Is drinking coffee an answer to less stress?

by Nisha Ganasen

A Starbuck Barista is conducting live on Facebook to show the followers process of preparing Reserve Roasted coffee. (Source: unsplash/Tyler Nix)

It is around 5 o'clock in the evening. Everyone is busy coming back from their work, or from studying all day and feeling tired. A green aproned barista is calling my name and I find myself walking towards the counter to pick up my companion, knowing that the cup of coffee is going to help me get through the day.

I open up the lid and stare at the cup of coffee. I see a hot steam escaping out of the cup and a brownish tiny bubble bells mix with the milky white presenting a sketch of a leaf, dark brown in colour glowing of the long cup, the orange and yellow toned lighting of the coffeehouse where I am waiting for another coffee lover to join me to share their experiences when having coffee.

Coffee used to be a loyal customer to some working professionals, but as years passed over 2.25 billion cups of coffee is being drunk on a daily basis all over the world. Either working professionals or students studying higher education and lower education, most people love drinking coffee.

It has become their best companion whenever someone feels lonely and depressed.

According to The Star, over the last few years, coffee stores have ballooned significantly across towns and cities and a quick cup of coffee has become more popular among young people and professionals.

In 2018, approximately 60kg bags of coffee had been consumed by Malaysians over the period of 2008 up until 2019 has been shown in research statistics conducted by Hirschman in 2020.

Are we aware that coffee itself has an engrossing background story of being found. Get prepared to be led on a tour around continents and across time.

According to Statista Research Department research revealed that approximately 9 percent of coffee consumers consume at least six cups of coffee. Coffee was so important in everyone's daily lives that it was even included in those days' military rations.

There are two-sided stories about where coffee initially originated from.

First side story In Ethiopia, there was a young goatherd known as Kaldi notice that his goats ate a small red berry and they became highly active. Then Kaldi eats the berry and realizes it does make him energized either. He shared the experience with a monk but the monk rejected it and threw it into the fire. Then a hypnotizing aroma smells out which attracts the monk. Then they picked the roasted coffee, poured some hot water and came the first ever coffee.

Second part of a coffee story in Yemen, a man called Sheikh Omar who lived in a cave in the desert with hunger and desperation because his community banished him for entering the community. He found a red berry and once he consumed it, he was taken back by the bitterness. Keen on making the most out of his meager meal, Omar roasted the beans, ground them up and boiled the berries with water. It produced an energizing liquid that sustained him for days. Then his community found out he learned a magical concoction he was invited to return to his homeland. Then the coffee fever starts to spread across the world. Netherlands is the first to open a coffee plantation in Sri Lanka. The Dutch and East India companies started to import the coffee beans from Java and Ceylon in 1711.

Later, most of the country started their own coffee plantations. Then, different types of coffee beans started to be discovered. The coffee beans grow according to the environment and temperature of a country.

Now coffee drinking habit has become so popular among all age groups of people. As years pass, dealing with stress has become part of everyone’s life.

As a result, people are crowding in coffee shops to feel relaxed and to get rid of the day's stress. A research conducted by Naveen R showed that 69.3% of consumers drink coffee to release their stress.

Jason Gunalan, an employee at Starbucks shared his experience working that averagely each person spends about 45 minutes to 1 hours in the coffee shop. He also stated that people normally prefer to come to the coffee shop in the evening time, around 5p.m until 9 p.m.

According to a BBC news report, Harvard Medical School female students shared their coffee drinking experience shows that those who ingested two to three cups each day had a 15 percent lower chance of experiencing stress, relative to female students that drink less than a cup of coffee a week. This shows that the more they consume caffeine the more they cut the risk of depression.

“Yes, I do agree there are studies conducted on healthy individuals aged 55 and below that drinking coffee reduces their risk of having a heart attack because the caffeine stimulates the body to be stress free and feel relaxed,” said Malathi Murugaiya, a medical doctor at Hospital Sultan Ismail Johor .

Malathi also stated that she always makes sure to have a cup of coffee daily to maintain her work stress levels while she is busy working at the hospital.

Harish Mathiyalagan, an accountant executive shared that in his company the employees pitched in some money together to buy themselves a Nespresso machine and kept it in their pantry, so they can drink coffee when they feel like they need a break.

Dr. Malathi stated that people who consume one to four cups of coffee can significantly lower the risk of suicidal tendencies in each individual. The body and mind can digest overwhelming situations without being stressed when the individual consumes coffee before or after an overwhelming situation.

She also shared the high level of caffeine in coffee is the cause of the body to react. Caffeine increases serotonin receptors in the brain. Serotonin is a happy chemical which contributes to felicity and increased energy. When there are more happy receptors, more happy chemicals bind to it and make it more elated and relaxed.

“Balance is the key. Some Malaysian students drink coffee as early as 12 years old to prepare themselves for examinations and consume it without a time limit which can cause their body to react and give negative effects to the body in older age,” she said.

Harish mentioned that although he loves drinking coffee so much, he still has control on his coffee drinking habit.

“As my mom always used to say, everything needs to be balanced, however good it is for health. If there is no control in anything we consume or do, then we need to be ready to face the consequences,” said Harish.

Although consuming coffee does somehow help our brain membrane to control stress and depression.

Let’s consume it with control to enjoy the positive benefits towards the body. Have a cup of coffee and enjoy yourself.