|
Coffee used to have a bad reputation for being unhealthy, but in recent years countless studies have found that coffee, in moderation – as with everything else, is actually beneficial to your health. In this section you can read about the health effects of coffee and caffeine. We will continue to update this section as new studies and findings about coffee are released. Click on the links below to start learning more about coffee and your health.
Coffee and Memory
Green Coffee Diet?
Antioxidant
Alzheimer’s Disease
Parkinson's Disease
Diabetes
Coffee and cramming have always been a necessary combination for college students gearing up for finals. Now, a new study reveals that such coffee drinking habits may be useful for more than staying up to cram – it may actually help students remember what they read!
According to the study, which was presented at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), caffeine helps stimulate the parts of the brain tied to short-term memory and concentration. The study was conducted at the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria, and was headed by Dr. Florian Koppelstaetter, a radiology expert.
Participants were divided into two groups, a test group and a control group. The test group was then given coffee containing 100 mg of caffeine (roughly the amount in a large cup of coffee, depending on how it’s brewed), while the control group was given a placebo. After twenty minutes, all participants were given MRI brain scans while being tested on recollection and concentration. The tests only dealt with short-term memory, and consisted of showing the participants a series of letters and then asking them to recollect the letters a short while later. The results showed that the prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain that controls short term memory, attention, concentration, etc.) was more active in those participants that had ingested the caffeinated beverage, and their recall was more accurate. No studies were performed on how long the memory enhancing effects of caffeine actually last.
So, coffee may indeed be a helpful part in cramming for exams, but even if it does help memory and concentration, chances are we’ll all keep drinking coffee for a completely different reason -flavor.
Green tea has long been considered the drink of choice for increased metabolism and weight loss, but there may be something a bit more potent out there. According to a recent study, green coffee beans contain a combination of chlorogenic acid and caffeine that increases metabolism as well as the body’s ability to burn fat. When ingested separately these substances have a minimal effect on weight loss, but when combined, show significant results. The study was completed at the Orya Oil & Fat Chemical Company, Ltd in Aichi, Japan and consisted of giving a group of lab mice food containing green coffee extract, which naturally contains the compound chlorogenic acid and caffeine. A control group of mice was given food with either caffeine or chlorogenic acid. The researchers found that the group of mice that was fed the green coffee extract had a 35% reduction in body weight over a 13-day period. The mice that were given food with either caffeine or chlorogenic acid showed little change in body weight.
So should we start using coffee as a miracle weight loss drink? Well, it’s not quite that simple. Though chlorogenic acid is stable in green coffee, it is unstable at high temperatures and decomposes during roasting. Therefore, there isn’t enough chlorogenic acid left in a brewed cup of coffee to make a significant difference on weight loss. However, there are several supplements made from green coffee extract promising weight loss. Keep in mind that such supplements contain much more than just green coffee extract and should therefore never be consumed without first consulting a physician. There are also special weight loss coffees on the market that claim to have added amounts of green coffee extract, but one must wonder about the taste of these diet coffees.
After all, it seems that weight loss is best achieved through the traditional methods of diet and exercise. And although at the expense of chlorogenic acid, coffee is always best enjoyed when it is carefully selected, roasted to perfection and freshly brewed.
www.biomedcentral.com
Did you know that coffee has more antioxidants than tea? The roasting of coffee beans dramatically increases their overall antioxidant activity.
www.coffeescience.org/antioxidant
A recent study at a Dementia Clinic in Lisbon, Portugal concluded that Caffeine intake was associated with a significantly lower risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
www.coffeescience.org/alzheimers
Recent studies from the Mayo Clinic, Harvard School of Public Health, U.S. Veterans Administration and other medical centers prove that drinking from 2 to 4 cups of coffee a day may lower the risk of colon cancer (25%), gallstones (45%), cirrhosis of the liver (80%), and Parkinson’s disease (50-80%), among other diseases. It can even reduce the incidence of asthma (25%) due to the presence of the chemical theophylline in coffee.
www.coffeescience.org/parkinsons
A recent US study shows that people who drink several cups of coffee a day can greatly lower their risk of developing diabetes later in life, even if they are overweight.
www.coffeescience.org/diabetes
|
|
