Coffee for your Health

I have written before about how coffee is not only a great drink because of the taste and the passion that goes into producing the great drink, but that it is also good for your health. I was directed to this article at US News and World Report today that talks about this very thing. very passing week brings news for latte lovers, and the latest on coffee is the best buzz yet. It turns out that a cup of joe--or a carafe--may chase away the blues; turn you into a better athlete; and protect against diabetes, Parkinson's disease, gallstones, and some cancers. Last week's headline: Researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases found that a two-cup-a-day habit can dramatically cut the risk of chronic liver disease in those at greatest risk. "If its benefits continue to mount, coffee may come to be viewed as a health food," says Lona Sandon, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. This is good news to me as I drink quite a bit of the stuff myself. I am under the thoughts that one or two cups a day is probably not horrible as long as you get some water to go along with it. I have cut back a bit to one cup a day for a few weeks to "clean" myself out some but I like reading things that say it might not be so bad for you. The health benefits of coffee are not so thoroughly proven yet that anyone is suggesting actually upping your intake. Nor is anyone saying coffee is entirely benign. Pregnant women are still advised to abstain, since there's a concern that more than a couple of cups a day may trigger a miscarriage. Too much caffeine can upset some stomachs, exacerbate heartburn, and make people too jittery--or sleepless. But "if you're already drinking five or six cups a day, I'd be hard pressed to come up with a reason you should cut back," says Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health and a leading investigator of coffee. (If you load them with whipped cream and sugar, however, you invite an expanded waistline and other health problems.) Nice little study and I look forward to hearing more about this. While I am reading about this, I think I will have another coffee -- fair trade of course. ...be bold