The photo above is from a bar of 100% Cacao brought to me from Guatemala by one of my clients who was over there doing Aid work for the underprivileged. In Guatemala Coffee is seen as “One of the finest Drugs on Earth”!

However many self-appointed health experts tut tut when they see others drinking coffee. Don’t you know coffee is bad for you they say! Well today I am going to present an alternative view of coffee that paints it in an entirely different light.  I am going to address the top 6 benefits of coffee drinking.  So sit back and get ready to welcome back the prodigal son of beverages to your life.

Increase of Life Expectancy with Heavy Coffee Consumption.

Researchers at the National Institute of Health enrolled 229,119 men and 173,141 women and noted their coffee consumption patterns over a period of 13 years. Both sexes had an “all-cause mortality” (dying from any cause) risk reduction from 10% to 15% depending on how many cups they had a day. Peak effects for both sexes were seen at 4-5 cups a day. (1)

Coffee consumption reduces risk of Many cancers.

Liver cancer is the 3^rd leading cause of death from Cancer World Wide. Recent research from Italy shows that coffee consumption reduces its risk by 40-50% depending on how many cups you have per day. (2)

Similar favourable results have been found with reducing colon cancer risk. Two Japanese studies including 31,550 and 96,000 subjects respectively, reported a risk reduction of 56% with 3 or more cups per day, but only in women^…

Coffee reduces the risk of Diabetes.

At the end of 2009 a meta-analysis (a research based on several other investigations) was conducted following 457,922 individuals from the USA, Finland, the Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Singapore, Puerto Rico and the UK. Drinking 3-4 cups of coffee a day was associated with a 25% reduction of the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. (5) Another study showed a risk reduction of 67% in the risk of developing diabetes. (6)

Coffee is the richest source of antioxidants in the American diet.

When we think about antioxidants the first thing that comes to mind for many is fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants help quench free radical reactions and other reactions in the body that lead to wear and tear and the aging process. It turns out that coffee is the number 1 source of antioxidants in the American diet. (Source: Webmed.com). One to two cups a day are shown to give benefits for antioxidant capacity.

Coffee reduces Alzheimer’s risk.

Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease whereby plaque accumulates on the brain. The incidence of this devastating disease is on the rise. What if a simple daily practice could reduce your risk of this disease? Wouldn’t you want to know about it? Well it turns out there is something you can do. Along with exercise, simply adding some coffee as your beverage of choice could reduce your risk of developing the disease. In one study there was up to a 65% decrease in risk of developing the disease at a consumption rate of 3-5 cups a day. (7)

Coffee reduces risk of Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder leading to progressive impairment of motor control, a resting tremor and muscular rigidity. It was a disease that my own late Grandfather suffered from. There is extensive research available now showing quite clearly a significantly reduced risk of developing the disease with coffee consumption. One of the most compelling pieces of research was done on 8004 Japanese American men living in Hawaii. In this study there was a 5 fold reduction in risk for developing the disease with 4 cups of coffee consumed daily. (8)

There is so much research available now on the many health benefits of coffee. If you have a poor tolerance to caffeine it may not be a good choice for you. However even some studies show that decaf gives comparable results as it’s the antioxidants and polyphenolic compounds that confer many of the benefits.

So sit back and enjoy the Java while it’s still legal!!

References:

1. Freedman ND, Park Y, Abnet CC, Hollenbeck AR, Sinha R. Association of coffee drinking with total and cause-specific

Mortality. N Engl J Med. 2012 May 17;366(20):1891-904.

2. Coffee consumption reduces risk of liver cancer, Dr. Carlo La Vecchia, Clinical Gastronenterology and Hepatology, Published 22 October 2013.

3. Oba S,  et al (2006)  The relationship between the consumption of meat, fat, and coffee and the risk of colon cancer: a prospective study in Japan. Cancer Lett;244:260-7.

4.  Lee KJ,  et al (2007)   Coffee consumption and risk of colorectal cancer in a population-based prospective cohort of Japanese men and women. Int J Cancer;121:1312-8

5.  Huxley R et al  Coffee – Decaffeinated Coffee, and Tea Consumption in Relation to Incident Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Arch Intern Med 2009 ; 169 : 2053-63.

6.  Zhang Y, Lee ET, Cowan LD, Fabsitz RR, Howard BV. Coffee consumption and the incidence of type 2 diabetes in men and

women with normal glucose tolerance: the Strong Heart Study. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2011 Jun;21(6):418-23.

7. Eskelinen MH et al (2009). Midlife coffee and tea drinking and the risk of late-life dementia: a population-based CAIDE study. J Alzheimers Dis;16:85-91.

8. Webster Ross G et al (2000). Association of coffee and caffeine intake with the risk of Parkinson disease. JAMA; 283:2674-2679.