Health Benefits of Drinking Coffee

Is a Cup O’ Joe Good For You?

We already wrote about the health benefits of dark chocolate, and now we get to follow up with some surprising health benefits of drinking coffee.

Where Does Coffee Come From?

In the US, we prefer coffee over tea. In fact, Americans drink 20% of the world’s coffee, though the only common American place for coffee to be grown commercially is Hawaii. Mexico actually supplies a lot of our coffee, though Brazil and Columbia are larger producers worldwide. Most people think that our favorite brew actually originated in Ethiopia. It is the home of the arabica tree, and also most tales about the origins start there. So the one thing we need to start our morning rarely actually comes from the US.

Is Coffee Health Food?

Well, according to WebMD, coffee may actually have a lot of surprising health benefits for people. I always have to add a disclaimer. There are some people who do not tolerate coffee well. It may give them the jitters or interfere with digestion. But for most of us, especially people like me who were weaned on the stuff, a moderate amount of coffee a day probably does more good than harm!

Note: If you have a particular health condition, please talk to your doctor. He or she may tell you that you can enjoy coffee, or that you should eliminate or moderate your consumption.

Disease Prevention

Harvard researchers declared that moderate coffee drinking cut diabetes risk, but heavy coffee drinking may actually cut the risk in half. In addition, several studies have demonstrated that people who enjoy their cup of Joe are much less likely to develop Parkinson’s Disease. Moderate use also cut the risk of liver cirrhosis and colon cancer. Studies are being conducted that also demonstrate that it helps reduce asthma attacks.

Coffee  and Vice

In fact, research demonstrates that our favorite drink may even offset  the risk of developing problems from other vices we engage in, like smoking and heavy drinking. Please don’t run out and tell everybody that we are promoting smoking or heavy drinking. Cut that stuff out, but keep your coffee!

Can Coffee Make Us Happy?

Most of us know that caffeine is a mild mood enhancer. Caffeine?Well, we are certainly not writing about the decaf stuff! It also seems to relieve headaches, and many pain relievers also contain caffeine.  And while nobody suggests that it makes us smarter, most of us know it can make us more focused and alert.  In fact, several studies have been done on giving kids coffee and milk to improve mental focus, and also to alleviate depression.

Coffee, coming from plants, also contains potent anti oxidants. These may actually be made more potent by a typical brewing process. It also contains healthy minerals, like magnesium. Coffee is good food!

Who Should Not Drink Coffee?

You know the news could not be all good. Some people should really watch their cosumption of coffee, especially the high caffeine kind.

• It can be addictive. If you are a regular consumer, and you have had to give it up for a few days, you may experience a withdrawal headache. That probably goes away if you take a pain reliever, but that may just contain more caffeine.
• It can disrupt sleep. A lot of us are careful to limit the times of day when we have our brew, and never drink past about 7pm so we can get to sleep later. This is a worse problem for some people who are prone to sleeping disorders.
• It may increase cholesterol. Coffee may contain oils that raise the LDL (bad kind) of cholesterol. Some research suggests that using a French press aggravates this problem, while other methods for making coffee may reduce this.
• Headaches. Caffeine can treat headaches, but it can also cause them.
• Unfair Trade Agreements – Farmers in developing countries may not get very fair prices for their beans. You may want to look into Fair Trade Coffee to be sure that the particular brand you enjoy is being purchased for a fair price.

We know that most of you love to know that you are really not hurting yourself with a cup or two a day. Have you had any experiences with coffee that were either positive or negative? Let us know by commenting!

Related articles:

1. Relax. Have A Cup Of Coffee.
2. Low Dose Aspirin Health Benefits
3. Eat Chocolate (for Health Benefits)!
4. Chamonile Tea Benefits
5. Benefits of a Colon Cleanse

Tags: antioxidants, cholesterol, coffee, diabetes

This entry was posted on March 4, 2010 at 2:13 pm and is filed under Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.