Coffee may quite possibly be the most wide-spread and widely consumed drink on the planet. Consumption of coffee dates back to the 15th century, and the Unites States drinks more coffee than any other country in the world, and has been doing so since the turn of the 20th century.
Coffee is (in the opinion of many) delicious, and it also contains caffeine - a useful stimulant, among many other chemicals. It is made from the beans of a plant that originated in Ethiopia, and water.
Coffee has been consumed for a very long time now, but is it healthy?
There are two aspects to analyze in this respect: the actual nutritional value of coffee beverages and the effects that drinking coffee has on the body and the mind.
Lets start with the easy stuff: nutrition. Brewed coffee (coffee, hot water) has no caloric content. You can drink as much of the stuff as you want, and it won't affect your caloric balance. However, the majority of people (myself included) do not enjoy drinking black coffee, and prefer to alter the taste, generally with the addition of milk, sugar/flavoring, or both. This is where things get a little iffy. Adding a tablespoon of sugar and a quarter cup of whole milk will bring the caloric content of your drink to almost 100 calories.
If you decide that regular coffee isn't your thing, and to get a latte from Starbucks, for example, calories can range from 190 (plain) to 440 (peppermint mocha)! Nearly 500 calories from a cup of coffee (mostly sugar, too) is quite a bit and can make a serious impact on your health if consumed daily.
So in terms of nutritional value, coffee itself is not particularly villainous, what really matters is what you do (or don't) put in it.
But what about the other effects of coffee, most prominently the effect of caffeine? There is little evidence (1) that moderate coffee consumption has any negative effects on human health, and it may even help prevent some diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Caffeine, the drug in coffee responsible for it's stimulatory effects, does have some noteworthy effects though. Caffeine increases energy levels and decreases appetite (2), a desirable combination for anyone looking to lose weight. When consumed with a light meal (important for preventing stomach discomfort) coffee can be an effective weight-loss supplement!
So overall, coffee is not only delicious, but it can be included in most peoples' diet with proper planning and aid in weight loss! To answer the title of this post simply: coffee can be healthy, but it mostly depends what you put in it.
(1) Higdon, J. V., & Frei, B. (2006). Coffee and health: a review of recent human research. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 46(2), 101-123.
(2) Acheson, K. J., Zahorska-Markiewicz, B., Pittet, P., Anantharaman, K., & Jéquier, E. (1980). Caffeine and coffee: their influence on metabolic rate and substrate utilization in normal weight and obese individuals. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 33(5), 989-997.
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