Coffee Health Benefits On The Human Body

At the same time it was being extolled as healthy, another paper declared it caused men to be impotent.

Then, as now, there were certainly differing opinions about it. This controversy continued into present day. Now, however.

There are quantitative ways of measuring the efficacy of health claims as well as the accuracy of negative claims.

Several years ago, California research conducted by Takayuki Shibamoto, a professor of environmental toxicology, found that freshly brewed coffee contains potent antioxidants equal to the amount found in three oranges. And you know how good oranges are for you.

The antioxidant in coffee is called methylpyridinium. Oddly enough, this tongue-twister chemical isn't found in large amounts in other foods. Even odder, it's not in the raw coffee bean. It's created during the roasting process from the trigonelline that is present in raw coffee beans.

Antioxidants are all the rage now because of the research that suggests they may prevent cancers and a host of other diseases. Antioxidants are being added to everything from sports drinks to cosmetics.

How fitting that an ancient fruit like coffee "cherries" or beans, as they are now called, has withstood the test of time.Recorded Coffee Health Benefit

There's a great deal of recorded research to show that coffee has many benefits. Moderate coffee use is associated with reduced risk of:

* Alzheimer's Disease
* Parkinson's Disease
* Gallstones
* Diabetes mellitus
* Cirrhosis of the liver
* A form of liver cancer
* Gout in men over 40

As if that wasn't enough, coffee has been found to also improve cognitive performance. So your belief that your morning cup of coffee jump starts your brain and your afternoon cup of coffee picks you up may actually have scientific foundation.

Coffee also enhances the performance of simple pain relievers like aspirin. Just about everyone knows that if you drink a cup of coffee after taking an aspirin with, of course, a glass of water, that the caffeine makes the aspirin work "better." That's why so many over the counter pain relievers are actually compounds with caffeine added.

Suddenly, research is being conducted on everything from using coffee as a colon cleanser to prevention of dental caries and plaque.Exercise and Coffee

The most startling research to date was the announcement in July 2007 that researchers have discovered that a combination of exercise and caffeine increased the destruction of precancerous cells created by ultraviolet-B radiation damage, that's skin cancer for us non-scientists. The study, done in mice, will have to be replicated in humans, but this excited the cancer research community greatly. If this pans out, you may see coffee bars moving into gyms!

Of course, overuse of coffee, and its caffeine, may cause "jitters" or sleeplessness. Most doctors advise no caffeine during pregnancy whether that's coffee or colas or tea. Pregnant women don't need stimulants of any kind, not just the mild one found in coffee.

The big health risk some associate with coffee is coronary artery disease, but these studies seem to have conflicting results with some showing beneficial effects and some showing detrimental effects.

More recent studies seem to suggest that the method of brewing the coffee has much to do with whether one gets a benefit or a detriment. Boiling the coffee, which is what percolators do, seems to increase a substance called cafestol. This seems to be the culprit in increasing cholesterol levels, more so in women than men, which rises with heavy coffee use. So the way you brew your coffee is a primary factor in whether it may be good or bad for you.

All in all, as a coffee lover, you can take a cup of comfort by knowing that moderate coffee drinking, properly brewed, does seem to have more benefits than drawbacks.

A cup of comfort and a cup of coffee. What a great combination.