Coffee is a topic that has been controversial for many years with its advocates touting its many health benefits while the hecklers busy blaming it for many ills such as indigestion, cancer, high blood pressure, etc. However, according to the latest trend of scientific research, coffee isn’t as bad as it was thought to be. These findings come as a huge relief to a coffee avid.
Here are some surprising health benefits of coffee.
Coffee Helps You Remember More
Scientists have proved that the caffeine in coffee affects particular parts of a human brain that are responsible for concentration and memory. Research shows that individuals who drink coffee have the ability to remember and recall things faster.
Although caffeine lowers the risk of dementia, this may vary from one person to another. Also, the period it takes is not known.
To prove this finding, researchers from Johns Hopkins conducted a double-blind study on different individuals who didn’t drink caffeinated products regularly.
Individuals were placed into two groups and each member was administered with either a placebo or a dose of caffeine of equal measure as the amount contained in a cup of coffee. A test was conducted to each person to determine their ability to recognize images learned from their previous study session.
From the trial, some individuals viewed the images as the same as those from the last session. A few others said that the visuals were entirely new while others reported that they were similar though not the same.
The fascinating thing was that more participants from the caffeinated group were able to identify visuals as similar against the erroneous results that they were the same.
Coffee Improves Your Cognitive Ability
Drinking coffee has been associated with improving one’s cognitive ability. The caffeine in coffee prevents the buildup of a plague called beta-amyloid, which significantly contributes to the development and continuous progression of Alzheimer disease. Coffee Drinking also lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes, a common risk factor for dementia.
According to a 2009 study by the University of Florida, individuals who consume three to five cups of coffee daily while at their midlife (40s and 50s) reduced the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s by up to 70% in their 70s.
A similar study by the Finnish researchers supported these findings. However, in some studies, findings are that caffeine consumption improves cognitive ability in adults.
Coffee is Good for Your Heart
Many theories have existed in the past on the dangers of coffee to your heart. But after the recent studies conducted by various researchers, those theories have been put under the bridge.
Drinking coffee is no longer considered a risk factor for heart diseases. In fact, there is evidence that it protects against arterial damage that is caused by inflammation. Besides, scientists associate coffee drinking with a lower death rate for patients with myocardial infarction.
According to a 2012 Landmark Dutch meta-analysis, conducted for over 13 years, moderate coffee drinkers had a 20% lower rate of heart failure, and that the rate increased with the number of cups of a person took daily usually more than four cups.
Also, 2011 Swedish and a 2009 U.S studies proved that older women who drank at least a cup of coffee every day have a 20-25% lower risk of stroke. Similar results were documented during a 2008 Swedish study conducted on older men.
Coffee Lowers the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Drinking coffee reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. It helps the consumer’s bodies to use insulin and also protects the cells that produce it. This, in turn, ensures an efficient regulation of blood sugars.
Coffee also inhibits tissue damage and fights inflammation which could otherwise cause type 2 diabetes. The acid in caffeine helps to reduce the toxic pile-up of amyloid fibrils, abnormal protein deposits, usually found in people who have type 2 diabetes.
A group of scientists pointed out a correlation between drinking coffee with a lower rate of developing diabetes. According to a 2009 study, individuals who drank coffee were at a 7% lower risk of developing diabetes.
In other studies, findings were that drinking 3-4 cups of coffee a day helped lower the risk to 50% of developing diabetes than moderate or non-drinkers.
Coffee Helps Curb Oral Cancers
To date, countless studies have been conducted to assess the potential link between the risk of developing cancer and coffee drinking. Findings are that there is inadequate evidence to support this theory.
In fact, the antioxidant, polyphenols phytochemicals found in coffee have proven to have anti-carcinogenic properties for reducing inflammation which could cause tumors.
Research carried out by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 1991 suggests that coffee drinking reduces the risk of developing cancers; liver cancer, oral, brain, colon, rectum cancer, etc.
Another research records that adults who consumed 3-5 cups of coffee daily had a 50% fewer chance of dying from oral cancers. Harvard School of Public Health also conducted similar research which recorded a 25% lower risk of endometrial cancer in women.
