Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
What’s the number one source of antioxidants in the American diet? Are you thinking dark
chocolate? Berries or red wine? How about white, black or green teas? Sure, they’re
all great sources of antioxidants, those substances that help us fight off aging and many diseases.
But in terms of antioxidant value, those foods aren’t worth a pile of beans compared to
this hot shot: coffee!
The average American drinks about three and a half cups of coffee a day, meaning about
416 eight ounce cups of coffee a year, providing about 1300 mg of antioxidants every day. That’s
a whole lot of antioxidants, and a whole lot of coffee!
So what IS coffee? It’s estimated that there are over a thousand different compounds in
coffee, many formed during the roasting process. These include carbohydrates, lipids, nitrogenous
compounds, vitamins, minerals, and alkaloids.
Coffee also naturally contains caffeine. At high enough levels, caffeine stimulates the
central nervous system, increases blood pressure and raises the metabolic rate. This has led
some to think that drinking coffee could increase a person’s risk for developing cardiovascular
disease, especially for people who already have some of the risk factors for this condition,
such as high blood pressure.
For adults with no previous history, moderate caffeine consumption did not increase the
risk for coronary disease, stroke, or sudden cardiac death. And what about type 2 diabetes,
Parkinson’s, and certain forms of cancer (like liver and colon cancer)? Actually, some
studies have shown that drinking moderate amounts of coffee might even lower a person’s
risk of developing these serious conditions.
Overall, there is a lot more research to be done. For right now though, it appears that
for otherwise healthy adults, consuming moderate amounts of coffee (3–4 cups a day, providing
300–400 mg a day of caffeine), there is little evidence of health risks and even some
evidence of health benefits.
Some groups, however, including people with hypertension, children, adolescents, and the
elderly, may be more vulnerable to the negative effects of caffeine and should be more careful
about their coffee intake. In addition, currently available evidence suggests that it may be
a good idea for pregnant women to limit coffee consumption to no more than 3 cups a day (providing
no more than 300 mg a day of caffeine) to lessen any chance of miscarriage or impaired
fetal growth.
It’s a question of “Is the cup half empty or half full?” The debate over whether drinking
coffee is ultimately good or bad for you will be brewing for a long time to come.
Coffee Script v5 9/12/12