And while this miracle brew has been besmirched with old wives' tales that it'll stunt your growth (false, by the way), coffee, in truth, is brimming over with health benefits.
Why the discrepancy? Dave Asprey, author of The Bulletproof Diet and Bulletproof: The Cookbook,
explains that for coffee to be good for you, it has to be good coffee.
"The studies on coffee and health go back and forth," he explains. "Some
studies show health benefits, while others show negative impacts. This
might seem confusing, but the reason is simple: Bad coffee is bad for
you, and scientists don't differentiate between types of coffee when
they run these studies."
Asprey points out that coffee
can be a major source of mold toxins, which come with their own set of
negative health consequences. But some coffees are moldier than others.
In general, beans are cleaner than instant coffee. So pick a good clean
bean and enjoy these nine benefits from a healthy cup of joe.
Increased Longevity
It
doesn't get much simpler than this: Coffee reduces your chance of
dying. According to research published in The American Journal of
Epidemiology, four cups of coffee per day reduced the risk of death,
from any cause, by 16 percent, and three cups per day reduced risk of
death from cardiovascular disease by 21 percent.
Protection Against Cancer
Research
conducted at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that
drinking four or more cups of coffee per day reduced a man's risk of
prostate cancer recurrence by 59 percent. One explanation for this
finding is that coffee is loaded with antioxidants. "The richest source
of polyphenols in Western diets by far is coffee," says Asprey. And
previous research has shown that polyphenols can reduce the risk of the
onset of prostate cancer.
It's not just cancer of the
prostate, either. A meta-analysis performed by Chinese researchers found
that higher coffee consumption could reduce the risk of liver cancer by
50 percent, and another study by Canadian researchers found that high
coffee intake was associated with reduced risk of breast cancer.
Greater Weight Loss
Coffee
may be your new favorite diet food. First, Asprey points out, the
polyphenols in coffee are a prebiotic for the good bacteria in your gut,
a species called Bacteroidetes. This species of gut bacteria has been
associated with thinness. "You can't increase the population of that
species with probiotic capsules," he explains. "You have to feed it." Plus, the caffeine makes it thermogenic, meaning it helps you increase your resting metabolic rate and energy expenditure, leading to more calories burned.
Less Inflammation (And Maybe Alzheimer's Prevention)
Coffee
may help keep brain inflammation low, according to research from the
University of Illinois. "We have discovered a novel signal that
activates the brain-based inflammation associated with neurodegenerative
diseases, and caffeine appears to block its activity," said Gregory
Freund, MD, professor and head of the pathology department at University
of Illinois. Reducing your brain inflammation is proving to be a critical way to prevent age-related cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases, which may explain why, in previous studies, coffee seemed to protect against Alzheimer's disease.
Headache Prevention
While
it's true that caffeine withdrawal may contribute to headaches if you
overdo it on the java, drinking coffee regularly (though moderately) can
reduce your risk of chronic headaches, found researchers in Norway.
They found that those who drank 241 to 400 milligrams of caffeine
(equivalent to two or three cups of coffee) regularly had the least
number of headaches. Those who drank the least coffee (less than 240 milligrams of caffeine) had the highest instances of chronic headaches (more than 14 days per month with a headache).
Mood Booster
"The
caffeine in coffee binds to receptors for neurotransmitters associated
with your mood," Asprey says. This may explain why coffee doesn't just
give you a burst of energy, it may also brighten your day. According to a
study from The Archives of Internal Medicine, women who drank at least
four cups of coffee daily were 20 percent less like to become depressed.
Lower Diabetes Risk
Harvard
researchers found that drinking an extra cup a day for four years
decreased the risk of diabetes for coffee drinkers in their study by 11
percent compared to those who didn't change their coffee drinking
habits. Surprisingly, the inverse was also true: Decreasing coffee
consumption increased people's risk by 17 percent. They do point out, however, that the coffee was served black or with just a little milk and sugar. Sipping a sugar-jacked cup of java is not a good way to stave off diabetes. "Caffeine also increases insulin sensitivity in healthy humans, which is extremely important to sustained weight loss," Asprey adds.
Liver Cleanup
Coffee
isn't usually thought of as a detox drink, but research has found that
not only does coffee lower abnormal liver enzyme levels, but it can also
reduce your risk for cirrhosis, a liver disease. Drinking two or more
cups of coffee per day reduces your risk of death by cirrhosis by 66
percent, according to research published in Hepatology. Interestingly,
tea, fruit juice, and soda consumption don't affect cirrhosis
mortality only coffee does.
Heart Protection
Every
body part wants to get in on the benefits of coffee, and the heart is
no exception. A meta-analysis published by the American Heart
Association's journal, Circulation, found that those who drank three to
five cups per day had the lowest risk for cardiovascular disease.
In
fact, a separate analysis published in The Central European Journal of
Medicine found that light coffee consumption reduced the risk of stroke
in men by 10 percent; moderate consumption, by 14 percent; and heavy
consumption, by 17 percent.
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