There are a number of people who have problems associated with coffee such as heartburn, jitters, and upset stomach. But I'm quite certain that there are many who think that there are problems, where none exist.
Understand that I'm not saying that it's all in the head. The caffeine in coffee can raise the blood pressure (to some degree) of people who have high blood pressure, even if it isn't long term.
Doctors routinely tell people DON'T DRINK COFFEE! And they believe it religiously. Coffee is bad for you.! No need to discuss it!
The fact that some people do have a problem with coffee, is multiplied many times over for those with food allergies. Recently a girl dropped dead after a Chinese meal that included peanuts or peanut products.
A friend of mine can't eat anything with tomatoes in it or the same thing would happen to him.
Should we all beware Chinese food and pizza? Millions of college kids would rather die than not eat pizza! Just kidding.
So, for what it's worth I'll get on my coffee hobby horse.
Before I go on let say this; almost all of the studies that said coffee is bad for you, were done when most Americans smoked.
I think that we can agree that smoking may affect health.
A few months ago I saw a doctor. Now I'm far from the young Kung Fu, backpacker that I used to be. I'm even more than a few pounds overweight.
Back to the doctor.
So the young girl takes my blood pressure & temp before the doctor comes in. He looks at the numbers, and decides that HE will do it right!
After he's through taking my blood pressure again, I ask him what the numbers were. At 63 years of age it was 120 over 62. "It's a little high," he grumbles in disappointment.
By the way - 3 or 4 hours earlier I had had my usual 5 cups of strong morning coffee.
Aside from those few who do have problems with coffee, coffee is proving to actually be VERY good for you.
What started all this was another article that I bumbled into today - Coffee and Your Health.
A few excerpts from it:
"A growing body of research shows that coffee drinkers, compared to nondrinkers, are:
. .* less likely to have type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and dementia
.. * have fewer cases of certain cancers, heart rhythm problems, and strokes"
"Hu calls the data on coffee and type 2 diabetes "pretty solid," based on more than 15 published studies."
"It's probably not the caffeine, though. Based on studies of decaf coffee, “I think we can safely say that the benefits are not likely to be due to caffeine," Hu says."
So if you do have high blood pressure, drink decaf (Although I still think that decaf is the devils brew.).
""Coffee may counter several risk factors for heart attack and stroke.
First, there's the potential effect on type 2 diabetes risk. Type 2 diabetes makes heart disease and stroke more likely.
Besides that, coffee has been linked to lower risks for heart rhythm disturbances (another heart attack and stroke risk factor) in men and women, and lower risk for strokes in women."
"“For Parkinson’s disease, the data have always been very consistent: higher consumption of coffee is associated with decreased risk of Parkinson’s,” Hu tells WebMD. That seems to be due to caffeine, though exactly how that works isn't clear, Hu notes."
Remember me talking about doctors being set in their ways? "And they believe it religiously."
If it's bad for one person, it may be bad for everyone, so don't do it!
From the Harvard School of Public Heath (one of the most selective and prestigious public health schools in the world)- Ask the Expert: Coffee and Health:
They too, say "We did not find any relationship between coffee consumption and increased risk of death from any cause, death from cancer, or death from cardiovascular disease. Even people who drank up to six cups of coffee per day were at no higher risk of death.".
Later they go on to confirm recent research;
"4. Is there any research that suggests coffee may have some beneficial health effects?"
"Yes, research over the past few years suggests that coffee consumption may protect against type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, liver cancer, and liver cirrhosis. And our latest study on coffee and mortality found that people who regularly drank coffee actually had a somewhat lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease than those who rarely drank coffee...."
As to the "high blood pressure" - "We know that if people are not used to using any caffeine, and they start to use caffeine, their blood pressure goes up substantially. Within a week of caffeine consumption, however, we see that the effect is less pronounced—there is less of an increase in blood pressure."
NOTE THAT HE STATES - "are not used to using any caffeine".
And - "But if people have hypertension, and are having a hard time controlling their hypertension, they could try switching from caffeinated coffee to decaffeinated coffee, to see if it has a beneficial effect."
Is there any other benefit of coffee?
Only if you're male - Coffee May Lower Prostate Cancer Risk
""When the researchers looked at all forms of prostate cancer, ''the highest coffee drinkers had about a 20% lower risk of developing prostate cancer...."
AND
"Coffee protected even more against the most lethal form of prostate cancer."
And for those who want to keep the caffeine intake low:
"The surprise: the risk reduction held for both regular coffee and decaf, leading the researchers to speculate it's not the caffeine providing the protection."
They also note that coffee can reduce the incident of gallstones. But who cares about gallstones.
At this point I'll bring it to an end. I need to make more coffee.
...!
....!
..!
