5 Reasons Why Coffee is Good for You

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health benefits coffee

Coffee is much more than a warm drink that gives you an extra boost of energy when needed. It has been the subject of many scientific studies throughout the years. Time and time again, science proves that regularly drinking coffee is good for you.

However, that “coffee is good” mantra comes with a small caveat. Coffee is only healthy when consumed in moderation. If you regularly consume three $10 “Venti” coffees a day, chances are the excess sugar you’re consuming will negatively outweigh the health benefits of the coffee you consume. The extra caffeine (a drug and stimulant) that you intake can also cause health problems.

Coffee Could Lower Risk of Type II Diabetes

People are diagnosed with Type II Diabetes as a result of poor lifestyle choices. Bad eating, excessive drug consumption, and lack of exercise can all contribute to your risk in getting this disease. Over the years the population of America has seen a 10-fold increase in Type II Diabetes.

It occurs when you have high blood glucose levels because of insulin resistance or the inability of your body to produce insulin. There have been multiple studies that have shown that coffee has been associated with a reduction in risk for this disease from 23% to 67%. Furthermore, another review looked at a total of 18 independent studies with a total of 457 participants. Averaging things out, researchers found that each additional cup of coffee drank per day lowered the risk of diabetes by an additional 7%!

Keep in mind that the above data is based on averages. This means that some people will not get the full benefit of the extra cups of coffee. It’s best to keep things in moderation.

Lower Risk of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's

As we get older, our bodies start showing signs of wear and tear. Alzheimer’s is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders in America. Parkinson’s is the 2nd most common. Studies have shown that there is up to a 60% lowered risk of Alzheimer’s and 32%-60% of Parkinson’s for regular coffee drinkers. Both of these debilitating conditions are the leading cause of dementia and it’s currently thought that the caffeine inside coffee can help protect your brain from both conditions.

Lose Weight & Improved Physical Performance

The next time you’re in a store that sells commercial fat burning supplements, take a good look at the ingredients on the label. A good portion of them have “caffeine” as one of the main ingredients.

Caffeine helps you lose weight and burn fat because it stimulates the central nervous system, which in turn raises your metabolism and increases oxidation of fatty acids.

Athletes and even military personnel have long been aware of the beneficial effects of caffeine. It can help measurably improve athletic performance. It does this by mobilizing fatty acids from the fat tissues. Another study has shown that caffeine can increase physical performance on average by 11%-12%!

Increased Intelligence

The science behind this claim is as follows: The caffeine in coffee blocks the effects of a “inhibitory neurotransmitter” called Adenosine. This in turn increases the neuronal firing in the brain and will release other neurotransmitters. Simply put: when the neurons in your brain are firing off at an accelerated rate (as happens when you drink caffeine), you’re literally “using your brain” and that leads to intelligent decisions/actions.

Multiple studies have determined that caffeine can improve your mood, reaction time, and the overall cognitive function of your brain.

Antioxidants and Nutrients

Coffee is much more than flavored energy-water that gives you a nice little head buzz. It contains a tremendous amount of anti-oxidants. There are so many antioxidants in coffee that it out-ranks fruits and vegetables!

There are plenty of vitamins as well. A single cup of coffee contains:

  • .2mp Vitamin B2 (11% DV)
  • .6mg Pantothenic acid (6% DV)
  • 116mg Potassium (3% DV)
  • .1mg Manganese (3% DV)
  • .3g Protein

By themselves, these values may not seem much. If you have several cups of coffee a day, then they start to add up really quickly. Keep in mind that we’re only talking about black coffee here. If you use a ton of sugar, creamers, or other sweeteners, you may be decreasing the overall health value of the drink. Sugar and preservatives are not good for your body and can cause a wide range of health issues.

If you drink coffee on a regular basis and are expecting health benefits, you should try to wean yourself off sugar and creamers. Or at the very least use less and less until one day you’re drinking coffee black.

If you are able to forgo all creams and sugars when drinking your coffee, you should seriously consider buying some premium coffee. There is a huge, noticeable difference between grocery-store bought coffee and premium coffee direct from the coffee plantations.

Summary

While there are a lot of benefits to drinking coffee on a regular basis, there are some drawbacks that you should be aware of. For example, caffeine stimulates the central nervous system. Some people who have higher-than-average sensitivities might feel that their heart is “fluttering” or beating irregularly when then over-consume caffeine. In some cases, people have mistakenly thought they were having a heart-attack.

Caffeine is also considered to be a diuretic. Meaning that it will cause you to lose fluids more rapidly. Over time, this can lead to dehydration and a headache or migraine. Therefore it’s important to stay hydrated throughout the day, even when you’re not drinking coffee.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration states that a moderate intake of caffeine is “generally recognized as safe”. As with anything in life, you need to moderate your consumption of coffee. For some people that’s only 1 cup in the morning. For others, it’s 2-3 cups per day.

If you’re a regular consumer of coffee, or even if you’re just starting out, you should forgo the grocery-store bought coffee. 9 times out of 10, it’s past its expiration date and stale. Try some premium Kona Coffee, straight from the big island of Hawaii. The fertile volcanic soil and lush rainforest climate make Kona coffee some of the most prized and delicious coffee in the world!

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