CoffeeForums Coffee Facts

Q: At 'Starbucks', I typically (though, not always) get a headache with their normal blend of regular coffee, but with the Espresso drinks I don't. Then brewing at home, with some brands, I'll get a headache, others not. Also, a brand that I've used for a while sometimes starts to give me headaches. Also, if my Espresso coffee gets a couple weeks old, it starts giving me headaches when I use my Espresso machine.

A: I have the same problem with different coffees. Although, sometimes I get an upset stomach and loose bowels. I found this tidbit and posted the website below..."While ingesting coffee for headaches may help in the short run, coffee lowers magnesium levels, so in the long run this solution may do more harm than good. I rarely drink coffee, but if I do have a cup one day, then the next day I have to have at least half a cup or, I get a headache from the blood flow to my head increasing."All the research suggests that drinking a moderate (up to say 3-4 cups a day) amount of coffee is "health neutral" if you like. By "health neutral" we mean, of no measurable benefit or detriment to your health. The 3 main categories of people for whom coffee is a health risk are; pregnant woman, those with medical conditions who have been put on notice not to take coffee (eg. some cardio patients), and those who are 'caffeine sensitive'. From the way you describe your symptoms, the correlation with your coffee drinking sounds 'poor' at best. I think I am correct in saying that the one of the active ingredients in pain-relief tablets is a synthesised version of a chemical that is naturally present in coffee. For this reason, you should find that a cup of black coffee will relieve a headache, not induce one. If you drink a lot of coffee, then stop drinking, it this will also cause headaches in some people as your body has become accustomed to the caffeine. Coffee has been blamed for a great many things over the years, few of them proven. Of course, if you are a 30 cup a day person, expect trouble. Even 10 cups a day is likely to cause problems for some drinkers. For example, if you drink too much water from the most pure source you can find on the planet (eg 5 litres or more in a day) there is a good chance you will cause permanent brain damage to yourself, and possibly death as even pure water is extremely dangerous in such large amounts, so do bear this in mind.