Coffee vs. Healthy Lifestyle

Close to 20,000 studies in the past 30 years have tried to determine caffeine's effect on the body.  After writing my blog on antioxidants and their good effect it has on your body...would you believe most people get their daily antioxidants from coffee!! Yes, you read that right...In study of 100 food items, including vegetables, fruits, nuts, spices, oils and common beverages.  They concluded that the average adult consumes 1,299 milligrams of antioxidants daily from coffee. The closest competitor was tea at 294 milligrams. Rounding out the top five sources were bananas, 76 milligrams; dry beans, 72 milligrams; and corn, 48 milligrams. According to the Agriculture Department, the typical adult American drinks 1.64 cups of coffee daily.

Now that certainly doesn't mean you can replace fruits and vegetables with coffee...it simply means there are benefits to coffee.  Other benefits to that little cup of joe has is....... regular coffee drinkers reduced their risk of Parkinson's disease by 80 percent.  Two cups of coffee per day reduced cirrhosis by 80 percent, too. It reduced colon cancer by 20 percent, and seemed to protect elderly brains against Alzheimer's disease.

Coffee helps your headache and not just the withdrawal headaches caused by skipping your daily dose of caffeine! Studies show that 200 milligrams of caffeine—about the amount in 16 ounces of brewed coffee—provides relief from headaches, including migraines. Exactly how caffeine relieves headaches isn’t clear. But scientists do know that caffeine boosts the activity of brain cells, causing surrounding blood vessels to constrict.

It's not all good when it comes to coffee....Coffee acts on the brain in similar ways as methamphetamines by increasing dopamine levels, making you feel good while it increases adrenaline, which keeps your body in an alert state. Staying in this state for long periods of time can make you jumpy and irritable. Both regular and decaffeinated coffee contain acids that can make heartburn worse.

Just like anything with your healthy Journey ....Moderation!!