Health ... Diet and Nutrition
Coffee Lovers! Data to get those well-meaning family and friends off your back!
by Meri Walker, Health and Wellness Coaching - Between the Lines
Don't you just love it when there's GOOD news about coffee? I do get so tired of people telling me to lay off. I'm mixing decaf with regular beans by a proportion of 3 to 5 and I can tell, myself, that coffee is NOT bad for what ails me. In fact, it seems to be quite supportive of my health. At the same time, I'm in no way prescribing it for others. I just want to enjoy it myself.
If you're in the same boat, here's a story you can use to help your well-meaning friends and family lay off you, too...
6 Ways Coffee Can Be Good for You!
Those of us who are coffee drinkers get tired of people telling us, “You shouldn’t drink so much coffee!” and “That stuff will kill you!” The simple truth of the matter is while an excess of anything is never good, in moderation, coffee can actually be good for you. Here are a few of the ways your body benefits from your coffee habit.
1. Coffee may protect against heart disease.
Coffee isn’t just your liquid wake-up call in the morning. It is actually full of powerful antioxidants called flavonoids, which help to prevent LDL cholesterol (the kind that’s bad for your heart) from oxidizing and causing heart disease.
2. Coffee may lower the risk of stroke.
Probably related to the lower risk of heart disease, is a lower risk of stroke associated with drinking coffee. This is especially important for women, who have a higher risk of having a stroke. According to studies, women who drink a couple cups of coffee a day reduce their risk by about 20 percent.
3. Coffee reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Coffee drinkers who consume a lot of coffee – we’re talking six or more cups every day – are more than a third less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body becomes resistant to its own insulin. In addition to the antioxidants in coffee which help prevent tissue damage to the body, coffee also contains minerals that help the body to use insulin effectively.
4. Coffee protects the brain against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
Coffee has also been shown to have a positive effect on the brain, despite what non-coffee drinkers might be telling you. Moderate to heavy coffee drinkers reduce their risks of developing dementia by a whopping 65 percent! Coffee also has a similar, but lesser, impact on a person’s risk of developing Parkinson’s.
5. Coffee promotes regular digestion.
Have you ever noticed that you often make a trip to the restroom in the morning, soon after drinking your cup or two (or three or four) of coffee? That’s no coincidence. Coffee actually clears you out!
6. Coffee reduces the risk of some cancers.
Drinking coffee regularly actually reduces your risk of getting colon cancer by about a quarter. In addition, it also makes you less likely to develop liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. As for other cancers, coffee may not protect against it, but it also won’t hurt — there has been little evidence that coffee increases your chances of getting cancer.
7. Coffee helps you burn fat.
Because coffee is a diuretic, many people avoid it before they work out. You might want to rethink that approach, however! Coffee has been shown to help your body burn fat while you exercise aiding in weight loss. It also enhances performance by minimizing the effects of fatigue.
As you can see, there are a lot of benefits that you get from coffee, more than just the pick-me-up first thing in the morning. In addition to stimulating your brain and helping you wake up physically and mentally, coffee offers a number of health benefits, protecting you against disease and helping your body perform better throughout the day!
