About That Cup of Coffee That We So Enjoy…

Hello all.

Many of us drink this beverage each and everyday.

I’ve heard both good and bad about it too. I’ve read things such as “It’s good to have so much coffee a day for your health” (that’s just a basic description of course) to quite the opposite saying that “Too much coffee is bad for you and can cause issues with your heart and affect other aspects of your health.”

So what’s the correct answer?

Here’s what I can tell you from my own experience, being the “addictive coffee-aholic” that I am…maybe a bit of both.

Sorry to everyone who thought I would take one side or the other, sorry!

Let’s take a closer look at one of the most popular consumed beverages in the US and throughout the world and try to understand the fascination.

Below is the basic description of coffee…

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark, slightly acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans.

So that’s the basic description, but how about the words addictive, mood altering, adrenaline rush, and probably a few more that I’m not going to start searching for.

Most of us drink coffee for the following reasons:

• The Taste
• The Caffeine
• The Energy Rush

I drink coffee for all of these reasons, but especially the energy rush, and as far the availability to get coffee…well let’s take a look at all the ways to get your caffeine fix.

Lets see…well there are many places that serve coffee.

There’s Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks,you can get a cup at your local gas station convenience shop or convenience store. You can get coffee at your local Panera’s, and of course you can pick up a canister or can of coffee at your local supermarket. There are home brew systems that allow you to get your fix in regular brew or these convenient K-cups that you put into one of those types of brewing machines that can make you your own individual cup of flavored coffee.

Okay, so you get the point…it’s not like you cannot conveniently

So what about the health benefits good and bad about this dark beverage?

Well to be honest with you, the facts can sometime be very contradicting. And part of the reason for that is due to the way coffee is prepared.

“Coffee prepared using paper filters removes oily components called diterpenes that are present in unfiltered coffee. Two types of diterpenes are present in coffee: kahweol and cafestol, both of which have been associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease via elevation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels in blood.Metal filters, on the other hand, do not remove the oily components of coffee.

In addition to differences in methods of preparation, conflicting data regarding serving size could partially explain differences between beneficial/harmful effects of coffee consumption.“

Again, that’s just part of the reasons why information about the effects of coffee are inconclusive. So just what do we know at the moment?

Moderate amounts of caffeine are not considered to be harmful to a human. What do we consider to be moderate, well certainly not my coffee drinking habits, but for you probably around three cups of coffee a day, that equals about 250mgs of caffeine.

In some circle it is thought that drinking more coffee per day may reduce the risk of diabetes and may lower the risks of developing skin cancer in some people.

Some other Possible Benefits (notice the words “Possible Benefits”) to drinking coffee are

• Reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease
  Reduced risk of gallstone disease
• Antioxidants in coffee
• Reduced asthma attacks (I really have a problem with this one, as the way I drink coffee, I ought to be cured of asthma at this point entirely!)

and a few of the possible bad things associated with coffee

• Sleep pattern changes
• Increased anxiety
• Effects on pregnancy and menopause

I should also mention that bodybuilders sometimes drink black coffee to help flush out excessive water from their systems before going on stage for an event, as the coffee acts as a natural diuretic.

So what was the end result of this piece on just about everyone’s crazed addiction?

Moderation

One simple word to place in the context of drinking coffee. The jury is still out on just what the real benefits are about coffee, just as the less than perfect things about this beverage are also in the end inconclusive.

So if you love the smell of coffee in the morning and it’s what you live for, well that’s great but I would caution that a little can go a long way. Be smart and do not over indulge and watch for tell tale signs that maybe you should cut back just a little on your consumption.