Coffee is GOOD for you!

So, in case you didn’t know, I love coffee. During the last two months of the semester, I made three pots a day. And then proceeded to drink it. And I wondered why I was an insomniac.

And such was the case during the end-of-the-semester crunch during undergrad. During my 60-hour study sessions at CLARC, I would be armed with all types of caffeinated items – a gallon jug of Lipton iced tea, a canister of powdered coffee, and 60 bags of tea. So, when push comes to shove, I can drink “other” caffeinated drinks, other than coffee.

But, coffee is my true love.

And, what a rocky relationship it has been. Not because of any inherent problems in our loving, caring parternship – nay, it was the judging stares, scoffs and “tsks” that I received from most everyone who I would talk to. “Oh, but coffee is so bad for you.” “I drink tea instead, tea is better for you.”

It was all vague reasoning, and I stopped trying to convince people that it wasn’t unhealthy a long time ago. Because whenever I would say anything remotely positive about coffee, the familiar exchange “Yea, but do you have PROOF?” Of course, whenever I did mention “some study,” the simple retort would be “Yeah, well, you can prove anything with statistics/the study must be flawed.”

Which has to be one of the more annoying, and intelligent-discourse-defeating responses on earth.

But fair enough, dear friends. It is entirely possible that some studies are flawed. Fair enough. You find another study that directly flies in the face of any of these, I’ll take it off the list. Regardless, my list will trump yours, you coffee-hating crazybones. :)

10 Reasons Why Coffee IS Good For You

(1) Coffee may lower the breast cancer risk for some women (those women who have certain family histories, a.k.a. “the breast cancer gene”). And in direct response to all those who claim that I drink “too much” coffee, women who drank 6 or more cups of coffee had a 69% reduction of the likelihood of developing breast cancer. (Int J Cancer 2006; 118:103-107).

(2) Coffee may significantly lower the risk for type-2 diabetes. Again higher amounts of coffee consumption (more than 6 cups a day) resulted in even more health benefits -54% higher reduced risk than non-drinkers. [Ann Intern Med. 2004 Jan 6; 140(1): I17, J Intern Med. 2004 Jun;255 (6):645-52, JAMA. 2004; 291:1213-1219, J Intern Med. 2004 Jan; 255 (1):89-95, JAMA 2004 Mar 10; 291(10):1213-9]

(3) The risk for Parkinson’s disease is lowered through coffee consumption – and, as before, higher coffee drinking amounts provides even more protection – up to an 80% lowered risk with 6 cups a day. [JAMA 2000;283:2674-2679]

(4) Next, colon cancer --- a study in the February 16, 2005 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that colon cancer rates of coffee drinkers fell by over 50% when compared to non-coffee drinkers.

(5) Coffee also contains over one THOUSAND different antioxidants. And in terms of total antioxidant content, by amount – it has four times as much as green tea, chocolate, herbal teas and wine. (J Agric Food Chem. 2001 Jul;49(7):3428-42).

(6) Coffee contains the same kind of drug (methylxanthines) that are commonly used to treat asthma (theobromine & theophylline) and there is evidence that it acts the same way in aiding during an asthma attack. Likewise, the risk of asthma is lowered by almost a third by drinking about 3 cups of coffee a day. (Edinburgh Medical Journal, 4, 1109-1115, 1859.)

(7) For all the those cramming during law exams – coffee helps there too – it’s been shown to improve short-term memory in doses as low as 2 cups. Radiological Society of North America.

(8) Gallstone rates fall between 13 and 33% -- again, the highest rates for the highest drinkers (6+ cups a day). (Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 1999. vol 286, No.22)

(9) Those who drank 4 or more cups of coffee a day had an – get this – 80% lower rate of cirrhosis of the liver than non-coffee drinkers. (American Journal of Epidemiology, 136, 1248-1257, 1992.)

(10) And, finally, the kicker – weight loss. Two items in coffee – hydroxycitric acid and chromium – increased the metabolic rate (at least in men) by 30% as compared to non-coffee drinkers. (Am J Physiol 1995;268:E1192-8. )