coffee

4 Cups a Day: 4 Surprising Health Benefits of Drinking That Much Coffee

Two cups aren’t enough, research suggests.

Inverse|

• Mary von Aue

Photo from Morsa Images / Getty Images .

Coffee doesn’t have the best reputation as a healthy beverage, despite several studies that suggest the contrary. The caffeinated drink is more than just a mood-stabilizer and morning savior. Among its many health benefits, researchers have linked it a lowered risk of Alzheimer’s disease and suggest it’s a worthy defender against cirrhosis of the liver.

Critics of the beloved bean juice have long maintained that coffee is bad for the heart, and considering too many cups tend to make people jittery, that rationale has gone mostly unchallenged. However, a study published in PLOS Biology argues that there is an optimum amount of coffee intake that will maintain a healthy heart. “We’ve disproved what doctors have told your grandma: Don’t drink coffee if you have a heart problem,” study co-authors Joachim Altschmied, Ph.D. and Judith Haendeler, Ph.D., told Inverse.

Coffee

Another Major Reason to Feel Good About Drinking Coffee Keep that morning joe: drinking coffee is linked to a lower risk of heart failure, stroke and heart disease in a new study

By Amanda MacMillan 

November 13, 2017

TIME Health

For more, visit TIME Health.

The news about coffee just keeps getting better. In a new analysis of one of the country’s largest and longest-running studies, drinking coffee was linked to a lower risk of heart failure, stroke and coronary heart disease. Every extra cup of coffee consumed per day reduced each of these conditions by 8%, 7% and 5%, respectively, up to at least six cups per day.

The preliminary research was presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions in Anaheim, California. It has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, but it’s not the first research to suggest that coffee protects the heartand arteries./.../

Coffee

Is Coffee Good for You? Here's the Science That free cup of coffee for National Coffee day may come with health benefits, including protection against disease and cognitive decline

Caffeine & Dementia

Caffeine Boosts Enzyme That Could Protect Against Dementia

NEUROSCIENCE NEWSMARCH 7, 2017

Summary: Researchers have discovered 24 compounds, including caffeine, that have the potential to boost NMNAT2, an enzyme shown to help protect against dementia.

Source: Indiana University.

New analysis reveals 24 compounds that can help reduce impact of harmful proteins in the brain.

A study by Indiana University researchers has identified 24 compounds — including caffeine — with the potential to boost an enzyme in the brain shown to protect against dementia.

The protective effect of the enzyme, called NMNAT2, was discovered last year through research conducted at IU Bloomington. The new study appears today in the journal Scientific Reports.

Indiana University scientists have identified 24 compounds that increase the brain’s production of the enzyme NMNAT2, which helps prevent the formation of these tangles associated with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to NIA/NIH and is in the public domain./.../

Coffee

Coffee and DNA

Transcript

Are you one of those people who can’t jumpstart the day without a cup of coffee? Someone who downs 2, 3, 4 cups a day? Well, a new study concludes your Java drinking behavior may be tied to your DNA!

Researchers conducted a genome-wide analysis of regular coffee consumption among more than 120,000 people. They found 6 new regions of DNA that were significantly associated with coffee drinking behavior. Two of the new genes were linked to caffeine metabolism. Other regions were located near genes that potentially influence the effects of caffeine on the brain, others, near genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolism, which may influence responses to the stimulant.

The researchers say these findings may help determine why you can drink numerous cups of coffee without feeling any effects while your friend gets jumpy after just one.

More importantly, they say, knowledge of genetic factors contributing to coffee’s physiological effects may help design future studies on the health benefits and risks of one of the most popular beverages in the world.

I’m Dr. Cindy Haines of HealthDay TV, with the news that can help you stay healthy, happy, and fit./.../

Coffe, Tea and DM

Beverage Service: Coffee, Tea, and the Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes

Mary Desmond Pinkowish, MPH
Reviewed by Clifton Jackness, MD, Attending Physician in Endocrinology, Lenox Hill Hospital and the Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY

Take Note

• In a large 2014 meta-analysis, an inverse dose-response relationship was demonstrated between diabetes risk and consumption of coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and tea
• Another meta-analysis confirmed these findings and showed that the effect was stronger in women, nonsmokers, and people with a body mass index of <25 kg="" li="" m2="">

Smoking, obesity, physical inactivity—the list of type 2 diabetes risk factors is lengthy and well-known. Less well-known, however, is that specific foods also have been associated with diabetes risk. In particular, trans fats and red meat are associated with higher risk, while whole grains may be protective.1-3 In 2005, evidence emerged that something many people crave—coffee—can help significantly lower their risk for developing diabetes.4 Since then, other studies, some of them including decaffeinated coffee and tea, have reached similar conclusions.5

Coffee anda Prostate Cancer

Johns Hopkins Health Alert

Can Drinking Coffee Reduce the Risk of Prostate Cancer? Here’s What We Know …

Comments (1)

After water and tea, the most popular beverage in the world is coffee. While it tastes great, and the caffeine provides a jolt to get you moving, coffee also appears to offer numerous health benefits. Here's an excerpt from a recent Prostate Disorders Bulletin that sheds light on this interesting topic.

Over the years, epidemiological studies have looked at daily coffee consumption to determine its impact on a person's overall health. Coffee beans contain many naturally occurring compounds, including polyphenols, antioxidant substances that are potentially health-enhancing.

Caffeine, a mild psychoactive substance that stimulates the central nervous system, has properties that inhibit cell growth and encourage apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Previous studies have reported that caffeine consumption in a variety of drinks may reduce the risk of several types of cancer, including basal-cell carcinoma, glioma (a cancer of the brain and central nervous system) and ovarian cancer.

A study published recently in Nutrition Journal found a reduced risk of aggressive prostate cancer in coffee drinkers. This confirms the 2011 Journal of the National Cancer Institute study by Harvard researchers, which reported that men who regularly consumed the most coffee had a 60 percent lower lower risk of advanced or lethal prostate cancer compared with non-coffee drinkers. Even one to three cups a day afforded a 30 percent lower risk.

And now, according to a new study by scientists from Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, published in the journal Cancer Causes and Control, coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer recurrence and progression.

The researchers, led by Janet L. Stanford, Ph.D., co-director of the Program in Prostate Cancer Research, found that men who drank four or more cups of coffee per day experienced a 59 percent reduced risk of prostate cancer recurrence and/or progression as compared to those who drank only one cup or less per week.

The bottom line on coffee and prostate cancer. There certainly seems to be an association between daily coffee consumption and a reduction in the risk for diagnosis, disease progression and death from prostate cancer. However, based on the results of the various coffee studies published to date, there is still not enough information to recommend that anyone start drinking coffee solely for its potential anti-cancer benefits. Remember that all the studies we have are observational, and these research efforts do not prove any clear cause-and-effect relationship between coffee consumption and prostate cancer protection.

Posted in Prostate Disorders on February 6, 2014

Health Effects of Coffee

Best Evidence Review of Health Effects of Coffee

Coffee is one of the most frequently consumed beverages on earth, yet there remain many questions regarding its effects on health. A recent observational study made headlines for finding a positive association between heavy coffee consumption and an increased risk for death among men, but the research had some substantial limitations. Other research certainly suggests that coffee can reduce the risk for diabetes and cardiovascular events. Overall, however, patients will probably have far more to gain by addressing other lifestyle and diet issues besides coffee drinking in their quest for a longer, happier life.

The Study

Liu J, Sui X, Lavie CJ, et al. Association of coffee consumption with all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality. Mayo Clin Proc. 2013 Aug 15. [Epub ahead of print]

The Background

"Doctor, I made some of those changes we talked about last time!" my patient relates with enthusiasm. I am genuinely excited. Ten tortillas per day, lots of Hogan's Heroes reruns, and problem alcohol drinking is no way to go through life, son.

"I stopped drinking coffee!" And my hopes vanish faster than the Baconator® my patient inhaled immediately before his appointment with me. Coffee?! That was never part of the conversation. I can't help but look at my e-chart; yep, 1 cup of coffee each morning. In my analysis, he's safe as kittens regarding any health risk from coffee consumption.

This scene has played out time and again in my practice, and it has reinforced to me that many adults consider coffee drinking a guilty pleasure. If so, there are many guilty individuals out there. According to trade association reports, 83% of US adults now drink coffee, a 5% increase since 2012 and part of an upward trend over the past 2 decades.^[1] The majority of Americans drink coffee on a daily basis, and the average number of cups per day among daily drinkers is 3.1.^[2]

But what are the health risks associated with that cup of joe? A new study will give anyone in line at their favorite coffee shop something serious to consider./.../

Coffee

Coffee: The Original Wonder Drug?

July 24, 2012

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Mental and Medical Benefits of Coffee: Introduction

The best part of waking up...is reducing your risk of neurodegeneration. And depression, and cancer, and cardiovascular disease... It's becoming increasingly clear that coffee is more than just a morning routine. The body of data suggesting that the world's most widely used stimulant is beneficial in a variety of mental and medical conditions is growing at a staggering rate. A recent study published in theNew England Journal of Medicine found that coffee consumption lowered all-cause mortality by over 10% at 13-year follow-up.^[1]Based primarily on recent Medscape Medical News coverage, the following slideshow reviews the potential medical and psychiatric benefits of coffee consumption.

Photo courtesy of Darbe Rotach

References

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Coffee Drinking & Mortality

Association of Coffee Drinking with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality

Neal D. Freedman, Ph.D., Yikyung Park, Sc.D., Christian C. Abnet, Ph.D., Albert R. Hollenbeck, Ph.D., and Rashmi Sinha, Ph.D.

BACKGROUND

Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages, but the association between coffee consumption and the risk of death remains unclear.

METHODS

We examined the association of coffee drinking with subsequent total and cause-specific mortality among 229,119 men and 173,141 women in the National Institutes of Health–AARP Diet and Health Study who were 50 to 71 years of age at baseline. Participants with cancer, heart disease, and stroke were excluded. Coffee consumption was assessed once at baseline.

RESULTS

CONCLUSIONS

In this large prospective study, coffee consumption was inversely associated with total and cause-specific mortality. Whether this was a causal or associational finding cannot be determined from our data. (Funded by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics.)

Mystery ingredient in coffee boosts protection against Alzheimer’s disease

June 22, 2011

(Credit: iStockPhoto)

A yet-unidentified component of coffee interacts with caffeine, a possible reason why daily coffee intake protects against Alzheimer’s disease, researchers at the University of South Florida have found.

One clue: they found that caffeinated coffee induces an increase in blood levels of a growth factor called GCSF (granulocyte colony stimulating factor) in mice. GCSF is greatly decreased in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and is demonstrated to improve memory in Alzheimer’s mice.

The researchers said this is not possible with other caffeine-containing drinks or decaffeinated coffee./.../

The Best Part of Waking Up Also Lowers Stroke Risk

By Crystal Phend, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: March 10, 2011
Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston.

Women who start their day with a cup of coffee may be protecting themselves from stroke, according to a Swedish prospective cohort study.

Among 34,670 women, those who reported drinking at least one cup a day at baseline had a 24% reduction in stroke risk (95% CI 0.66 to 0.88) over a decade, Susanna C. Larsson, PhD, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and colleagues found.

"Given that coffee is one of the most popular beverages consumed worldwide, even small health effects of substances in coffee may have large public health consequences," they wrote online in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association./.../

Daily Coffee Limbers Up the Heart

By Crystal Phend, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today Published: August 25, 2010 Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner STOCKHOLM -- A daily coffee habit may counteract aortic stiffness in older adults with hypertension, researchers reported. One to two cups a day correlated with greater aortic distensibility compared with rarely consuming coffee (P=0.45) in a cohort of men and women 65 and older on the Greek island of Ikaria. But a higher dose -- three to five cups a day -- had no effect on flexibility of the aorta, according to Christina Chrysohoou, MD, PhD, of the University of Athens, and colleagues./.../

101 Razões para Tomar Café

From: Darcy Lima

chega às livrarias "101 Razões para Tomar Café"

Um estudo definitivo sobre a bebida: saúde, história, sabor e cultura

Em abril, chega às livrarias de todo o País o resultado de anos de pesquisa do médico Darcy Roberto Lima. Direcionado aos apaixonados por café, o autor transformou seus estudos em conteúdo leve e inédito sobre a bebida e publica, pela Café Editora, o livro 101 Razões para Tomar Café.

Com textos bem-humorados e informativos, a obra apresenta 101 motivos para quem não deixa este hábito de lado nem por um dia. As razões passam por quatro temas: sabor, história, saúde e cultura. Nelas, Darcy conta a cultura do beber café e a presença dele no dia a dia, a história do grão em diversos países, o sabor por ele proporcionado e ainda faz comparações com outras bebidas; por fim, destaca mais de metade das razões, e ainda mais intrigantes, sobre os benefícios do café para a saúde. Dentre eles que pode prevenir câncer, obesidade e proteger contra a gripe e ainda que é bom para o coração, para a pele e diabetes.

A coisa mais comum que todo homem gosta de fazer desde que acorda é tomar café, um ritual que repete a vida toda. E para se ter excelente qualidade de vida basta tomar café regularmente, escreve o autor logo nas primeiras páginas. E sendo o Brasil um dos maiores países produtores do grão e contabilizando tantos amantes da bebida, não poderíamos deixar de encontrar 101 razões para mostrar por que somos tão apaixonados por ele.

www.cafeesaude.com.br
www.coffeeishealth.org 

Coffee Consumption Improves

Coffee Consumption Improves Markers of Inflammation and Oxidative Stress CME

Coffee and inflammation

News Author: Michael O'Riordan
CME Author: Laurie Barclay, MD

Authors and Disclosures

CME Released: 04/05/2010; Valid for credit through 04/05/2011

April 5, 2010 — A small study published March 26 points again to the beneficial effects of coffee consumption. Researchers showed that drinking coffee led to improved markers of subclinical inflammation and oxidative stress, as well as increases in high-density lipoprotein (HDL)–cholesterol levels [1].

"We found some evidence of beneficial effects on the lipid profile, but no effects on glucose metabolism," report lead investigator Dr Kerstin Kempf (University Düsseldorf, Germany) and colleagues. "Because subclinical inflammation is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, our results suggest one mechanism that could mediate the reduced risk of type 2 diabetes among individuals who habitually consume coffee for years."

Writing in the April 2010 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the researchers add that previous studies have shown that drinking coffee protects against developing type 2 diabetes mellitus, possibly through reductions in inflammation, oxidative stress, and favorable changes in the lipid profile./.../

Coffe & Stroke

ASA: Coffee Drinkers Have Lower Stroke Risk

By Todd Neale, Staff Writer, MedPage TodayPublished: February 26, 2010 Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner SAN ANTONIO -- Drinking just one cup of coffee a day -- either regular or decaffeinated -- was associated with a 30% reduced risk of stroke, a large, prospective study showed. Greater consumption did not heighten the apparent protective effect, according to Yangmei Li, MPhil, of the University of Cambridge in England./.../

French cafe culture

French cafe culture struggles to stay alive

August 15, 2009 by Infowars Ireland

www.dw-world.de

Sitting in a cafe in France is part of every tourist cliche. But with locals doing that less and less and the number of cafes dwindling at a rapid pace, is French cafe culture in danger of dying out?

In 1960, there were about 200,000 cafes across France. Fifty years later, there are only around 40,000 left and, according to industry statistics, two cafes go out of business every day.

On a sunny day in Paris, everything still appears normal. At Le Grand Palais, a cafe in Paris’s swanky eighth district, the terraces are full with tourists sipping lemonade, office types having lunch, and people sitting quietly on their own, reading as they take in the warm weather.

Across town at Le Belair in the Belleville neighborhood of Paris, though, there’s a much different scene. Just before lunch, there are only two customers at the bar. It’s the kind of sparsely-decorated one-room cafe with a bar that can be found in working-class neighborhoods all around the country. Owner Zahir Idris says business is extremely slow these days./.../

Coffe consumption and MI risk

Coffee Consumption and Risk of Cardiovascular Events After Acute Myocardial Infarction. Results From the GISSI (Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nell’Infarto miocardico)-Prevenzione Trial Maria Giuseppina Silletta MSc, RosaMaria Marfisi MS, Giacomo Levantesi MD, Alessandro Boccanelli MD, Carmelo Chieffo MD, MariaGrazia Franzosi MSc, Enrico Geraci MD, Aldo Pietro Maggioni MD, Gianluigi Nicolosi MD, Carlo Schweiger MD, Luigi Tavazzi MD, Gianni Tognoni MD, Roberto Marchioli MD*, on behalf of the GISSI-Prevenzione Investigators
From the Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease (M.G.S., R. Marfisi, G.L., R. Marchioli, G.T.), Consorzio Mario Negri Sud, Santa Maria Imbaro, Chieti, Italy; Ospedale San Giovanni (A.B.), Rome, Italy; Ospedale Civile, Caserta (C.C.), Italy; Department of Cardiovascular Research (M.F.), Istituto Mario Negri, Milan, Italy; Ospedale Cervello (E.G.), Palermo, Italy; Centro Studi ANMCO (A.P.M.), Florence, Italy; Ospedale Santa Maria degli Angeli (G.N.), Pordenone, Italy; Ospedale Civile, Presidio di Riabilitazione (C.S.), Passirana di Rho, Milan, Italy; and Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo (L.T.), Pavia, Italy.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: marchioli@negrisud.it
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Background—The relation between coffee consumption and cardiovascular disease has been studied extensively, but results are still debated. In addition, little evidence is available on patients with established coronary heart disease.
Methods and Results—Prospectively ascertained information among 11 231 Italian patients (9584 males and 1647 females) with recent (3 months) myocardial infarction enrolled in the GISSI (Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nell’Infarto miocardico)-Prevenzione trial was used. Usual dietary habits were assessed at baseline and updated at 0.5 and 1.5 years. Coffee consumption was categorized as never/almost never, <2>4 cups per day. Medication use and fasting glucose were assessed at 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 years. Risk was evaluated with Cox proportional hazards with time-varying covariates. The main outcome measure was the cumulative incidence of cardiovascular events (cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and nonfatal stroke). A total of 1167 cardiovascular events occurred during 36 961 person-years of follow-up. After multivariable adjustment for potential confounders in the time-dependent analysis, the relative risk of cardiovascular events across categories of coffee consumption was 1.02 (95% CI 0.87 to 1.20) for <2>4 cups per day compared with abstainers (P for trend=0.18). Ultimately, coffee consumption did not change the risk of coronary heart disease events, stroke, and sudden death.
Conclusions—No association between moderate coffee intake and cardiovascular events was observed in post–myocardial infarction patients.