Is there a Link Between Joint Pain and Drinking Coffee?

There’s been a massive debate in the scientific community about whether or not drinking coffee is good or bad for your joints. There are studies that suggest that it is good for your joints and others to suggest that it is bad for your joints.

With so much conflicting evidence what’s the reality? Are you a coffee drinker? Are you experiencing joint pain? If you answered yes to either of those questions let’s take a deeper look into the studies and what the experts have been saying about the effect of coffee on your joints.

What are the Causes of Joint Pain?

If you’re experiencing joint pain, it’s likely that you suffer from arthritis. There are other reasons for joint pain but arthritis is the most common cause of joint pain in adults. If you suffer from Osteoarthritis, joint pain is caused by the protective cartilage in your joints breaking down^[1].

If you have Rheumatoid Arthritis, then you have an autoimmune disease where your body’s immune system attacks the joints and other organs.

What are the Facts about Arthritis?

Did you know that more than 50 million people^[2] are diagnosed with arthritis worldwide? Arthritis is also the number one cause of disability in America today. With so many people suffering from a form of arthritis, it’s important to know whether or not it affects joint pain and if it really is good or bad for your joints, particularly since so many people worldwide also drink coffee.

So now you know what the causes of joint pain are and how many people arthritis affects in the world today, let’s talk about what good things coffee can do for your joints. If you suffer from arthritis or just joint pain in general and you’re an avid coffee drinker, you’ll want to hear this. There are some positives to drinking those daily cups of Joe.

Antioxidant Polyphenols

I bet you’re reading the subheading thinking “what even is that?”. Don’t worry, I’ll explain. Antioxidant Polyphenols are a type of antioxidant containing Polyphenolic structure^[3]. So what does that mean to you and I? Antioxidants basically help prevent certain compounds from destroying your cells. So the Antioxidant Polyphenols in coffee are pretty beneficial, especially for people with arthritis^[4].

Coffee and Autoimmunity

Over the past few years there’s been some research into the effect of coffee on autoimmune diseases^[5]. As we talked about earlier, Rheumatoid Arthritis is actually an autoimmune disease and so the research of coffee’s effects on a number of autoimmune diseases is interesting as it has had a positive effect for people who suffer from these types of diseases.

You might be seeing some really positive reasons to be reaching for that cup of Joe right now but give it a minute. Although the Antioxidant Polyphenols and the positive effect coffee has for sufferers of autoimmune diseases is great news, there are some negatives to consider. So let’s have a look at the negative effects of coffee on your joints.

Coffee and the Rheumatoid Factor

There has been some research into coffee and it’s linked to rheumatoid arthritis and the results are not very good news for coffee drinkers. The research has shown a link to the increase of the rheumatoid factor and coffee. So what does this mean for you? If you drink coffee on a regular basis, there’s a much bigger risk of getting rheumatoid arthritis than those who don’t drink coffee or drink it rarely.

This research kinda contradicts the studies that show coffee is good for people who suffer from autoimmune diseases and, as we talked about above, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease. So which studies are you meant to believe? Well, at the moment there’s not enough research on either side to say exactly what damage or good your coffee is doing to your joints.

Risk is With Coffee and Not Just With Caffeine – (STUDY)

Yes, you read it right, the studies about the increase in the Rheumatoid Factor in coffee drinkers is actually not just linked to caffeine but to coffee in general. The studies showed that both people who drank caffeinated coffee and decaf both showed an increase in the Rheumatoid factor^[6]. So if you thought that switching your regular coffee to decaf would help take away your risk, unfortunately, it won’t.

But don’t let that stop you from switching to decaf instead of regular coffee because caffeine causes a number of different issues in the body including heart problems^[7]. So if you are drinking coffee regularly and in high volumes, try and switch over to decaf regardless.

Read Next: What Not To Eat When You Have Arthritis?

Conclusion

So what have we learned about the effects of coffee on your joints? Well, there’s a lot of conflicting research and evidence out there and there’s not really a clear conclusion.

There are positives for your joints from drinking coffee and there are negatives for drinking coffee too. I think the most important thing to remember really is to drink coffee in moderation and switch to decaf until there’s more research to back up those negatives.

The Arthritis Foundation^[8] actually says it can be beneficial to drink coffee[9] if you suffer from arthritis. So I would generally say to follow the Arthritis Foundation’s advice of drinking in moderation and being aware of your caffeine intake and the number of extras such as cream or syrups that you are adding to your cups.

Once more research is carried out on the effects of coffee on your joints you can make a more informed decision about whether to drink it or not. If you’re a coffee drinker with arthritis or joint pain, we’d love to hear from you? What are your thoughts on the research? And do you drink regular or decaf? Let’s find out how many sufferers or arthritis and joint pain drink coffee.