Is Coffee Good or Bad For You? Dr. Sanjay Gupta Answers

Is coffee good for you? It seems like we can never get a straight answer!

Well, neurosurgeon and chief medical correspondent for CNN Dr. Sanjay Gupta joined Rach in the studio to discuss what he thinks will be the biggest health headlines of 2019 — and the debate on coffee made the cut!

"One of the hardest parts of my job is the sort of flip-flopping," Dr. Gupta says. "People always say, 'Oh, you tell us one thing one day, you tell us something else the next day.'"

"Nothing worse for the flip-flops than coffee. It's one of the big health flip flops," he continues. "Is it good for you or is it bad for you? Most people don't know."

The doc explains that over centuries, coffee's reputation changed quite a bit. According to him, in the 1600s, coffee was a cure-all. In the 1700s, British women thought it caused impotence. In the 1800s, it was considered as bad as cocaine. But over the past few hundred years, people have referred to coffee as "basically being a health food," as Dr. Gupta puts it.

So, what's his answer?

According to Dr. Gupta, it's time to rejoice, because he says COFFEE IS GOOD FOR YOU!

Well, hold up, it's good for you in moderation.

He recommends no more than four 8-ounce cups (which is about 100 milligrams of caffeine each) of BLACK COFFEE a day. (That's right, forget the cream and sugar.)

"If you're drinking four cups of black coffee like this, you're getting a lot of benefit from a health perspective," Dr. Gupta says. "You'll still get the benefit if you add this other stuff [cream and sugar], but you're getting extra calories."

We are glad this centuries long flip-flop is FINALLY settled — for now, at least!

As always, check with your doctor about dietary decisions.