The document discusses recent research that has found coffee may provide health benefits rather than risks. Studies show drinking 1-3 cups of coffee per day is associated with reduced risks of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and several types of cancer. While caffeine is often credited, other compounds in coffee like polyphenols may also contribute benefits. Experts recommend paying attention to individual tolerance, as coffee can cause sleep issues if consumed late in the day, and is addictive for some people. Moderation of 2-3 cups seems to provide benefits without negative effects.

1. Friday, October 9, 2015 | The Scarsdale Inquirer To Your Health! | Page 5A
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Cup of Joe: A harmful vice or health elixir?
By JENNIFER LEAVITT
T
rying to keep up with the
latest research on which
foods, drinks and supple-
ments we should stock up
on, and which ones we
should immediately shun,
can be downright exhausting. It’s enough
to make you want to reach for a double
espresso. And that may not be such a
bad thing after all.
Coffee is a longtime staple in the west-
ern diet, and for most who drink it daily,
it’s a habit that dies hard. The good news
is, despite its dubious reputation over the
decades, that java may actually be good
for you.
For decades it seemed to be common
knowledge that coffee stressed our car-
diovascular systems, led to stomach ul-
cers and caused dehydration and insom-
nia. Many Americans perceived it as a
necessary evil for making it through life.
Then one day, our morning fuel was re-
deemed when food chemists announced
that it was a good source of antioxidants.
Soon after, a Harvard research study re-
vealed that people who drank as many
as six cups of coffee per day were less
likely to die during the next five years.
That news was followed by a surge of
research into the relationships between
coffee and specific diseases, with sur-
prising results. Dozens of long-term stud-
ies in the United States, Europe, and Asia
have shown not only does coffee not
cause heart attacks and strokes, but it
actually seems to have a protective ef-
fect against these incidents.
One Kaiser Permanente study, en-
dorsed by the American Heart Asso-
ciation, examined the healthcare data of
130,000 members and discovered coffee
drinkers were less likely to need hospi-
talization for heart rhythm disturbances.
One to three cups per day reduced car-
diac incidents, regardless of other risk
factors.
In Sweden, researchers followed
30,000 women over 10 years and
learned that those who drank more
than one cup per day appeared to have
a 22 to 25 percent lower risk of stroke
than non-coffee-drinkers did. They also
concluded that low or no consumption
of coffee increased the risk of stroke in
women.
Habitual coffee drinkers tend to have
slightly lower blood pressure than non-
consumers do, and a better chance of
avoiding diabetes. Study participants
who increased their intake of daily cof-
fee by more than one cup over four years
reduced their risks by 11 percent com-
pared to those who made no changes.
Across hundreds of these studies, the
group reaping the greatest benefits ap-
peared to be those drinking 2-3 cups of
coffee per day, but even at 5 cups, no
negative cardiovascular implications
were found.
Even the dehydrating myth has been
labeled as such. Although coffee does
indeed have a diuretic effect, that is ap-
parently offset by the drink’s volume of
liquid.
Coffee appears to be protective of our
liver, gallbladder, intestines and pancreas
as well. Italian researchers learned that
taking up the coffee habit lowered liver
cancer risks by 40 percent, while drink-
ing three cups per day could reduce the
risk by an additional 10 percent.
Coffee has also been associated with
reduced risks of oral, endometrium,
brain, colon and rectum cancers, and
one study showed strong protection
against breast cancer recurrence in
women who were taking tamoxifen.
The story doesn’t end there.
Word from the lab is that drinking sev-
eral cups of coffee per day is associated
with reduced rates and later onset of Al-
zheimer’s disease. Those who indulge in
their favorite morning (or anytime) brew
are also less likely to develop Parkin-
son’s.
Researchers were convinced that caf-
feine was the healing ingredient, un-
til another study called that wisdom
into question. While it may be the best
known component in our sunrise mugs,
it only accounts for 2 percent of the
bean. It is highly likely that the polyphe-
nols, chlorogenic acids, phytoestrogens
and other micro ingredients contribute
to our health. In fact, researchers at the
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Si-
nai discovered in their study on mice
that decaffeinated coffee improved the
brain energy metabolism seen in type 2
diabetes, and which happens to be a risk
factor for Alzheimer’s disease and other
forms of dementia.
An 8 ounce cup of coffee usually con-
tains one to three percent of our daily
required folate, thiamin, niacin, manga-
nese, potassium, magnesium and phos-
phorus; six percent of the pantothenic
acid we need; and 11 percent of our
daily requirement for riboflavin. It also
contains, believe it or not, nearly half a
gram of fiber.
So is this a green light to start drinking
coffee by the gallon?
Yes and no, say the experts.
For starters, everyone has different
physiology to some extent. What bol-
sters one person’s health may send an-
other into anaphylactic shock. Pay atten-
tion to what your body is telling you.
Then too, the one entirely legitimate
warning about coffee is that it can cause
sleep disturbances. No one should be
using caffeine as a substitute for slum-
ber. And drinking too late in the day can
cause serious insomnia that night. Plan
accordingly.
Despite all the promising studies, we
do know that caffeine increases cate-
cholamines, which are stress hormones,
and it can cause anxiety in some people.
Caffeinated coffee is also addictive, so
where you once drew on energy from
adequate sleep, fresh air and balanced
nutrition, you may come to need it just
to feel normal, and to avoid brain fog and
headaches that can start just 24 hours af-
ter your last cup.
One final word of warning is to re-
member that correlation does not equal
causation. This means that, even though
we know coffee drinkers have better
health outcomes, that could be because
coffee drinkers have other healthy habits
that were overlooked.
Of course, coffee is not our only source
of caffeine. The past decade has seen
another favorite bean of ours exonerated
as well — the cocoa bean. So have your
coffee and eat your chocolate, too. Until
they say otherwise, it’s all good.