Relationship between Extent of Coffee Intake and Recognition of Its Effects and Ingredients

This study examined the relationship between number of cups of coffee intake and recognition of the effects of coffee intake and its ingredients in young males and females. The subjects included 624 young people (ages 15 24; 359 males, 265 females), who drank coffee habitually. They were classified into three groups on the basis of the number of cups of coffee consumed per day: “one cup,” “two cups,” and “over three cups.” In males, about 25% of the “over three cups” group expected “resolution of stress” from coffee, and this percentage was higher than that in the other groups. In females, about 18% of the same group had similar expectations; however, no significant group difference was found among the three groups. Few persons expected protective effects of diabetes mellitus and cancer in both genders (about 5% answer rate). About 20% of males and 18% of females in the “over three cups” group recognized the “laxative property” of coffee intake, and a significant group difference was found only in males. Even in the “one cup” group, over 77% knew that “caffeine” is an ingredient of coffee; however, few persons (under 15%) knew “poly-phenol,” which has protective effects of diabetes mellitus and cancer. In addition, no significant group difference was found in both genders. In conclusion, regardless of the coffee intake cup-number in both genders, recognition of the effects of coffee intake was low in both males and females and the recognition of effects differs by the intake cup-number in males. Only few persons knew the other ingredients in coffee apart from “caffeine.”