Health Benefits of Coffee
Health Benefits of Coffee
Coffee has earned a bad reputation in our society, being viewed as an addictive drink that dehydrates you and keeps you up at night. The truth is there are many health benefits of coffee that overshadow the few negatives of regular coffee drinking. This article will go over the proven health benefits of coffee, from its cancer-fighting properties to its contribution to diabetes prevention.
Coffee & Cancer
Studies have shown time and again that coffee helps battle a wide range of health problems, including colon cancer and cirrhosis. Compared with people that do not drink coffee, those that drink at least two cups per day have a colon rate that is 25% lower, a 50% reduction in gallstones, and a cirrhosis rate that’s 80% lower. PositivelyCoffee.org reports studies showing that colorectal and colon cancer are also reduced by almost a third for men that drink up to 5 cups of coffee a day compared to men that drink one cup or less. There’s also possible evidence in coffee’s role in reducing the risk of pancreatic and bladder cancer. The reason for coffee’s cancer fighting abilities may come in part from its wide range of antioxidants and anticarcinogens, including caffeic acid and kahweol. Scientists believe that the antioxidants in coffee work with the caffeine to provide the health benefits of coffee.
Coffee & Diabetes
Harvard has recently completed a study of 126,000 people with data that goes back as far as 18 years. What the researchers have discovered is those that daily drink one to three cups of coffee reduce their diabetes risk by single digits, and those that have more than six cups a day cut their risk by 54% and 30% for men and women, respectively. These findings are compared to those that do not drink coffee.
Coffee & Parkinson’s Disease
According to Kirchheimer’s article, “Coffee: The New Health Food?”, there are at least six studies that have already shown individuals that drink coffee regularly have a Parkinson’s rate that is at least 80% reduced. PositivelyCoffee.org also sites studies, some that lasted almost 30 years, showing not only an inverse relationship between coffee and Parkinson’s disease but demonstrating that the caffeine helps with the stiffness and promote mobility.
Please continue on to page two to learn additional health benefits of drinking coffee.
Coffee & Your Liver
There are many studies proving the relationship between a coffee and a healthy liver. The health benefits of coffee help prevent both cirrhosis of the liver and increase enzyme activity in the liver, which helps with the function of the liver and prevention of disease. One such study showing these benefits occurred in 1992 and involved over 128,000 people. Corrao’s 2001 study also demonstrated that it is coffee, not any other drink containing caffeine, that provides these health benefits.
Coffee & Headaches
In Diamond’s 2000 study published in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics showed that 80% of individuals that suffer from frequent and chronic headaches who took a combination of ibuprofen and caffeine experienced an improvement in their condition six hours later, compared to only 67% of those that took only the ibuprofen. The caffeine in coffee is thought to help with headaches when taken with a painkiller because it improves absorption and increases their effect. The caffeine also constricts blood vessels, which may help counter the headache.
Coffee & Asthma
According to PositivelyCoffee.org, coffee has been used to treat asthma in Scotland since at least 1859. An Italian study recently confirmed this health benefit, showing that asthma fell almost one third in people that drank three or more cups of coffee per day. A study with similar results was also done with Americans, showing a 29% decrease in asthma for regular coffee drinkers.
Coffee & Sleep
Coffee is often blamed for a sleepless night and people are often warned, “Don’t have that cup of coffee at this hour, you’ll be up all night!” However, studies have shown that while coffee does cause you to take longer to fall asleep, the quality of the sleep itself is not affected. A study published in 2005 showed that even drinking up to seven cups of coffee per day isn’t associated with less sleep enjoyment.
How Coffee Helps You
In general, it’s been shown through almost 20,000 studies that coffee is far more beneficial than harmful. It’s been shown that little bad comes from drinking coffee for the majority of people and the health risks far outnumber the problems. For those at risk for any of these illnesses, consider increasing your coffee intake to help combat the risks.
Resources
Kirchheimer, Sid. “Coffee: The New Health Food?” WebMD.com. 13 April 2009. https://men.webmd.com/features/coffee-new-health-food
Positively Coffee: The Health Benefits of Drinking Coffee. 2006. https://www.positivelycoffee.org/
