It’s not as bad as you may think
Throughout history thousands of our best minds have pondered, mused, and pontificated upon a subject that should interest anyone with a philosophical streak: what constitutes a good life? Some insisted it was to be found in the appreciation of art while others considered self-improvement to be a virtue above all else. Coffee, despite what you may have been told, is both art of the most exquisite kind, and pure self-improvement conveniently reduced to a hot black liquid that can be easily sipped whenever you may wish.
The fact that it is art is unquestionable. For is cooking not an art? And if cooking is an art then why not brewing? The flavours that the almost magical beans imbue can only be described as having a quality that, if illustrated, would captivate the eyes and warm the soul more than any of our current “masterpieces.” But quite apart from its artistic qualities, its benefits as concern your health are far less widely known or appreciated. (Please bear in mind, that the following information is assuming that sugar is not dumped, by the pound, into each cup).
Let’s tackle one of the first coffee-health myths right away. According to a 2008 study conducted by researchers at Sun Yat-sen University in China, coffee does not increase the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) at all! In fact, they even found that “habitual moderate coffee drinking was associated with a lower risk of CHD in women.” Good news, right? Well it gets even better! Strokes are less prevalent among heavy coffee drinkers too, even “despite smoking tendency” according to researchers in California.
Indeed research suggests that coffee and its constituents are associated with decreased risk of the following diseases:
- Type 2 Diabetes. Consuming at least three cups of black coffee per day was associated with risk lowered by 42 per cent according to a study on coffee and tea consumption in Diabetologia.
- Liver Cancer. In a study conducted by Oliver John Kennedy and colleagues that involved over two million participants, the findings indicated that people who drank two cups of coffee a day had a 35 per cent reduced risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer.
- Alzheimer’s Disease. According to research published in the European Journal of Neurology, “Caffeine intake was associated with a significantly lower risk for Alzheimer’s, independently of other possible confounding variables.”
Coffee’s benefits are so numerous that one cannot help but sigh in pity when observing the many misguided chaps who make a habit out of avoiding the sacred brew in favour of such things as green tea or chai. They just don’t know what they’re missing. Perhaps their teeth may be a touch whiter than those who regularly consume the black java in great quantities, and maybe it can be conceded that sleep may be improved if one curtails caffeine consumption, even just a little bit. Nevertheless, if these things are going to suffer then so be it! I may have rings under my eyes and stains on my teeth, but that is a sacrifice that I, and many others, are willing to make.
Photo by Cat Cooper