Drinking Coffee: What's the Scoop?

I've been drinking coffee since I was sixteen and started working at 5:30 in the morning. I graduated quite quickly to drinking it black, and drink it that way to this day. I like coffee. I'm not such a snob as to demand Jamaican Blue Mountain or Kona coffee; nor do I think a $5 cup of Starbucks tastes better than my Bunn-brewed at home; but I couldn't start a day without a cup.

So I was chagrined when health reports started coming out that coffee was bad for you. Coffee was being linked to an increased risk of miscarriage in a pregnant woman. Coffee was reported to give you ulcers. It was even said that coffee could increase your risk of heart disease.

I dutifully cut back on my coffee consumption while I was pregnant. I kept drinking some coffee with the assumption that my baby would then get used to it, and enjoy it in my breast milk. I know women who refuse to drink caffeine while breastfeeding; all I can say is, my children would not reap the benefits of extended breastfeeding if that was the case for me.

I was elated to read recently of some good news about coffee. First of all, drinking coffee has been linked to a decrease in Type 2 diabetes. Drinking 1-3 cups of coffee reduced the risk of Type 2 diabetes; and drinking 6 cups a day is said to slash the risk by about 30% for women and 50% for men.

Drinking coffee may be associated with lower risks of Parkinson's disease as well. Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that may affect speech, posture, and movement. At least 6 studies indicate that drinking coffee reduces the risk of Parkinson's disease by about 80%. The studies even indicate that the more coffee a person drinks, the lower the risk becomes. That's worth brewing for, definitely.

Other studies show that drinking 2 or 3 cups of coffee per day may reduce the risk of colon cancer, liver cirrhosis, and gallstones. So, with all these benefits, is it the caffeine, or is it the coffee? Could we get the same benefits from a can of Pepsi, let's say, or a caffeine pill? How about tea? I live in the South, where iced tea is always on the menu.

The studies being done show that the benefits derive both from caffeine and from properties in the coffee itself. The caffeine in coffee is credited with protection from both age-related cognitive impairment and Parkinson's disease. The same decrease in risk came no matter how the study members ingested their caffeine. But coffee has about three times the amount of caffeine than the same serving of tea or soda.

But other benefits derive from coffee, too, that have nothing to do with caffeine. Coffee is loaded with antioxidants. Antioxidants are important because they clean up free radicals in the body. Free radicals are atoms that cause stress in the tissues of the body, and are associated with increased risks of cancer and other diseases.

A particular compound in coffee also increases a person's insulin sensitivity, which helps their body regulate their blood sugar better. Even decaffeinated coffee has that benefit, although in a lesser degree than for those drinking the leaded kind of coffee. Another compound in coffee, the one that gives coffee its distinctive bitter taste and aroma, is credited with having some anti-adhesive and antibacterial properties that may help prevent dental cavities. Drinking soda or the Southern version of sweet tea definitely doesn't have those benefits.

So, coffee lovers, drink up. But drink it black. Apparently, the cream and sugar in coffee is a higher health risk than the coffee. At the very least, you will retain your memory; help prevent diabetes; reduce your risk of Parkinson's disease'; prevent cavities (even if it stains your teeth instead); and even reduce your risk of some cancers.