Coffee - Healthy or Not? Articles | coffee

By: Andrew Mills

In the last 25 years there has been a growth of a new industry which founded in the study of the health benefits of drinking coffee.  This is no surprise considering over 400 million cups of coffee are consumed a day throughout the world. For decades now health workers have warned that the habit of drinking coffee might be harmful to ones health.  Studies is recent years show the opposite and indicate that coffee is actually beneficial to ones health.

Caffeine is one of the key ingredients in coffee.  Caffeine has long been known to possess mild stimulant properties, that can result in elevated blood pressure, heart rate and irregular heart beat. The majority of researchers believe the stimulant effect is mild and short lived.

As you can see the negative side effects are relatively small, and the benefits of coffee consumption are quite numerous and just coming to the forefront.

There is currently evidence that suggests coffee reduces the chances of developing colon cancer, but this benefit was only seen at higher levels of coffee consumption, about 4 cups of coffee a day or more. A level of intake this high might pose certain risks that outweigh the possible benefits.

There are other benefits that occur at much lower moderate levels of coffee drinking.

Coffee contains antioxidants that can help to prevent heart disease and cancers by removing free radicals from the blood and body. Certain studies have actually said the concentration of antioxidants found in coffee is greater than the levels found in cranberries, apples or tomatoes. Please keep in mind these foods contain other beneficial things such as vitamins, minerals and fibers in fruits and vegetables which is something coffee just does not provide.

Chinese scientists have strongly hinted that coffee may help prevent or reduce the effects of Parkinson's disease, the way in which coffee does this is still unclear.

American and Scandinavian scientists have published several studies that suggest decaf and regular coffee may help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Coffee has been shown to have other health benefits such as the ability to increase the secretion of stomach acid, which helps in digestion of foods.

Caffeine has also been shown to help reduce the constriction of airways seen in asthma sufferers, this affect is achieved with moderate consumption of coffee. The main ingredient in coffee which reduces the constriction in the airways is theophylline, which is a bronchodilator.

High coffee intake has been associated with higher levels of homocysteine in the blood. Homocysteine has recently been shown to be a risk factor for coronary heart disease. There are also a few studies that show high coffee intake can cause an increase in LDL cholesterol also know as bad cholesterol. The debate is still out how much coffee per day will result in these changes, but keep in mind that body size and genetics play a role.

Coffee contains cafestol, cafestol is can lead to raised cholesterol levels, mostly cafestol is found in coffee made by the European method of boiling ground beans in water. Percolated or filtered coffee, favored by most Americans does not contain this substance.

In the end coffee is like anything it is to be taken in moderation, as anything in high amounts can lead to unhealthy side effects.