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Hello Coffee Drinkers / You Are Doing Your Body Good!

Category: General Information | Permalink

Published: Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Are you a lover of that "cup o' joe"? Good for you!

Recent studies show that people who drink three to four cups of java a day are 25% less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those who drink fewer than two cups. Men who drink at least six cups a day have a 60% lower risk of developing advanced prostate cancer than those who didn't drink any.

Studies also link coffee consumption with a lower risk of getting colon, mouth, throat, esophageal and endometrial cancers. People who drink coffee are also less likely to have cavities, gallstones, cirrhosis of the liver, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, or even to commit suicide. Can you believe it? It's true.

Last year, researchers at Harvard University and the University of Madrid assessed data on more than 100,000 people over 20 years and concluded that the more coffee they drank, the less likely they were to die during that period from any cause at all.

Prostate Cancer

The prostate-cancer study compared the coffee-drinking habits of 50,000 men with their incidence of prostate cancer over 20 years, and also took into account family history of prostate cancer and how frequently they had screenings. The more cups of coffee the men drank, the less likely they were to be in the most lethal group. Men who drink coffee have a 60% reduced risk of developing advanced prostate cancer.

Diabetes

At least 18 studies have found that drinking three or more cups of coffee a day is linked with a lower risk of developing the disease. Coffee contains traces of hundreds of substances, including potassium, magnesium and vitamin E as well as chlorogenic acids, caffeol and diterpenes that have antioxidant properties. These may protect against cell damage and inflammation that can be precursors to cancer, diabetes, neurological disorders and cardiovascular disease.

Parkinson's, Cirrhosis, Dementia, Cancer

Studies have shown that people who drink coffee regularly are 80% less likely to develop Parkinson's disease and liver cirrhosis. Two more studies from 2009 have also suggested that drinking coffee lowers the risk of developing Dementia.

Many studies have also highlighted coffee's key role in reducing risk for multiple types of cancer. People who drink coffee are up to 50% less likely to develop liver cancer. Research has also suggested that they are 25% less likely to develop colon cancer.

Breast Cancer

In the Nurse's Health Study a reduction in breast cancer was noted in post-menopausal coffee drinkers.

Alzheimer's

Researchers believe moderate daily consumption of caffeinated coffee is the best current option for long-term protection against Alzheimer's memory loss. Coffee is inexpensive, readily available, easily gets into the brain, appears to directly attack the disease process and has few side effects for most people.

A new study shows that it may not be just the caffeine, but a combination of caffeine and coffee's compounds that together cause an increase in blood levels of a growth factor called GCSF (granulocyte colony stimulating factor). Patients with Alzheimer's disease have low levels of GCSF.

Cognitive Function

Coffee can help you increase short term recall.

Also, in tests of simple reaction time, choice reaction time, incidental verbal memory, and visuospatial reasoning, participants who regularly drank coffee were found to perform better on all tests, with a positive relationship between test scores and the amount of coffee they drank regularly. Elderly participants were found to have the largest effect associated with regular coffee drinking. Another study found that women over the age of 80 performed significantly better on cognitive tests if they had regularly drunk coffee over their lifetimes. Wow! I want that to be me!

Five Reasons to Not Quit Coffee

1) It protects your heart: Moderate coffee drinkers (1 to 3 cups/day) have lower rates of stroke than non-coffee drinkers, an effect linked to coffee's antioxidants. Coffee has more antioxidants per serving than blueberries, making it the biggest source of antioxidants in American diets. Immediately after drinking it, coffee raises your blood pressure and heart rate, but over the long term, it can actually lower blood pressure as coffee's antioxidants activate nitric oxide, widening blood vessels.

2) It prevents diabetes: Coffee's antioxidants boost your cells' sensitivity to insulin, which helps regulate blood sugar.

3) Your liver loves it: It appears that the more coffee people drink, the lower their incidence of cirrhosis and other liver diseases. One analysis of nine studies found that every 2-cup increase in daily coffee intake reduced liver cancer risk by 43%.

4) It boosts your brain power: Drinking between 1 and 5 cups a day may help reduce risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, as well as Parkinson's disease. Those antioxidants may ward off brain cell damage and help the neurotransmitters involved in cognitive function to work better.

5) It helps headaches: Studies show that 200 milligrams of caffeine - about the amount in 16 ounces of brewed coffee - provides relief from headaches, including migraines.

One theory gaining credence is that some of the beneficial components in coffee may counterbalance some of the negative effects of caffeine. For example, while caffeine keeps people awake in part by blocking adenosine, a brain chemical that brings on sleep, the chlorogenic acid keeps adenosine circulating in the brain longer.