children (who weigh under 50kg or 110lbs) is only 125mg, which indicates that less than one cup of coffee at café, or 1.3 cans of energy drinks per day are safe levels of caffeine consumption. By all means, take extra care before you buy any caffeinated product because they differ in the amount of caffeine content. Finally don't forget to stay away from highly caffeinated products (containing more than 0.15mg of caffeine per 1ml), too.