If you’re a
night owl, a taxi driver doing the wee hour shift or enjoy driving up to Malaysia
Still, a 37% probability of crashing is rather high, and it’s best to take a break from driving if one is feeling sleepy. Nevertheless, if you’re to be out and about at night or in the wee hours of the morning, drinking coffee would be a good idea because it keeps you more alert and aware of your surroundings.
In addition to this, coffee does have other attributes that
are beneficial to health.
Research has found that coffee helps to decrease the risk of getting Type 2 diabetes, though if you’re diabetic, you’d want to avoid drinking it due to its effect on blood sugar as mentioned above.
The coffee bean is a type of plant, and like all plants, it contains phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are antioxidants that combine with free radicals, preventing free radicals from harming our cells.
Studies have also shown that coffee prevents certain types of cancers like liver cancer, endometrial cancer and colon cancer, and also reduces the incidences of Parkinson’s disease and gall stones.
In fact, the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that increased coffee consumption is linked to a longer lifespan, as habitual coffee drinkers are being spared from heart or respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes, injuries, accidents and infections. The percentage in decrease of risks from these causes is 10 to 16 percent, compared to someone who doesn’t drink coffee.
Nevertheless, other studies oppose the finding of coffee being beneficial for the heart, claiming that those with a gene variant that metabolises coffee slower could experience higher blood pressure and increased heart attack risk from drinking coffee. This, with other common criticisms about coffee, cause this beverage to come into frequent association with negativism. “Don’t
drink too much coffee,” my mum used to say. “Your teeth will become yellow.”
And then when I was older, the reason became “you’ll shrink when you’re my
age”.
Indeed, coffee could stimulate Osteoporosis, or loss in bone
density, because caffeine causes more calcium to be loss through excretion. Too much coffee causes wrinkling of skin due to dehydration
and the solution for it would be to drink a glass of water after you drink a
cup of coffee.
Coffee also causes blood sugar fluctuations that a caffeine
high produces, which could lead to hunger cravings, and should be avoided by
diabetics or people who are trying to maintain or lose weight.
As for staining of teeth, coffee isn’t the only culprit; tea
and colas are known to be cause teeth staining as well, so it is important to
brush your teeth or rinse your mouth shortly after drinking.
Even as debates about whether or not to drink coffee
continues, it is perfectly healthy to drink a few cups of coffee a day, paired
off with water and other beverages, but do not drink it in excess. After all,
even vitamin supplements can be detrimental in excess, much less a beverage.
People also develop different reactions to certain foods.
Don’t hesitate to listen to your body and heart; some people claim that coffee
makes them addicted and they get headaches when they reduce consumption, others
complain of increasing pulses or inability to sleep. If you find that coffee is
not for you, you may by all means choose another healthy beverage.
Do also bear in mind that the coffee discussed here is pure
coffee, not coffee packaged in terribly unhealthy concoctions like caramel
latte or mocha. Being high in calories and sugar, these could do you more harm
than good!
Sources:
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