Anyone who know me knows I love coffee. Maybe a little too much. Although everybody knows that C is for “cookie” to a certain blue haired googly eyed friend, C is definitely for “coffee” when it comes to Kevin.
I have always enjoyed dark, strong coffee. I have never drank it any other way but black and the blacker the better. I believe it is properly referred to as “bold”. I don’t really care what it is called, all I know is I like it, I want it, got to have it.
This type of talk about a substance seems to border almost on obsession or addiction to some and I guess I would have to agree. If you have to have something everyday to be happy you are probably addicted to it. I can accept that. I am not sure it warrants a room full of my friends and family telling me how it has negatively affect my relationships with them, but it is an addiction all the same.
Like most addicts I have always been able to justify to myself why I needed coffee and how it was not that big of a deal. I turned a blind eye to any study that shone a negative light on coffee or caffeine and always held steadfastly to the belief that it was not a harmful as it was made out to be. I even preached to people about how coffee was not the problem, it in fact was the sweeteners and coffee whitener or cream that was doing all the harm. This of course is a very convenient stand for some who only drinks black coffee to take. It was also based on nothing more than my own self serving imagination.
While I pay no heed to any studies that find negative effects from coffee, I embrace the studies that show the positive. There has been quite a few of them lately actually so I want to hurry up top my soapbox and shout them to the masses before the new batch of studies comes out that disproves everything the last study established.
It seems all this time coffee has gotten a bad rap because of the crowd it keeps. Regular coffee drinkers generally seemed to be people who did not get enough sleep, smoked cigarettes, drank alcohol, and overall led a less health conscious lifestyle. Rob van Dam, an assistant professor at the Harvard School Of Public Health, claims early studies that linked coffee with such conditions as heart disease and cancer did not take into account these other lifestyle factors. When larger more long term studies were conducted, no evidence was found that coffee had any effect on mortality rates from any cause including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Some of the subjects in the long term studies drank up to 6 cups per day (lightweights).
Van Dams research also found that coffee drinkers had reduced risk of liver disease and Type 2 diabetes. A recent study published in the Archives Of Internal Medicine suggested that 3-4 cups of coffee per day might reduce the chances of Type 2 diabetes by roughly 25 percent.
Harvard researchers found that drinking coffee might lower mens risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer by up to 60%. The men who drank the most coffee seemed to receive the most benefit. Other studies have also shown coffee consumption can reduce your risk of ailments like Alzheimers, Parkinsons, dementia,colon and endometrial cancer and gallstones. Coffee has also been shown to improve mental and aerobic performance,endurance and mood, while decreasing depressive symptoms.
Sweet vindication!! This black gold is nothing short of a miracle elixir! I knew I was right all along and there is only one thing I like more than coffee and thats being right. Ok back to reality. Although the benefits of coffee have been well established just like anything else there is two sides to this story. In my next blog I will discuss the other side to this coin and show why some people should avoid coffee all together, or at least some types of coffee. Until then enjoy that cup of coffee. I know I will.
kevin@kevinweiss.com
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