Nutrition Facts For Coffee

There's not much else in coffee apart from caffeine yet we all drink it and take little time to know where it grows, how it's produced and how it affects our brains and bodies. Surely something this good must be bad for you. Au contraire! There is on-going scientific evidence that 2-4 cups of coffee a day (based on a 6oz serving) offers more health benefits than you may know. Earlier studies have often clouded these benefits because of lifestyle associations such as smoking

1. Coffee is the #1 source of antioxidants, more than wine, chocolate or tea. Antioxidants can help prevent cancer and heart disease.

2. Coffee has a high level of soluble dietary fiber, more than wine or orange juice. Soluble dietary fiber helps lower total LDL (bad) cholesterol thereby reducing risk of heart disease and it also helps to manage blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. By helping insulin regulate blood sugar levels in the body, there is a significantly reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.

3. Further studies of coffee also strongly suggest that regular daily intake of coffee (i) lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease (ii) protects against chronic liver disease and gallstones (iii) may ward off colon cancer (iv) appears to have antidepressant features (v) has also been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

4. Drinking coffee prior to working out reduces post exercise muscle soreness by up to one half! Plus it improves physical stamina and reaction time. Overall, coffee boosts athletic endurance and physical performance.

5. Coffee improves short-term memory recall, as well as alertness and attention to the task at hand. Because a cup of coffee is absorbed in the bloodstream within 15min - 2hr, caffeine helps process information and boost logical reasoning. Safe driving is a direct beneficiary of coffee consumption.

When people slam coffee, it's usually because coffee is known to temporarily raise blood pressure. However while the previous generation of coffee drinkers were satisfied with a single serving of coffee, today's coffee consumer is addicted to a daily habit of drive-thru kiosks and super-sized 20oz+ cups of coffee, not to mention those delicious sweet treats. I might suggest that coffee isn't so much the problem as is the habitual effect of mega cups of java several times daily.