Coffee - good or bad?

[stubbs]

I've heard that coffee or other forms of caffeine can be good for you because they reduce the risk of stroke by thinning the blood.

But then I've also heard it's bad because it has a lot of toxins in and can also affect short term 'tip of the tongue' memory.

I know there's good and bad things in everything but are those things true? I like my coffee in the morning and probably wont stop drinking it either way but I was just curious.

**sips coffee and carries on pretending to do work while waiting for a reply**

[Repulsive Monkey]

Basically its bad when consumption becomes excessive. Coffee in general can have a disorganising effect on the Liver and an artificial speeding up effect on the heart too. It's stimulant attributes are not healthy one's and are usually considered to be quite uneccessary.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

what if you put your peepee in the coffee can and tried to suck it up through your urethra?

[stubbs]

what if you put your peepee in the coffee can and tried to suck it up through your urethra?

Doesn't work - you just end up getting funny looks from your work mates

[Becca]

Coffee is not bad in maderation. But remember, caffine is not the only stimulant in coffee. Drinking decafe will not help you get rid of the jitters. Caffine in general is actually good for your system in moderation. The more active a person is, the less harmfull a high does is, but don't ignore the warning signs of an overdose. Tea generally has 1/2 to 1/3 the caffine of coffee and none of the "bad" stimulants, so this is a good replacement if you are a heavy coffee drinker. I gotta have a cup or two durring the day, but rather than drink a whole pot, I will switch to tea.

[red5angel]

I have to second becca, moderation is the key. Hell I think you can do just about anything in moderation, the problem is, especially here in america, we tend to overindulge in everything.

[Reggie1]

There was a big National Geographic article on caffeine consumption.

I got an excerpt off of their website, but I couldn't get the full article.

Here it is (http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0501/feature1/)

I agree w/ Red + Becca--not bad in moderation.

[Ford Prefect]

Just remember that cafeeine is a diuretic. Any blood thinning properties are negated by the fact that is constricts veins and capillaries and also increases heart rate. Also, it will premote dehydration. I agree that if you feel the need to drink it, then do so in moderation.

Becca, if it's caffeinated tea, then switching is a pointless exercise.

[Reggie1]

Becca, if it's caffeinated tea, then switching is a pointless exercise.

I don't know if it's entirely pointless. The amounts of caffeine differ pretty significantly between a 12 oz. cup of brewed coffee and a 12 oz. cup of tea.

[Ford Prefect]

True enough. I'm going by the train of thought that after cafeeine goes to work, then you won't need as much to sustain it as you did to initially start its effects. While that work includes increased alertness and increased energy levels and metabolism, it also includes increase blood pressure, prolonged capillary/vein constriction, and enduced dehydration.

I understand that some people on some jobs require caffeine. Jobs needing increased alertness, jobs late at night, or early morning jobs etc. I try to stay away from the stuff, but when I worked construction during a summer in high school, I needed it. Hard manual labor kicking off for 8 hours at 7am was not fun. If you have a regular schedule and "need it" just to get by, then you either have a dependency or a major flaw somewhere else in your nutrition and/or sleep cycle.

[red5angel]

I used to come to work in the morning and have a glass of tea or a coke in the morning to wake up. Eventually I started getting an increased heart rate and it perturbated my heart palpatations to the point of being painful so I had to stop drinking anything with caffeine in it. Once I flushed it all out of my system, I didn't notice a real change between my level of activity or my state of alertness. Caffeine made me jumpy but didn't necessarily wake my mind up, it just made my body nervous.

[stubbs]

I don't really need the coffee to keep me going, I just feel it gets the day going for me and I like the taste. I only have one or two cups a day of coffee and one cup of normal (English) tea and a couple of cups of green tea.

Just ran a quick search on the BBC news site and it's got a few articles, both good and bad:

http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?scope=newsukfs&tab=news&q=caffeine

[Reggie1]

If you have a regular schedule and "need it" just to get by, then you either have a dependency or a major flaw somewhere else in your nutrition and/or sleep cycle.

True. I'm dependent. Not bad, just 1 cup in the morning and 1 tea in the afternoon, but it's my vice. I don't like to go without.

Plus it helped me kick smoking.

[Reggie1]

I don't really need the coffee to keep me going, I just feel it gets the day going for me and I like the taste.

Denial is the first sign of addiction. Stop lying to yourself.

:D :D :D ;)

Just kidding.

[PangQuan]

There has been a study done in Japan recently.

Those who drink coffee on a regular basis are 80% (i think it was 80 but i cant really remember, it was a high percentile though) less likely to suffer from liver complications later in life. This is not due to the caffine unfortunately, it is some part of the bean itself. Now the majority of Japanese people have taken to drinking decafinated coffee.

[Becca]

Just remember that cafeeine is a diuretic. Any blood thinning properties are negated by the fact that is constricts veins and capillaries and also increases heart rate. Also, it will premote dehydration. I agree that if you feel the need to drink it, then do so in moderation.

Becca, if it's caffeinated tea, then switching is a pointless exercise.
Switching isn't pointless. here was a big study last year (I think?) on how decaf is only a bit better than full caf coffee due to a diferent stimulant that is also found in the bean, but isn't removed in the decafination prossess. Don't have time to do a search right now, but I will post a link when I get the time. The thing is, this stimulant is not found in tea, so decfinated tea is better for those who have high blood presure.

edit: I agree with you about how much cafine a person needs, though. I love coffee. But too much made me jittery, even the decaf, so I would only have a few cups a day, as a trreat if you will, and switched to drinking decaf green tea the rest of the time. The jitters stoped. Then that study came out, and I realized it wasn't the caffine, it was the coffee itself, and that I'd accidentally stumbled on the right answer. :)

[Andy62]

http://aolsvc.health.webmd.aol.com/content/article/80/96454.htm

[Andy62]

Coffee: The New Health Food?

Plenty of health benefits are brewing in America's beloved beverage.

By Sid Kirchheimer
WebMD Feature Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD
on Monday, January 26, 2004


Want a drug that could lower your risk of diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and colon cancer? That could lift your mood and treat headaches? That could lower your risk of cavities?


If it sounds too good to be true, think again.


Coffee, the much maligned but undoubtedly beloved beverage, just made headlines for possibly cutting the risk of the latest disease epidemic, type 2 diabetes. And the real news seems to be that the more you drink, the better.


Reducing Disease Risk


After analyzing data on 126,000 people for as long as 18 years, Harvard researchers calculate that compared with not partaking in America's favorite morning drink, downing one to three cups of caffeinated coffee daily can reduce diabetes risk by single digits. But having six cups or more each day slashed men's risk by 54% and women's by 30% over java avoiders.


Though the scientists give the customary "more research is needed" before they recommend you do overtime at Starbuck's to specifically prevent diabetes, their findings, reported just two weeks ago, are very similar to those in a less-publicized Dutch study last year. And perhaps more importantly, it's the latest of hundreds of studies suggesting that coffee may be something of a health food -- especially in higher amounts.


In recent decades, some 19,000 studies have been done examining coffee's impact on health. And for the most part, their results are as pleasing as a gulp of freshly brewed Breakfast Blend for the 108 million Americans who routinely enjoy this traditionally morning -- and increasingly daylong -- ritual. In practical terms, regular coffee drinkers include the majority of U.S. adults and a growing number of children.


"Overall, the research shows that coffee is far more healthful than it is harmful," says Tomas DePaulis, PhD, research scientist at Vanderbilt University's Institute for Coffee Studies, which conducts its own medical research and tracks coffee studies from around the world. "For most people, very little bad comes from drinking it, but a lot of good."


Consider this: At least six studies indicate that people who drink coffee on a regular basis are up to 80% less likely to develop Parkinson's, with three showing the more they drink, the lower the risk. Other research shows that compared to not drinking coffee, at least two cups daily can translate to a 25% reduced risk of colon cancer, an 80% drop in liver cirrhosis risk, and nearly half the risk of gallstones.


Coffee even offsets some of the damage caused by other vices, some research indicates. "People who smoke and are heavy drinkers have less heart disease and liver damage when they regularly consume large amounts of coffee compared to those who don't," says DePaulis.


There's also some evidence that coffee may help manage asthma and even control attacks when medication is unavailable, stop a headache, boost mood, and even prevent cavities.


The Benefits of Caffeine


Is it the caffeine? The oodles of antioxidants in coffee beans, some of which become especially potent during the roasting process? Even other mysterious properties that warrant this intensive study?


Actually, yes.


Some of coffee's reported benefits are a direct result of its higher caffeine content: An eight ounce cup of drip-brewed coffee contains about 85 mg -- about three and a half times more than the same serving of tea or cola or one ounce of chocolate.

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