Magic coffee: health benefits beyond imagination

2015-06-03

By Aaron E. Carroll

When I was a child, my parents never let me drink coffee. They said that children who drink coffee will not grow taller. But even with the rapid development of technology today, people still cannot prove that coffee or caffeine will reduce human bone density or affect children's physical development, so these claims are self-defeating. At that time, almost everyone believed that coffee was harmful to the body. But now, after the unremitting efforts of scientists, coffee has finally been vindicated. People have found that the benefits of drinking coffee are far more than just refreshing.

In order to find out the health benefits of coffee, I did a lot of reading and research. As a scholar who has been engaged in medical research for a long time, I instinctively thought that people's evaluation of coffee should be mixed. But after reading a lot of research reports, I found that this is not the case. Almost everyone has a positive attitude towards coffee.

Among the many reports, a comprehensive paper published last year on the relationship between long-term coffee drinking and the risk of cardiovascular disease attracted my attention. The paper summarized the results of 36 independent research reports, with a total of 1.27 million people participating in the research. The researchers found that people who drink 3-5 cups of coffee a day have a much lower risk of cardiovascular disease than ordinary people. In addition, people who drink more than 5 cups of coffee a day do not have a higher risk of such diseases than normal levels.

I want to clarify here that the coffee I'm talking about in this article refers to pure black coffee, not the high-calorie drinks with milk and sugar that you drink every day in the coffee shop. Of course, these coffees also have certain effects, but their calories are generally high. Data shows that a cup of McDonald's large cup of mocha contains 500 kilojoules of calories, 17 grams of fat and 72 grams of carbohydrates; a cup of Starbucks large cup of white chocolate mocha contains 580 kilojoules of calories, 22 grams of fat and 79 grams of carbohydrates; a cup of Dunkin' Donuts frozen cream caramel coffee contains 670 kilojoules of calories, 8 grams of fat and 144 grams of carbohydrates. Don't be surprised, the real calorie bomb is still to come. A cup of Cold Stone Cream Caramel Latte has a calorie of up to 1790 kilojoules! Not to mention the 90 grams of fat and 233 grams of carbohydrates. The calories of real black coffee without any milk or sugar are only about 5 calories, and the carbohydrate content is almost zero.

Okay, back to our research. A few years ago, another comprehensive study comprehensively summarized the medical community's research results on coffee and stroke. The study included 11 independent research reports with 480,000 participants. The results showed that people who drink 2-6 cups of coffee a day have a much lower risk of stroke than ordinary people who do not drink coffee. One year after the study was published, another research report confirmed the conclusion again.

In addition, another research report on coffee and heart failure showed that long-term coffee drinking can effectively reduce the risk of heart failure, and drinking 4 cups of coffee a day has the best effect. The study said that unless the amount of coffee consumed per day is more than 10 cups, coffee will not cause any negative effects on the human body.

Through the above research, we can see that the more coffee you drink, the better. Only by drinking a certain amount of coffee for a long time can you reduce the risk of cardiovascular and other related diseases. This also completely breaks the rumor that "drinking coffee is bad for the heart." At the same time, even excessive coffee intake will not cause obvious harm to the human body.

Is coffee only related to cardiovascular disease? Of course not. In the past, quite a few scientists believed that drinking coffee would cause cancer. Some early studies even proved the relationship between coffee and certain types of cancer, and the results were reported by major media. But as time goes by and research continues to deepen, the once popular "coffee causes cancer" theory has been completely overturned.

In 2007, a comprehensive research report showed that drinking 2 cups of coffee a day can effectively reduce the risk of liver cancer by up to 40%. Other studies have shown that drinking coffee does not increase the risk of prostate cancer. Similarly, drinking coffee does not increase the risk of breast cancer.

Studies have shown that the more coffee you drink, the higher your risk of lung cancer, but this result only applies to smokers. The latest research shows that drinking coffee can even prevent and fight cancer. Recently, researchers who have proven that drinking coffee increases the risk of lung cancer have made additional explanations, saying that the results are not universal due to the limited scope of the research subjects. In addition, the researchers also said that smoking is the culprit of cancer, and coffee may (I think it is unlikely) play a catalytic role.

In recent years, there have been numerous studies on the anti-cancer effects of coffee, and people are increasingly beginning to believe that regular coffee drinking can prevent various types of cancer.

Among them, scientists have proven that coffee can effectively prevent liver disease. For patients who already have liver disease, drinking coffee can effectively slow down the rate of cirrhosis; for patients who already have cirrhosis, drinking coffee can greatly reduce mortality and the possibility of the disease deteriorating into cancer. In addition, studies have shown that coffee can effectively fight hepatitis C virus and prevent non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Therefore, many scholars recommend that patients with liver disease insist on drinking coffee every day to relieve pain and improve physical health.

In addition, the latest research in the field of psychiatry shows that drinking coffee can effectively prevent Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's syndrome (senile dementia) and improve the brain's memory and recognition ability.

A research report published in 2005 showed that long-term coffee drinking can effectively prevent type 2 diabetes, with 6-7 cups a day being the best. Another research report in 2014 stated that through 28 independent research results and 1.1 million people, we can confirm that the more coffee you drink, the lower your risk of diabetes. The report also stated that decaffeinated (low-decaffeinated) coffee has the same effect.

At this point, some people may ask: Can drinking coffee really cure all diseases? To this, I can only say: It is very likely. Two comprehensive academic papers published last year showed that through nearly 40 independent research results and follow-up surveys of millions of people, people found that the mortality rate of people who drink coffee for a long time is much lower than that of ordinary people. I really can't find any other food that can have such magical effects as coffee.

After reading this, I believe many people will have the same question: the research results mentioned in the article have not been tested on random samples. But you have to know that our research object is coffee, not some epidemic disease. Most people do not drink coffee because it is good for health. If we really use the most authoritative data and analysis to prove to the world that coffee is good for health through a certain study, and let the media publicize it, it will undoubtedly be an insult and trampling on coffee. Coffee is not a medicine. We don't need to prove its nutritional value, we will fall in love with it without hesitation.

But as people's attitudes towards life change and they pay more attention to healthy eating, ordinary consumers need authority or government agencies to assure them that the food or drinks they eat every day are indeed harmless to the body. This is why the American Nutrition and Dietetic Association recently issued a statement to announce to the public that they do not need to worry or worry about drinking coffee. The statement clearly stated that drinking coffee is indeed good for health. This is the first time in history that a government agency has officially explained the health benefits of coffee.

But sometimes people always like to go to extremes. As long as the government says it's good, no one will object to drinking coffee. I believe that in the near future many people will drink coffee like water. But what I want to say is, please don't be superstitious about coffee. Especially for children, caffeine does have a certain impact on children's bodies. Caffeine can also make some people who never drink coffee feel trembling and flustered. In addition, pregnant women should not drink more than 2 cups of coffee a day. We must pay attention to the amount of coffee we drink. Everything is too much. Finally, I would like to remind everyone to drink less high-calorie coffee drinks. Excessive intake of fat and sugar is not good for your health.

In general, coffee is a powerful helper for a healthy diet. The health benefits of coffee far exceed those of all other common foods or beverages. Even if it is not for health, for a better life, let us raise a glass together and fall in love with coffee!

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