Benefits of Drinking Coffee

Even The New York Times is jumping on the coffee band wagon with an article about coffee’s benefits. Here is a snippet of what they have to say.

Just last year, a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies looking at long-term consumption of coffee and the risk of cardiovascular disease was published. The researchers found 36 studies involving more than 1,270,000 participants. The combined data showed that those who consumed a moderate amount of coffee, about three to five cups a day, were at the lowest risk for problems. Those who consumed five or more cups a day had no higher risk than those who consumed none.

The author goes on to report research showing lower risk of cancer, depression, suicide, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Type II diabetes. In fact, recent studies show a reduced risk of death from all causes! So the benefits of drinking coffee including getting to drink it for more years!

Maximizing the Benefits of Drinking Coffee

CBS News reports on how to maximize the health benefits of coffee.

But heavy java drinkers beware: consuming coffee does come with diminishing returns. “There’s a U-shaped relationship, meaning if you have less than one or two cups a day, the benefits are weaker, but it also drops off if you have more than five or six cups a day,” Phillips said.

The point is that drinking three to five cups of coffee a days is good for you in many ways. Drinking a lot more is not any better and may even be associated with fewer benefits. Moderation in all things is required for the best benefits of drinking coffee.

Even the Grounds Are Good for You

Science World Report talks about the benefits in used coffee grounds.

New findings published in the ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry examine how coffee-grounds are chock-full of rich antioxidants that can help provide some of the health benefits associated with our favorite morning beverage.

Coffee is naturally rich in a wide variety of antioxidants, including dietary phenolic compounds. Furthermore, previous studies have shown that coffee can even help to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular issues and numerous other health problems.

For the study, researchers specifically looked to figure out the total amount of phenolic content in the extracts of leftover coffee grounds.

Then, they used three different methods to release antioxidants from spent grounds and found high levels of phenols in the extracts, with somewhat higher levels in brewed coffee.

However, they have the potential to serve as additives to enhance the potential health effects of other food products, the scientists concluded.

Take a look at our article, Healthy Coffee Grounds, for more info on this subject. An interesting niche use of coffee grounds is as an ingredient for skin care products. Put the antioxidants directly on the skin and reduce sun damage as well the incidence of cellulite. These may not be benefits of drinking coffee but by saving the grounds instead of sending them to the landfill we can use this source of antioxidants for healthy purposes instead of losing them.




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