Coffee - It Isn't All Bad!

The debate has raged for many years, and it will probably continue for years... is coffee good or bad for your health? While the jury may be out, here are some findings that indicate coffee is not all bad.

Coffee, as we all know, is high in caffeine, and caffeine is suspected of increasing blood pressure and heart rate. The medical fraternity have long suspected that coffee drinking might therefore contribute to higher rates of heart disease. However a recent study by researchers at the Harvard University School of Public Health found no significant increase in the risk of heart disease or stroke among men who drank up to four cups of coffee a day - a finding supported by the Kaiser Permanente health care organization in California.

The same outcome was found in women where data collected from more than 85,000 women over a 10-year period produced no evidence for any positive association between coffee consumption and risk of heart disease for women consuming six or more cups of coffee a day. That's a lot of coffee!

This is not to say that there aren't physical effects to coffee drinking. Caffeine does excite brain cells, and this in turn improves concentration and reaction time and reduces fatigue. In fact, caffeine can increase the speed of rapid information processing by 10%. A study in 1993 clearly demonstrated that caffeinated coffee had a beneficial effect on alertness and improved performance in a variety of tasks. Caffeine also has a beneficial effect on asthma by reducing the severity of attacks. Two studies found that three or more cups of coffee a day reduced the prevalence of asthma and this is further supported by improved ventilatory function in exercise-induced broncho-constriction - although this required over five cups of coffee a day!

Interestingly, it has been found that increased activity, alertness and efficiency are associated with a decline in levels of depression and anxiety. Two independent studies noted a significant inverse association between coffee drinking and the risk of suicide. Further research into the possibility that coffee drinking may decrease depression is certainly needed.

Although, caffeine is often singled out as the chemical in coffee that has the most impact on our health, coffee has a complex chemical composition. One beneficial characteristic of coffee is that it contains compounds with antioxidant properties. Polyphenolic compounds known as flavonoids are common in plants and are known to have disease suppression benefits. What is most interesting is that the roasting process increases antioxidant activity in the beans. Although the beneficial role of food antioxidants is a relatively new research area, this is likely to become more important in years to come.

Yet too much caffeine can lead to irritability and restlessness along with an increase in urination. Talking of this, kidney stones are extremely painful and in a study of some 45,000 men with no history of kidney stones it was found that increased consumption of regular and decaffeinated coffee, tea, beer and wine were linked with a decreased risk of stone formation. The same effect was found in a study involving 81,000 women where caffeinated coffee and wine were found to be significantly more effective than water in helping women avoid kidney stones.

Coffee also has several metabolic effects that could reduce the risk of gallstone formation. According to a study conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), drinking coffee is associated with a 40 percent lower risk of gallstone disease in men. Men who drank four or more cups of regular coffee per day had a 45 percent lower risk profile.

The link between coffee and cancer is probably more weighted in favour of coffee. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, with some 131,000 Americans being diagnosed with cancers of the rectum and colon on an annual basis. Now there is some convincing evidence for a protective effect of coffee against the development of colon cancers. A recent review of over 15 studies on coffee consumption and colorectal cancer from 1960 to 1990 found the risk of colorectal cancer to be 24% lower among those who drink four or more cups of coffee per day, than among those who rarely or never drink coffee. Researchers in Sweden also found that "...coffee consumption appears to be protective against colon cancer, and tea against rectal tumors". The most likely explanation for lower risk of colorectal cancer among heavy coffee consumers is the enhanced colonic activity induced by coffee, and the inhibition effect on the cancer-causing effects of various micro-organisms by anti-mutagenic components in coffee and caffeine.

Coffee is also commonly used to "lift" hangovers and to get going "the morning after". However it might be more useful to drink it before having the party...as in the past decade, research in the United States, Japan and Italy has shown that the consumption of coffee has a strong protective effect against cirrhosis of the liver. Drinking 3 to 4 cups of coffee a day was associated with an 80% reduction in risk for cirrhosis of the liver, compared with those who don't drink coffee at all.

On the subject of losing brain cells, Parkinson 's disease, a progressive nervous disease occurring generally after age 50, destroys brain cells that produce dopamine and is characterized by muscular tremor, slowing of movement, weakness and facial paralysis. Research into the relationship between caffeine consumption from a variety of sources and the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, has shown that moderate consumption of caffeine reduces the risk of Parkinson's disease in men and women.

In fact, men who drank four to five cups per day of caffeinated coffee cut the risk of developing Parkinson's disease nearly in half compared to men in the study who consumed little or no caffeine daily. Women who consumed between one and three cups of caffeinated coffee per day also cut their risk nearly in half of developing Parkinson's disease when compared to women who drank less than a cup of coffee per day - but this apparent benefit was lost at higher levels of intake.

Finally, while some people believe that coffee can induce acid reflux, recent research has found that coffee consumption has no effect whatever at inducing heartburn in healthy people. Even for those individuals with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, coffee consumption was found to have only a minimal effect.

Is coffee all that bad? Probably not...in moderation. Indeed, many studies identifying beneficial effects also noted the loss of these effects at high consumption rates. So, enjoy your three to four cups of coffee a day...on average you'll be just fine!

Steve Giddings is Managing Director of Frontier Beverage Corporation (Pty) Ltd. This article and other coffee related information can be found at http://www.frontiercoffee.co.za

The Best Cup of Drip Coffee Possible

With a "good" cup of coffee costing almost as much as a good sandwich these days, more and more people are taking to making their coffee at home from an "old fashioned" drip coffee machine. With the influence of Starbucks and the others out there, people are demanding a better cup of coffee all of the time. This article should help you make the best cup of drip coffee possible.

Coffee from a can just doesn't work for the general public anymore. You know what I'm talking about and it sounds as lousy to you as it does to me. The good news is that great coffee beans can be obtained at pretty much any grocery store. If you use coupons (and if you don't, shame on you), you should do quite well if you aren't too worried about the brand name. My tip for you - worry about quality more than anything else. The big stores like Sams Club and Costco offer big bags of coffee beans at some very good prices. Your author's favorite, in case you're interested, is Kirkland brand (two pound) of Espresso Roast (Starbucks) that you can find at Costco.

Be willing to experiment with different bean types to find the kind of coffee you like best. For what it is worth, more times than not, I've found that a good espresso roast makes a great cup of drip coffee as well. Do experiment though, you just might be surprised at what you find.

Good beans deserve a good grind. You'd be surprised at the difference between a good grind and a bad one. If you don't have a good grinder at home, consider grinding the beans at the store where they were purchased as the grinders there often do a great job. Burr grinders are the best, and the most expensive.

It is probably obvious but good water makes a difference as well. The more things you take out of the water, the better your coffee will taste.

A good drip machine is also a must. More than anything else, the warming element is what you need to worry about. If you find that your coffee often has that scalded burned taste, the warmer might be too hot. And, of course, there is seldom a way to change that so, ... you'll need a new machine.

Consider the French Press alternative. French presses are dirt cheap, make an incredible cup of coffee, and never leave you worrying about overactive warmers, water tube build-up and the like. Remember that the grind for French Press is different than normal drip coffee so grind accordingly.

What about people stuck in a bad coffee situation in the office or somewhere else? Here's a trick that can help with some issues: Bring in a cinnamon shaker and dash a little on the grinds before starting the machine. This will give the coffee a bit more taste, hide some of the bad taste and help with the aroma. Grab the coffee as soon as is brewed and, most of all, lobby for better coffee.

You're worth it.

The Latest News on Coffee and Health

You win some and you lose some is a common phrase, one that the coffee bean recently experienced in regards to women's health. Two reports released this month both involved the health effects of coffee on female health. One report coffee was not too fond of and, the other, coffee liked a lot, or, should I say, a latte.

The coffee cup was half empty when researchers published at article in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology that spoke of the correlation between coffee and miscarriage risk. Drinking coffee, the report states, during pregnancy can increase the chance that a woman will miscarry. This is worse news for news that was already bad: regardless of coffee consumption habits, 20 percent of pregnancies end in a miscarriage.

But, unfortunately for java lovers, coffee could make this worse.

The recent research states that women who drink coffee while pregnant nearly double their chances of not taking their baby to term. The research isn't, however, purely out to grind coffee: soda, tea, hot chocolate, sports drinks, or anything with caffeine can add to an increased risk. These findings are reported to have doctors split between telling their pregnant patients not to drink caffeine or telling them simply not to drink it in excess. Regardless of what is decided, caffeine, if not cut out of the diet all together, should be kept to a minimum.

Luckily for coffee, not all of the recently reported news was bad for the bean.

Another report released this month by US researchers stated that drinking caffeine appears to lower the women's risk of developing ovarian cancer. This is particularly true, it appears, in women who have already gone through menopause and for those who have never used oral birth control. It was concluded that the more caffeine consumed the lower the risk. Still, this doesn't mean women should drink four hundred cups of coffee a day: excessive use of caffeine can cause a whole slug of other problems.

Ovarian cancer is most common in women over 50. It remains a particularly volatile form of cancer because - unlike cervical cancer - no test exists to detect precancerous cells and prevent them from forming. Ovarian cancer also does not usually possess a plethora of symptoms in its early stages, making its diagnosis particularly evasive. When it is caught in its final stages, the outlook is particularly dire.

The research for the ovarian cancer and caffeine link was based on a study of 121,000 women between the ages of 30 and 35. While regular coffee proved beneficial, decaffeinated did not.

Jennifer Jordan is an editor and staff writer for http://www.whatsknottolove.com. At home in a design firm in Denver, Colorado, she writes articles specific to the finer things in life.