Magic Beans That Can Improve Your Health – Coffee – Can You Believe It?
By Erica Goodstone, Ph.D.
Researchers are discovering some magical properties in coffee: that ordinary, delightfully arousing morning cup of caffeine filled coffee that at least 54% of Americans can’t start their days without. Can you believe it? Coffee, a drink that recently seemed to be inferior to green tea and thought of as unhealthy for years, has been given a clean bill of health. And not just one cup!
A few recent large-scale studies, sited by RealAge.com, have found that even a few cups may indeed improve our health by warding off various diseases.
· A Japanese study, conducted over a 13 year period, found that for both men and women, drinking one or more cups of coffee every day lowered the likelihood of developing cancer of the mouth, pharynx, and esophagus compared to people who drank no coffee.
· Another study, conducted over 24 years with women subjects, found that women who drank 2-3 cups of coffee every day had a 19% lower risk of having a stroke than women who drank less than one cup of coffee per month.
· Middle-aged men and women who drank 3 cups of coffee or more every day were 65% less likely to develop dementia or Alzheimer’s by age 60 or 70.
· Men may have up to 40% reduction in risk for Parkinson’s disease by drinking only one cup every day.
· Excessive coffee drinking, which may cause different health problems, has been linked to lowered risk of type 2 diabetes.
· Coffee drinking may also reduce the risk of liver cancer caused by cirrhosis,
But not everyone benefits from coffee, and certainly not 2 or 3 cups or more. The benefits seemed to apply, at least in the study conducted with only women, to those with no history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes. However, although coffee drinking does not seem to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, it may increase aortic stiffness and unfiltered coffee my increase the level of blood fats.
How does coffee do all these health promoting and protective actions. Researchers suggest that the coffee bean’s polyphenols, inflammation-fighting antioxidants, may be the key. Roasted coffee residues seem to retain their antioxidant ability, even after processing.
The question that concerns me is that I had read, for many years, that coffee drinking could actually deplete the body of vitamins, especially vitamin C. I also read that coffee could interfere with the body’s need for adequate fluids, creating intestinal and bowel problems. Current research does not seem to even mention these concerns that had been common knowledge for decades.
So, why bother with messy fruits and vegetables when I can have my aroma filled, smooth tasting cup of coffee, and then another cup, and another cup – and keep getting healthier. It doesn’t quite work that way. And the results of these studies are not showing other factors that may be involved, such as the types of diets, the amounts of exercise, the emotional health, and the overall lifestyles of the study participants.
But these studies are helping many of us to breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, we can sit back, relax and enjoy our morning or lunchtime or late afternoon cup of coffee without guilt or worry. One less thing to worry about in our stress filled lives.
Dr. Erica Goodstone has helped thousands of men, women, couples, and groups to develop greater awareness of the issues in their relationships and their lives, to overcome and alleviate stressors and discords, and to revitalize their relationships and their own mind-body-spirit connection. Dr. Goodstone can be contacted through her web site at http://www.DrEricaWellness.com and you can take the Create Healing and Love Personal Assessment and get your free report at http://www.createhealingandlovenow.com
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