Seven Surprising Health Facts About Coffee
1. It may help ward off depression.
Anyone who perks up after the first sip of morning coffee will tell you that it
has mood-boosting effects. Now there's proof: A study from the Harvard
School of Public Health, published last month in the Archives
of Internal Medicine, found that women who regularly drink fully caffeinated
coffee have a 20% lower risk of depression than non-coffee drinkers. The study,
which followed a group of women for 10 years, found that as more coffee was
consumed (up to six cups per day), the likelihood of depression decreased.
2. It may help promote a healthy weight.
Drinking an espresso or cappuccino after a meal is more than a relaxing habit.
When you drink coffee after a meal, it causes your body to more slowly process
the meal you just ate. According to David Levitsky, PhD, professor of
nutritional science at Cornell University, "Caffeine decreases the rate at
which the stomach dumps its contents into the duodenum-a part of the small
intestine where digestion takes place-and also increases metabolic rate.
3. It may boost fertility in men.
Studies have shown that caffeine has a positive effect on sperm motility-the
ability of sperm to move toward an egg-and could increase your chances of
[getting pregnant. In fact, a study conducted at the University of Sao Paulo
found that sperm motility was markedly higher in coffee drinkers versus non
coffee-drinkers. And it turns out that it doesn't matter whether you drink one
or ten cups a day: The only detectable difference was found between coffee
drinkers and non-coffee drinkers.
4. It can harbor bacteria.
A study performed by NSF
International, a not-for-profit health and safety organization, found that
the coffee reservoirs they studied were loaded with yeast and mold organisms.
The residual water in that area, plus the fact that it's a humid part of the
machine, contributed to bacterial growth. To properly clean your coffee machine,
follow the manufacturer's cleaning protocol. If nothing is specified, clean it
once a month by adding three or four cups of undiluted vinegar to the reservoir,
allowing it to sit for 30 minutes and then running the vinegar through the unit.
Finish by adding fresh water to the reservoir and running the machine through
two or three cycles to wash away vinegar residue.
5. It may reduce the risk of skin cancer.
That said, a new study out of Brigham and Women's Hospital found that
women who drank more than three cups of coffee a day had a 20% lower risk for
basal cell carcinoma, and men had a 9% reduced risk. However, the research did
not indicate that coffee consumption reduced the risk of squamous cell carcinoma
or melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, making it all the more important
to protect your skin when outdoors.
6. It's not truly addictive.
While many people claim that they can't make it through the day without a few
cups of java, Liz Applegate, PhD, faculty member and director of sports
nutrition at the University of California at Davis, explains that caffeine is
not addictive. "Caffeine is a mild stimulant, and the World Health
Organization states that it is wrong to compare caffeine intake to drug
addiction, since people can reduce or eliminate caffeine from their diet without
the serious psychological or physical problems that result from a true
addiction."
7. It doesn't necessarily cause stomach pain.
According to Lauren Gerson, MD, MSc, associate professor of medicine and
gastroenterology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, "There is
no evidence from reviewed studies that coffee causes ulcers or more pain in
patients with documented ulcers." She also notes that there is no evidence
that coffee could be the cause of stomach pain in patients with indigestion.
However, there is one type of digestive issue that coffee can aggravate; Dr.
Gerson explains that drinking coffee may worsen heartburn symptoms, since it
stimulates the stomach to produce gastric acid.
| 
FOODOFVIETNAM.COM