To all coffee lovers

How would you feel if I'd tell you your daily morning delight, that sweet creamy coffee that awakens your senses and unfreezes your brain is healthy for you? 

You may feel tempted to blame it all on my imagination and desires but I'm here with proof to convince you a cup of coffee per day is actually good for your health.

The main reason why coffee is healthy is because of the antioxidants it contains. Our bodies produce oxygen radicals, which are damaging to DNA but antioxidants prevent them from doing damage. Antioxidants can be found in fruits and vegetables, but research has shown that coffee is the top source of antioxidants for Americans.

Caffeine is another reason why coffee is good because it has a positive impact on your brain health. Caffeine is an antagonist to adenosine receptors. These receptors slow down neural activity when the chemical adenosine binds to them, producing a sleepy feeling. But if caffeine binds to the receptors, the activity of neurons speeds up.

There is a lower risk in coffee-drinking women to develop endometrial cancer because coffee also lowers the levels of insulin and estrogen. Insulin is well known for its role in prostate cancer, another disease coffee may help stave off.

A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that regular coffee-drinkers have a less chance of suffering from diseases like: heart disease, cancer and Type 2 diabetes compared to sporadic drinkers or non-drinkers, Reuters reported.

"Our results suggest that coffee consumption is not harmful for healthy adults in respect of risk of major chronic disease," study researcher Anna Floegel, an epidemiologist at the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, told Reuters.

The study included 42,659 people who participated in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)–Germany study. After almost nine years, the researchers found that the people who drank four or more cups of coffee a day were at no higher risk for chronic disease, compared with those who drank less than a cup of coffee a day, according to the study.

Daily Glow pointed out that the coffee-drinkers actually had a 23 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes than the non-coffee drinkers. 

Pros of drinking coffee

There are strong evidences on how coffee helps preventing type II diabetes, Parkinson's, dementia, hearth rhythm problems, strokes and that's not where the list stops. 

In a 2007 study in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, researchers pooled and analyzed the results of a half dozen clinical trials looking at the effects of caffeine on asthmatics. They found that caffeine produced small improvements in airway function for up to four hours, compared with a placebo, and that even a small dose — less than the amount in a cup of Starbucks coffee — could improve lung function for up to two hours.

The suspicion stems in part from its chemical structure, which resembles that of theophylline, a common asthma medication that relaxes the airway muscles and relieves wheezing, shortness of breath and other respiratory problems. Indeed, when caffeine is ingested and broken down by the liver, one byproduct is small amounts of theophylline.

According to a meta-analysis published in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation: Heart Failure, people who drink two cups of coffee daily have an 11% lower risk of developing heart failure, compared to non-coffee drinkers. The researchers did not take into account the strength of coffee, what time of day it was drunk, or whether it was caffeinated -- factors that could influence the results of the analysis.

Coffee drinkers may also be protecting themselves against basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer. Other caffeinated beverages also seemed to reduce the risk of this slow-growing cancer.

Increased coffee consumption also is associated with longer life, according to Research in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Some of the strongest evidence comes from studies on type II diabetes. According to a 2009 meta-analysis, the risk of type II diabetes goes down with each cup of coffee consumed daily. Additionally, a 2007 meta-analysis found a correlation between increased coffee consumption and lower risk of liver cancer. But it's not enough to tell anyone who doesn't already drink coffee to start.

Coffee contains caffeine which is a stimulant. It can enable people to feel more alert and help them to be more active, leading to weight loss. It may also act as a mild appetite suppressant.

And there's evidence that coffee has mental health benefits as well. The results of one study suggested, "Women who consume two to three cups of caffeinated beverages per day had a 15 percent lower risk of depression than non-coffee drinkers."

But

And don't give me that face. There's always a but ( should've  known that by now) 

Coffee can also damage your health if you drink too much. The optimal daily dose of coffee varies widely, depending on the person. Some can't drink it at all. Others tolerate six to eight cups a day (I don't recommended that unless you train to get in the Guinness World Record for drinking the most coffee). Overall the coffee intake depends on each individual's body, so drink how much feels right for you. A warm cup of coffee per day is enough for me.

As common sense might suggest, the greatest overall benefits appear to be in people who drink coffee at moderate levels: two to three cups a day. But there are exceptions: A May 2011 study found that men who drink six or more cups a day had a decreased risk of fatal prostate cancer.

Cons of drinking coffee

Doctors may never consider coffee a standard recommendation because of individuals' varying susceptibility to side effects, said Hensrud.

The side effects can include: headaches, insomnia, heartburn, palpitations, and urinary urgency. Some people avoid drinking coffee or switch to decaffeinated coffee because regular coffee gives them faster heartbeats or irritates their stomach. You know better what's good and bad for you so act accordingly to that. If your stomach is upset or hurting or you get faster heartbeats after drinking coffee don't just drink it because you read on the Internet is healthy. Try switching to decaffeinated coffee or black tea instead. 

Another down side to coffee is that is a drug therefor it is addictive. At least that's what they say. I don't agree with that thou, I can go on days without drinking coffee with no drawbacks... but maybe that's just me.

Famously, coffee got a bad reputation from research in the early 1980s connecting it to pancreatic cancer. But more recent studies have not found the same link, according to the American Cancer Society. Some studies in the past did not take into account the connection between drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes, which do contain carcinogens, Hensrud said.

Coffee that's boiled -- popular in Scandinavia, for instance -- will increase bad cholesterol; espresso has the same effect, Hensrud said. But filtering regular coffee reduces those cholesterol-raising substances.

Some milky, sugary coffees may contain upwards of 500 calories -- particularly if they begin with the sound "frap." So, if you think you're doing your body a favor with these treats, health detriments of the added calories and fat may cancel out coffee's magic.

Facts about coffee*

1. Legend has it a 9th-century Ethiopian goat herder discovered coffee by accident when he noticed how crazy the beans were making his goats.

2. Coffee is a psychoactive. And at high doses it can make you see things. It can also kill you

3. Johan Sebastian Bach wrote an opera about a woman who was addicted to coffee.

4. The first webcam was invented at The University of Cambridge to let people know if the coffee pot was full or not.

5. There is a spa in Japan that lets you bathe in coffee, tea, or wine. 

6. New Yorkers drink almost 7 times more coffee than other cities in the US.

7. The U.S Imports more thank 4 billion $ in coffee each year

8. Originally coffee was eaten.
African tribes mixed coffee berries with fat which formed edible

9. All coffee in the world grows in the Bean Belt (is the area between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn)

10. 70% of the world consumes Arabica coffee, which is mild and aromatic. The remaining 30% drinks Robusta, which is more butter-tasting but has 50% more caffeine than Arabica.

11. In the 1675, the King of England banned coffee houses, claiming they were places where people met to conspire against him

12. A belgian man living in Guatemala by the name of George Washington invented instant coffee in 1906. 

*http://theoatmeal.com/comics/coffee

http://www.livescience.com/16297-coffee-facts-national-coffee-day-infographic.html

What's your opinion?