Thursday, February 7, 2008

Coffee and Health

Coffee and Health

Like so many of the beverages we enjoy today, coffee was once prescribed as a tonic for what ails you…

Provided that what ails you is a lack of alertness or a sour mood, it’s good on its promise. Let’s leave patent medicines aside for the moment, though, and ask:

Is coffee good for you? The answer is, quite simply, yes!

Coffee has been a frequent subject of scrutiny by the medical community… perhaps because it’s so widely consumed, yet offers no apparent nutritive value. Or, maybe doctors are just looking for a really good cup of coffee!

Despite some 30 years of study, the field of medicine has yet to draw a direct correlation between moderate consumption of coffee and any medical disease or chronic health condition. Studies that have suggested worrisome links between coffee consumption and reproductive health, for example, have been put to rest by subsequent studies – larger, and more thorough – that have exonerated our favorite beverage.

More recent studies by the medical science community are now finding numerous positive benefits of moderate coffee consumption! These studies suggest that drinking coffee may reduce risks of colon cancer by 25% and cirrhosis of the liver by 80%, and may reduce the onset of Parkinson’s disease by up to 80%. More, brewed coffee has been found to have 3 to 4 times the amount of cancer-fighting anti-oxidants as green tea.

Still, we don’t recommend drinking coffee as a tonic – we think it tastes good and we enjoy how a great cup of coffee makes us feel. If you have specific concerns about coffee, please, talk to your family physician.

No comments:

Google