Coffee Is Good For You

[PattayaOneTeam]

Living Healthy in Pattaya

Addicted to Caffeine?

Perk Up—Coffee is Good for You

If you absolutely must start each day with a cup of coffee, you probably have a caffeine dependence. But unless your physician has warned you to quit the black brew, perk up: the latest research indicates that moderate coffee consumption causes no harm and, in fact, probably offers health benefits.

For decades, coffee has been defamed and acclaimed from one study to another. But this inveterate java junkie sees ample grounds to justify a healthy cup or three a day. In fact, I’m convinced that the black brew (drunk that way) helps maintain good health.

Studies conducted around the world show that coffee drinkers are less likely to have type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia. Caffeine fiends also suffer fewer cases of cancer, strokes, and heart problems. And if that’s not enough, other research shows that coffee may reduce the risk of developing gallstones, liver damage, and colon problems—including cancer, and may improve both cognitive function and endurance performance in long-duration physical

activities (think better sex).

How much and what kind of coffee?

Three to four cups a day would do the trick. But if that much coffee makes you edgy, just a single cup a day provides some protection. One cup may lower your risk of stroke by a much as 30%, for example. That same cup may reduce your chance of contracting cancer of the mouth, pharynx and esophagus by 50%, according to a 13-year study in Japan. Such benefits derive whether you drink decaf or regular; in either case eliminate the cream and sugar –which seem to hamstring the antioxidants in coffee, eliminating some benefits and add fat and calories.

Want more protection? Drink even more coffee. Two to three cups a day cut the overall risk of all deaths by 18% in women...not so much in men (3%). That’s also the amount that helps reduce chances of getting Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and type 2 diabetes. A study conducted in Finland revealed that those who drank three to five cups of coffee a day lowered their risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease by 65%.

Another study suggested that the risk of diabetes dropped about 7% with each daily cup. [brits take note: 3 or 4 cups of tea a day had similar diabetes-thwarting benefits.]

Before such good news has you reaching for another cuppa, be warned that “coffee is not completely innocent. Caffeine, coffee's main ingredient, is a mild addictive stimulant,” reports the September issue of Harvard Women’s Health Watch. The Medical School’s warning goes on to point out that the brew can have modest cardiovascular effects such as increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, and occasional irregular heartbeat that should be considered. Such

negative effects tend to emerge with excessive coffee drinking.

“It is best to avoid heavy consumption,” advises Dr. Donald Hensrud, preventive medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic. He says heavy caffeine use—four to seven cups a day—can “cause problems such as restlessness, anxiety, irritability and sleeplessness, particularly in susceptible

individuals.”

A final positive note for coffee lovers: java has been shown to improve alertness and reaction time in people. After consuming anywhere from 20 mg to 200 mg of caffeine, "people report increased well-being, happiness, energy, alertness and sociability," says caffeine expert Roland Griffiths at the John Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. That may be why one 10-year study found that those who drank at least two cups of regular coffee a day were about 60% less

likely to commit suicide than non-coffee drinkers.

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-- Pattaya One 2010-11-21

[Rimmer]

Confirms what I always suspected slurp slurp