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[Normal Evolution...] [A Panacea For Our Time] [European Retail Invasion] [Coffee and Caffeine in the News] [Wild Thing] [Coffee Odyssey] [The Other Coffee People] [Background Coffee]
A Panacea for Our Time
Copyright 2004 Brian Martell
Remember when coffee was bad for you? You
couldn’t open a newspaper without a shocking headline telling coffee drinkers they were going to
hell in a paper cup. We were destined for a “short and brutish life” as Thomas Hobbs put it, every
time we warmed our lips on a coffee mug. “Cancer of the Pancreas Linked to Coffee Consumption”
warned one study while another put expectant mothers at high risk for SIDS or miscarriage if they
also indulged in a cup of Joe. Now it seems that all that has changed. While scientists will always
battle back and forth on controversial issues, the caffeine debate is falling on the side of coffee
drinkers. Consider the following massive studies and their results:
- A recent study conducted over 8 years and
involving over 125,000 subjects established a causal link between the consumption of 4 or more
cups of coffee a day and a reduced risk of contracting Type II diabetes by as much as 30%.
- A ten year study involving 45,000 men showed
a decrease in the incidence of gallstones by 40% for those who drank 2 to 3 cups a day.
Researchers indicated that caffeine prevents cholesterol from crystallizing, which is the
precursor to gallstone formation as one of the reasons for the findings.
- Studies done in the US, Japan and Italy over
the past decade have indicated that moderate (2-3 cups a day) coffee consumption can reduce the
risk of cirrhosis of the liver by as much as 80%. It should be noted, however, that the biggest
contributing factor to liver disease of this nature is excessive alcohol consumption. As such, no
amount of coffee will offset the effects of alcohol when taken to the extreme.
- In 17 studies conducted between 1960 and
1990, coffee has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by 24%. The most
compelling explanation for this is that coffee stimulates colonic activity.
- Recent studies within the last eight years
indicate that coffee consumption has no correlation with cardiovascular disease. Further, coffee
consumption has little or no effect on high blood pressure, hypertension and heart arrhythmia.
- Nine studies conducted over the last 30 years
suggest that there may be a link between coffee consumption and the reduced risk of Parkinson’s
disease. Scientists believe that coffee has a beneficial effect on the production of dopamine in
the brain, which inhibits the onset of Parkinson’s.
- As far as women’s health is concerned, coffee
does not have an association with osteoporosis in post menopausal women, or a connection with
breast cancer or fibroids.
As the benefits mount and the detracting effects
disproved, one could almost be tempted to suggest that coffee be offered as a therapeutic remedy
(take two lattes and call me in the morning). Indeed, the earliest purveyors of coffee considered it
as such – they just didn’t have the science to back them up.
Questions or comments? Reach Brian at
Brian@heritage-coffee.com
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