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Rheumatoid Arthritis and Coffee

by Dr. Stephen Sinatra

Published 04/30/09

Several years ago, a study was released that found study that drinking four or more cups of coffee a day greatly increased your chances of getting rheumatoid arthritis. While I'm not a fan of coffee (overuse tends to stimulate and weaken the adrenal glands), I'm not sure the study is such a big deal.

The study was an evaluation of data collected on over 18,000 adults between the early 1970s and 1989 in Finland. There is definitely some merit to the study, which found that, among the 4,641 individuals who drank three or less cups of coffee a day, only 0.4 percent developed rheumatoid arthritis compared to 0.8 percent of 14,340 individuals who drank four or more cups a day. (Ann Rheum Dis 00;59(8):631-5)

However, it's possible that other lifestyle or diet factors played a significant role as well as coffee. Another factor that needs to be considered might be even more important. During the time of this study, Finnish coffee was unfiltered (this situation is not as common today). All in all, I don't think that there's too much to worry about, but drinking more than four cups of coffee a day is probably more than you should be doing anyway.

Any way you slice it, caffeine is both an addictive compound and a nervous system stimulant. Studies have shown that after consuming three cups of coffee, adrenaline from the adrenal glands increased by 80 percent. This increase is the roughly the same amount that has been shown to be released when an individual is placed in a stressful office or industrial situation, or the amount released during an emotionally-charged movie presentation. (Acta Med Scand 67;181 (4):431-438)

Continued stimulation by the regular use of caffeine will eventually deplete the adrenal glands, which interferes with blood sugar regulation and leads to symptoms like headaches, fatigue, tremors, heart palpitations, dizziness, etc. And adding caffeine to sugar-laden or artificially sweetened colas only makes matters worse.

When it comes to coffee and/or caffeine-laced products, like most things in life, moderation is the key.