Read this over coffee

Go ahead: That cup of joe won't hurt you, the latest research says. It might even help you.
Coffee drinkers, rejoice! The heavenly brew, once deemed harmful to health, is turning out to be, if not quite a health food, at least a low-risk drink, and in many ways a beneficial one. It could protect against diabetes, liver cancer, cirrhosis and Parkinson's disease.
What happened? Lots of new research, and the recognition that older, negative studies often failed to tease apart the effects of coffee and those of smoking because so many coffee drinkers were also smokers.
"Coffee was seen as very unhealthy," said Rob van Dam, a coffee researcher and epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health. "Now we have a more balanced view. We're not telling people to drink it for health. But it is a good beverage choice."
As you digest the news on coffee, keep in mind that coffee and caffeine are not the same thing. In fact, "they are vastly different," said coffee researcher Terry Graham, chairman of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. One can be good for you; the other, less so.
"Coffee is a complex beverage with hundreds, if not thousands, of bioactive ingredients," he said. "A cup of coffee is 2% caffeine, 98% other stuff."
Before we rhapsodize further, a few caveats:
Caffeine -- whether in coffee, tea, soft drinks or pills -- can make you jittery and anxious and, in some people, can trigger insomnia. Data are mixed on whether pregnant women who consume caffeine are more likely to miscarry. In general, 200 milligrams a day -- the amount in one normal-sized cup of coffee -- is believed safe for pregnant women, said Van Dam.
For people with hard-to-control hypertension, a sudden, big dose of caffeine may boost blood pressure because caffeine constricts blood vessels. But decaf is fine in that respect. And even caffeinated coffee doesn't increase blood pressure much once you drink it for a week or so, said Van Dam. In fact, the caffeine in coffee seems to have less of an effect on blood pressure than the caffeine in colas because there are so many other substances in coffee that have the opposite effect physiologically from caffeine.
One final caveat: The new research heralding coffee's health benefits is not perfect. Most of the studies are observational; that is, they followed people over time and correlated health outcomes with coffee drinking -- based on people's recollections of how much coffee they consumed. The studies don't prove that coffee was the cause of improved health outcomes. Still, the sheer volume of the research, and the fact that the conclusions line up so neatly, make it reasonably credible, researchers say.
Diabetes: Twenty studies worldwide show that coffee, both regular and decaf, lowers the risk for Type 2 diabetes, in some studies by as much as 50%. Researchers say that is probably because chlorogenic acid, one of the many ingredients in coffee, slows uptake of glucose (sugar) from the intestines. (Excess sugar in the blood is a hallmark of diabetes.) Chlorogenic acid may also stimulate GLP-1, a chemical that boosts insulin, the hormone that escorts sugar from the blood into cells. Yet another ingredient, trigonelline, a precursor to vitamin B3, may help slow glucose absorption.
Heart disease and stroke: Recent studies suggest that frequent coffee consumption does not increase the risk of either condition. In fact, coffee might -- repeat, might -- slightly reduce the risk of stroke. A study published in March in the journal Circulation looked at data on more than 83,000 women older than 24. It showed that those who drank two to three cups of coffee a day had a 19% lower risk of stroke than those who drank almost none. A Finnish study found similar results for men.
For cardiovascular diseases other than stroke, there doesn't appear to be a preventive benefit from drinking coffee, but there is also no clearly documented harm; the studies looked at the effect of drinking up to six cups of regular coffee a day.
Cancer: Coffee research has come up empty here -- with one big exception: liver cancer. Research consistently shows a drop in liver cancer risk with coffee consumption, and there is some, albeit weaker, evidence that it may lower colon cancer risk as well.
Cirrhosis: Coffee seems to protect the liver against cirrhosis, especially that caused by alcoholism. It's not clear, either for cancer or cirrhosis, whether it's coffee or caffeine that may be protective.
Parkinson's disease: With this progressive, neurological illness, it's the caffeine, not coffee, that carries the benefit. No one knows for sure why caffeine protects. Several studies show that coffee drinkers, men especially, appear to have half the risk of Parkinson's compared with nondrinkers. Women also get a benefit, but only those who do not use post-menopausal hormones, said Dr. Alberto Ascherio, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. All it takes for a measurable reduction in Parkinson's risk, he said, is about 150 milligrams a day, the amount in an average cup of coffee.
Athletic performance: It's clear that caffeine, not coffee per se, delivers the big boost here, said Graham, the researcher from Ontario. In fact, caffeine was once deemed a controlled substance by the International Olympic Committee. Caffeine is a powerful "ergogenic agent," meaning it promotes the ability of muscles to work. Studies show that caffeine boosts performance in both very short and very long athletic events, said Graham. It used to be thought that caffeine worked by stimulating the release of sugar (glycogen) in muscles, but recent research suggests it helps muscles release calcium, allowing muscles to contract with more force. It takes only a medium cup of regular coffee for a 130-pound athlete to see a measurable improvement in performance, Graham added.
One last bit of coffee advice: Beware of unfiltered coffee -- the kind that is popular in Scandinavia and is made in French presses. Filtered coffee, which most Americans drink, is much better because the paper filters catch a substance called cafestol, which boosts "bad" cholesterol (LDL). Filtered coffee has no effect on either good or bad cholesterol.
If, despite all this good news, you still worry you're drinking too much coffee, then cut back or quit. But don't go cold turkey. Abrupt caffeine withdrawal can trigger headaches, noted Dr. Alan Leviton, a neurologist at Harvard Medical School who consults for the National Coffee Assn., an industry group. So, taper off instead.
On the other hand, if reading this makes you want an extra cup, go for it. And enjoy it -- guilt free.

Topless coffee shop burns down; official says it was arson

In the end, a coffee shop in Vassalboro, Maine, that gained national attention for its topless waiters and waitresses simply proved too hot -- the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop burned to the ground early Wednesday morning.
 A state fire official said it was arson.
The blaze consumed the risque, small-town business shortly after midnight, said Vassalboro Fire Chief Eric Rowe. He described the flames as "severe" and said the building was a "total loss."
"I really liked it here," waitress Krista Macentyre said after learning the cause of the fire. "We weren't hurting anyone. I don't know why someone would do something like this."
The shop's proprietor, Donald Crabtree, said he is determined to rebuild. "This is home" to a lot of people, he said.
For Crabtree the coffee shop literally was home. He and his two daughters, their two boyfriends, and his two infant grandchildren lived in quarters attached to the Grand View. The fire forced them to relocate to a motel.
Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, called it arson and said "evidence has been taken to the state police crime for lab analysis."
An ambulance crew returning to Belfast, Maine, noticed the fire around 1 a.m., waking Crabtree and six others, including two 4-month-old infants, according to McCausland.
Crabtree said he did not have insurance for the Grand View. If necessary, he said, he would be willing to reopen in a temporary mobile trailer on the site of the topless -- and now roofless -- coffee shop.
Crabtree said his 10 female and three male employees are "in shock."
While some Vassalboro residents expressed displeasure with the 18-and-over establishment, Crabtree said he had received no threats.
In a February interview with CNN shortly after Grand View opened, Crabtree said the coffee shop was doing brisk business in the small town of 4,500. "It's just been crowds mobbing in," he said at the time.
"This place was made to put smiles on people's faces," he said Wednesday.
Waitress Macentyre added, "This was a good innocent business."
"Every worker was just trying to take care of themselves and make a living -- just trying to live like everybody else," she said.

Coffee 'may reverse Alzheimer's'

Drinking five cups of coffee a day could reverse memory problems seen in Alzheimer's disease, US scientists say.
The Florida research, carried out on mice, also suggested caffeine hampered the production of the protein plaques which are the hallmark of the disease.
Previous research has also suggested a protective effect from caffeine.
But British experts said the Journal of Alzheimer's disease study did not mean that dementia patients should start using caffeine supplements.
 The results are particularly exciting in that a reversal of pre-existing memory impairment is more difficult to achieve
The 55 mice used in the University of South Florida study had been bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
First the researchers used behavioural tests to confirm the mice were exhibiting signs of memory impairment when they were aged 18 to 19 months, the equivalent to humans being about 70.
Then they gave half the mice caffeine in their drinking water. The rest were given plain water.
The mice were given the equivalent of five 8 oz (227 grams) cups of coffee a day - about 500 milligrams of caffeine.
The researchers say this is the same as is found in two cups of "specialty" coffees such as lattes or cappuccinos from coffee shops, 14 cups of tea, or 20 soft drinks.
When the mice were tested again after two months, those who were given the caffeine performed much better on tests measuring their memory and thinking skills and performed as well as mice of the same age without dementia.
Those drinking plain water continued to do poorly on the tests.
In addition, the brains of the mice given caffeine showed nearly a 50% reduction in levels of the beta amyloid protein, which forms destructive clumps in the brains of dementia patients.
Further tests suggested caffeine affects the production of both the enzymes needed to produce beta amyloid.
The researchers also suggest that caffeine suppresses inflammatory changes in the brain that lead to an overabundance of the protein.
Earlier research by the same team had shown younger mice, who had also been bred to develop Alzheimer's but who were given caffeine in their early adulthood, were protected against the onset of memory problems.
'Safe drug'
Dr Gary Arendash, who led the latest study, told the BBC: "The results are particularly exciting in that a reversal of pre-existing memory impairment is more difficult to achieve.
"They provide evidence that caffeine could be a viable 'treatment' for established Alzheimer's disease and not simply a protective strategy.
"That's important because caffeine is a safe drug for most people, it easily enters the brain, and it appears to directly affect the disease process."
The team now hope to begin human trials of caffeine to see if the mouse findings are replicated in people.
They do not know if a lower amount of caffeine would be as effective, but said most people could safely consume the 500 milligrams per day.
However they said people with high blood pressure, and pregnant women, should limit their daily caffeine intake.
Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "In this study on mice with symptoms of Alzheimer's, researchers found that caffeine boosted their memory. We need to do more research to find out whether this effect will be seen in people.
"It is too early to say whether drinking coffee or taking caffeine supplements will help people with Alzheimer's.
Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, said previous research into caffeine had suggested it could delay Alzheimer's disease and even protect against vascular dementia.
"This research in mice suggests that coffee may actually reverse some element of memory impairment.
"However much more research is needed to determine whether drinking coffee has the same impact in people.
"It is too soon to say whether a cup of coffee is anything more than a pleasant pick me up."

A coffee a day ensures the memory will stay

A few cups of coffee a day may be all that is needed to reverse the effects of Alzheimer's disease, new research suggests.
They plan to follow up the initial results from animal experiments with human patient trials. Leading researcher, the US neuroscientist Gary Arendash said: "The new findings provide evidence that caffeine could be a viable 'treatment' for established Alzheimer's disease, and not simply a protective strategy. That's important because caffeine is a safe drug for most people. It easily enters the brain, and it appears to directly affect the disease process."
A key aspect of Alzheimer's is sticky clumps of abnormal protein in the brain called beta amyloid plaques. Mice with a rodent equivalent of the disease showed a 50 per cent reduction in levels of amyloid protein in their brains after scientists spiked their drinking water with caffeine. The change was reflected in their behaviour as the mice developed better memories and quicker thinking.
Dr Arendash's team, from the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Centre in Tampa, studied 55 mice, genetically engineered to develop dementia symptoms identical to those of Alzheimer's. At the age of 18 to 19 months, about 70 in human years, the mice were showing signs of memory impairment. The researchers then gave half the mice water containing caffeine while the other half continued to drink ordinary water.
Humans receiving an equivalent dose for their body weight would be consuming two cups of strong "coffee shop" coffee, 14 cups of tea, or 20 cola drinks a day.
At the end of the two-month study, the caffeine-drinking mice performed far better on tests of memory and thinking than mice given "straight" water. Their memories were as sharp as those of healthy older mice without dementia. Almost half the abnormal protein previously seen when the brains of Alzheimer's mice were examined had vanished after two months. The study was published online in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
But the scientists found no evidence that caffeine boosted the mental performance of healthy young brains. Normal mice given caffeinated drinking water throughout their lives had memories no better than those raised on regular water when they reached old age.

First U.S. marijuana cafe opens in Portland

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - The United States' first marijuana cafe opened on Friday, posing an early test of the Obama administration's move to relax policing of medical use of the drug.
The Cannabis Cafe in Portland, Oregon, is the first to give certified medical marijuana users a place to get hold of the drug and smoke it -- as long as they are out of public view -- despite a federal ban.
"This club represents personal freedom, finally, for our members," said Madeline Martinez, Oregon's executive director of NORML, a group pushing for marijuana legalization.
"Our plans go beyond serving food and marijuana," said Martinez. "We hope to have classes, seminars, even a Cannabis Community College, based here to help people learn about growing and other uses for cannabis."
The cafe -- in a two-story building which formerly housed a speak-easy and adult erotic club Rumpspankers -- is technically a private club, but is open to any Oregon residents who are NORML members and hold an official medical marijuana card.
Members pay $25 per month to use the 100-person capacity cafe. They don't buy marijuana, but get it free over the counter from "budtenders". Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., it serves food but has no liquor license.
There are about 21,000 patients registered to use marijuana for medical purposes in Oregon. Doctors have prescribed marijuana for a host of illnesses, including Alzheimer's, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and Tourette's syndrome.
On opening day, reporters invited to the cafe could smell, but were not allowed to see, people smoking marijuana.
"I still run a coffee shop and events venue, just like I did before we converted it to the Cannabis Cafe, but now it will be cannabis-themed," said Eric Solomon, the owner of the cafe, who is looking forward to holding marijuana-themed weddings, film festivals and dances in the second-floor ballroom.
NO PROSECUTION
The creation of the cafe comes almost a month after the Obama administration told federal attorneys not to prosecute patients who use marijuana for medical reasons or dispensaries in states which have legalized them.
About a dozen states, including Oregon, followed California's 1996 move to adopt medical marijuana laws, allowing the drug to be cultivated and sold for medical use. A similar number have pending legislation or ballot measures planned.
Pot cafes, known as "coffee shops", are popular in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, where possession of small amounts of marijuana is legal. Portland's Cannabis Cafe is the first of its kind to open in the United States, according to NORML.
Growing, possessing, distributing and smoking marijuana are still illegal under U.S. federal law, which makes no distinction between medical and recreational use.
Federal and local law enforcement agencies did not return phone calls from Reuters on Friday seeking comment on the Portland cafe's operations.
"To have a place that is this open about its activities, where people can come together and smoke -- I say that's pretty amazing." said Tim Pate, a longtime NORML member, at the cafe.
Some locals are hoping it might even be good for business.
"I know some neighbors are pretty negative about this place opening up," said David Bell, who works at a boutique that shares space with the cafe. "But I'm withholding judgment. There's no precedent for it. We don't know what to expect. But it would great if it brought some customers into our store."

Top 10 Tips and Tricks for Better Coffee

Coffee doesn't always make work better, but you can definitely work to get better coffee. From four-cup hotel machines to French presses, from home-roasted beans to decorative foam—we've got a wealth of tips for enjoying a better cup.
10. Decorate your own lattes
It's not as hard as you might think to make lattes for yourself or coffee-loving guests at home, and with a little practice, you can also pull off the latte-topping art you get when your baristas are less rushed. It's an art of patient milk pouring, with melted chocolate designs for the devoted Arabica artists. wikiHow's site details the ins and outs of latte art, and you can find a lot of inspiration on Flickr and other photo sites. Photo by tonx. (Original post)

9. Cold-brew iced coffee for summer convenience
It can take a long time for hot coffee to get cold in the fridge, or even the freezer, if you're in a real hurry for it. Try to rush it, and you get watered-down, bean-flavored water. Cold-brewing coffee, though, with just grounds, water, a fine filter, and (optional) milk, is something you can start right before you go to bed, then finish on a hot morning for a rejuvenating ride to work (or walk to the laptop, in your editors' cases). Photo by thebittenword.com. (Original post)

8. Re-use your coffee grounds
The ever-lasting smell of garlic on your fingertips; dishes that just won't come clean; pests that eat up your backyard garden. If only there were some kind of magic, coarsely-ground semi-paste to take care of all these at once! Well, you know what this facetious stuff is, and it works really well in a lot of cleaning, gardening, and even beauty uses. Better still, they're a great reason to get started with composting. (Original post)

7. Fine-tune caffeine levels
Some bags of beans or pre-ground coffee offer a very rough guide to how much caffeine they're packing, but most don't. Starbucks co-founder Jerry Baldwin explains in a blog post the myths and realities of caffeine levels. A few short pull-outs: "Robusta" beans pack twice as much caffeine as "Arabica," "dark roast" means effectively nothing in terms of caffeine, and drip coffee can actually pack more caffeine than espresso, depending on the beans and amounts used. Photo by tico24. (Original post)

6. Work it into your exercise
This is advice best taken if you already hydrate well with water or exercise far ahead of bedtime, but it doesn't take downing a pot of the hot stuff to see a performance boost in your exercise or running routines. According to Australian researchers, a 176-pound man could drink four ounces of coffee, or two 12-ounce cans of soda, and "get the full caffeine effect" on their run. It's not how you'll get the edge in a 10K, but it might just give you the boost you need to make a hard-to-keep commitment going for one more day. Hit the link above to learn when and how much to drink to work it into your stride. Photo by Joe Shlabotnik. (Original post)
5. Store beans the proper way
Not all coffee should go in the freezer. In fact, if you're going to actually use the coffee right away, you don't want it going straight from the icebox to under steaming water. Find a local coffee seller that roasts their own beans, or at least offers honest details on when their stuff was roasted, then divide your stash into weekly amounts. Keep the current week's stash in an airtight container at room temperature, or sealed in the refrigerator, and keep the other weeks' portions in the freezer. Photo by EraPhernalia Vintage (somewhat busy). (Original post)

4. Make better drip coffee with a "trial run"
Drip coffee has its limitations, but it can be made better. Newsweek's Budget Travel blog points out that one such limitation is that drip models—the kind at work in hotel rooms and maybe in your kitchen—take a long time to heat up to proper flavor-releasing temperatures . Run just a pot of water through the machine first to heat it up, then pour that heated water right back in to actually brew. Assuming you're not running out the door, this definitely seems worth the effort, and might save you the time and money spent at a coffee shop. (Original post)

3. Press it
Our weekend editor got crazy-obsessive about turning out a good cup of Joe recently, researching the best practices from bean to brew. One notable, practical discovery was that it comes out better when you use a French press, even a cheap one. Here's why:

One of the primary benefits of making coffee in a French press over a standard drip pot is that more of the coffee oils end up in your cup instead of in the machine's filter. More oils means better taste! As a bonus, a carefully cleaned French press can also double as an excellent pot for loose leaf tea.

2. Learn and make fancy coffee drinks with diagrams
Lokesh Dhakar has done everyone who's ever been intimidated by barista jargon a huge favor with a series of illustrations detailing how most popular coffee drinks are made. They explain exactly what's in the standard versions of every Italian-named drink you'll find at most coffee shops in neat, simple fashion. For the forgetful or deeply smitten, there's a Cafe Press store that allows for printing Dhakar's diagrams on mugs, shirts, and lots of other gear. (Original post)

1. Roast your own beans
You could complain about how hard it is to find fresh-roasted, quality beans, or you can bootstrap your coffee routine and roast your own beans. There are methods involving a heat gun and metal bowl, a garage sale special popcorn popper, or, as one commenter suggests, simply lay the green beans on a metal tray in the oven, turn it up as hot as it can go, then wait to hear the sounds of the beans cracking before pulling them out.

How do you make your own coffee better, whether with the office giganto-pot or your own gear at home? What tools or techniques have become indispensable to your favorite caffeine delivery method? Grab a mug and talk some shop in the comments.

The office coffee is more important than it seems

Nathan Hartland was at Caribou Coffee in downtown Baltimore recently, picking up a cappuccino on his lunch hour. His 3-year-old son had awoken in the middle of the previous night, leaving a sleep-deprived Hartland in need of a serious jolt of caffeine.
"I'm here to make sure I'm awake through the afternoon," said Hartland, a lawyer at Miles & Stockbridge. He could have had a cup of free coffee at the office, but opted not to.
"I don't enjoy it — and it also gives me a headache," said Hartland, who prefers cappuccino because it doesn't leave his head throbbing like regular or decaf coffee.
Clearly, people have strong preferences when it comes to their java, which can complicate things for employers who offer coffee in the workplace.
We usually don't think much about that cup of Joe — other than whether to opt for skim milk or cream; sugar or Equal. But workplace experts say that depending on how it is handled, coffee can either be a perk that fuels employee morale or an annoyance that steams up workers to the point where they feel alienated and disgruntled.
Think of the person who consistently gets stuck having to brew a fresh pot because a sneaky co-worker always makes off with the last cupful. Or the decaf drinker who feels left out in an office that offers only regular coffee.
"Variety is very important," said Deborah Diehl, a partner at law firm Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, which offers several different coffees. "There are certain attorneys who, if the French roast is out, are not going to have a good day."
Some workers are so dedicated to their favorite brand of coffee, they'd rather dig into their pocket to buy their own coffee than settle for what's available at the office for free.
On a recent weekday, Cory Stokesberry was heading back to the downtown construction company where he works as a project manager, a Starbucks coffee in hand.
Stokesberry moved to Baltimore from Seattle — the home of Starbucks — five months ago. Coming from the Emerald City, a place where the aroma of coffee pervades the air and there are downtown streets with a coffee shop on every corner, Stokesberry was overjoyed when he finally found a Starbucks in downtown Baltimore.
"It's not even comparable," he said of the comparison between Starbucks and his office's coffee.
Joyce Russell, an industrial and organizational psychologist who consults for private companies and government agencies, said what seems like a trivial matter — such as who cleans the office coffee pot — can loom large these days because workers at many companies may already be feeling frazzled from being overworked.
"If there's already a collaborative environment, this won't be much of a stresser," said Russell, who teaches courses in leadership and organizational behavior at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. "But if people are already feeling stressed, this won't help."
Workers tend to view how a company handles the little perks as a symbol of how much they care about their employees, said Filiz Tabak, a professor of management and leadership at Towson University's College of Business and Economics.
If handled correctly, free coffee and other small benefits can turn into an advantage because it makes workers feel better about their company, reducing employee turnover and making it easier to recruit new workers.
"If I'm in a company where my well-being counts, I'm going to talk about it to my friends and their friends," Tabak said.
So employers should think twice before deciding arbitrarily to save money by switching to a less expensive brand of coffee or eliminating it altogether, said Russell, the organizational psychologist. If a change needs to be made, workers should be included in the decision-making process, she said.
That's what Whiteford, Taylor & Preston did when it decided to switch coffee vendors several years ago.
The firm set up an array of coffees from different suppliers in a conference room and let workers have their say about which they liked best. That made workers feel appreciated, said Tracy Canady, a collections specialist who favors French vanilla.
To handle the decaf versus regular conundrum, when the firm redid its downtown Baltimore offices about three years ago, it went from communal coffee pots, one for decaf and one for regular, to single-serve Flavia coffee machines on its employee floors.
Instead of using a coffee pot, the Flavia machines use single-serve coffee packets that are inserted into the machine to make individual cups of coffee.
That means workers get the variety they want without having a coffee pot to clean.
On a recent Wednesday, the offerings included hot chocolate and seven types of coffee ranging from cappuccino latte swirl to house blend decaf.
Coffee is an important part of the social fabric, in the office and elsewhere.
"If you're talking to clients, it's the first thing you offer them," said Alexander Koff, who heads Whiteford, Taylor & Preston's global practice.
Corby Kummer, a senior editor at the Atlantic Monthly and the author of book "The Joy of Coffee," is generally no fan of office coffee, however. It tends to be too weak, or too bitter, because it has been left on the burner too long, he said.
"So often you get something that reminds you of what Abraham Lincoln told a waiter," Kummer said. " 'If this is coffee, bring me tea, and if this is tea, bring me coffee.' "

Benefits of Coffee: A Cup a Day May Keep The Doctor Away

Drinking coffee has a number of surprising health benefits. Not convinced? Read on...
It's hard to imagine going through a full day without our morning cup of java-- actually, make that morning, mid-day, and evening cups of java. Yes, we admit it, we're hooked on the stuff. But, we've been told for years that coffee drinking is a terrible habit-- you've all heard the old "coffee will stunt your growth"  lecture at some point in time.
While we're well aware of the cons to drinking coffee, we've learned that the positive benefits can sometimes outweigh the negative effects. So, why have older studies given coffee such a bad rep? The reason is quite simple-- studies that had previously linked coffee consumption to cancer were inadvertently studying coffee drinkers who were also smokers. A 2006 issue of Harvard Women's Health Watch claims that moderate coffee consumption, defined as 3 to 4 cups per day, is actually beneficial to your health. So, to all of our fellow addicts out there, you don't have to feel guilty anymore! Below are reasons why we think it's okay to stay hooked on the stuff.
1. Coffee is the #1 source of antioxidants in the American diet
While fruits and veggies are still the richest sources of antioxidants, it turns out that for Americans, coffee is the main basis of antioxidant consumption (according to the Institute of Coffee Studies at Vanderbilt University). Black tea and bananas came in second and third place, respectively. Surprisingly, both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee provide similar amounts of antioxidants.
2. Coffee increases your metabolism
Studies also show that coffee is very beneficial in terms of weight loss. It is a common misconception that coffee is an appetite suppressant, however, your morning cup can significantly speed up metabolism by about 10 percent. The National Research Council on Diet and Health found that metabolic rates will be highest during the first three hours following consumption. Just make sure to skip the added sugars, syrups, and whipped toppings found in many store-bought coffee drinks.
3. Coffee can improve short-term memory
According to studies published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, caffeine is a cognitive stimulant that actually boosts brain functioning. Furthermore, coffee reduces levels of beta amyloid, a protein in the brain that is responsible for Alzheimer's disease.
4. Coffee lowers the rates of some cancers
According to WebMD, coffee drinkers are 50 percent less likely to get liver cancer. By drinking 2 cups per day, you're also slashing your risk of getting colon cancer by 25 percent. Some studies have also found ties to lower rates of breast and skin cancers as well.
5. Coffee can reduce risk for Type 2 diabetes
WebMD also asserts that coffee contains chemicals that lower blood sugar, making heavy coffee drinkers half as likely to get diabetes as light to non-coffee drinkers. 1-3 cups per day can reduce the risk for diabetes by single digits, but people who drink 6 cups or more per day can slash their chances by up to 54 percent.
6. Coffee is actually good for your teeth
We all know that one of the biggest cons of drinking coffee is a stained smile, but  the beverage can also have a positive effect on teeth. According to a 2009 article published in the Wall Street Journal, people who drink coffee are less likely to have cavities. Roasted coffee beans have antibacterial effects against microorganisms like Streptococcus, which play a hand in causing tooth decay.
7. Coffee can help prevent/stop headaches
Have you ever wondered why caffeine is one of the main ingredients in migraine medication like Excedrin Migraine? WebMD explains that blood vessels increase in size during a migraine-- caffeine works to decrease the size of blood vessels before they can affect nerves in the brain. So, drinking coffee in the early stages of a headache can help minimize the severity later on.

The origin of coffee

The brains behind QI, the BBC quiz show, explore where and when coffee originated.
Desert fruit
Every cup of coffee you drink owes its existence to a fruit that grew wild in the Yemeni desert. The Sufi mystics of Yemen were the first to roast and brew the seeds into a drink. It helped them stay awake during long hours of prayer. It spread to Ethiopia (where it was banned by the Ethiopian church) and then to the Arab world. Coffee houses called kaveh kanes (from where we get "coffee" and "café") sprang up on every corner. By the 15th century, Mecca was filled with men with mugs.
Coffee houses
The habit spread to the rest of Europe in the 17th century. One of the first coffee houses in England was opened in Oxford by Jacob, a Turkish Jew, in 1650. Its coffee was described as "a simple Innocent thing, incomparable good for those that are troubled with melancholy".
Coffee became popular with scholars as it sharpened the mind rather than dulled it like alcohol. Coffee houses became meeting places, debating chambers and even laboratories. Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley once dissected a dolphin on the table of a coffee house in London. Lloyd's of London and the Stock Exchange started life as coffee houses. But the craze had its detractors. The brewing of ale had long been the preserve of women, known as "brewsters" or "alewives". In 1674, a group of them – alarmed at falling trade in taverns – drew up the Women's Petition Against Coffee, claiming: "Coffee makes a man barren as the desert out of which this unlucky berry has been imported."
Commodity
For centuries, Arabia controlled the coffee industry until (as legend has it) a pilgrim from Mecca smuggled beans back to India and began an agricultural revolution. The Dutch also managed to get a plant back to Amsterdam and to their colonies in Indonesia, so Europe soon had new cheaper sources for their beans. Coffee is now grown in more than 70 countries and is the second most commonly traded commodity in the world after oil.
Civet dung
The most expensive coffee in the world comes from the droppings of the Asian palm civet, a small catlike animal that loves to eat coffee cherries. The cherries only partially digest and the seeds are excreted intact. The droppings are washed and the beans, sold as Kopi Luwak, can cost hundreds of dollars per pound. The partial digestion process is supposed to add a wonderful musky flavour.
Does it wake you up?
Coffee does not make you alert. If you are a regular drinker of coffee, drinking it just eases the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal. So, if you never drink coffee you're probably more alert than a regular drinker who has just knocked back a double espresso. The effects of caffeine usually last between two and three hours, although that can extend to four or five hours depending upon an individual's sensitivity and metabolism.
Stronger than tea?
A cup of filter coffee contains about three times as much caffeine as a cup of tea, although dry tea leaves do contain a higher proportion of caffeine by weight than coffee beans. The higher the temperature of the water, the greater the caffeine extracted from beans or leaves. An average 30ml espresso contains about the same amount of caffeine as a 150ml cup of PG Tips. So a single-shot cappuccino or latte won't give you much more of a caffeine hit than a cuppa. A cup of instant coffee, on the other hand, contains only around half the caffeine of a filter coffee.

7 Caffeine-Free Ways to Increase Alertness

Do you need caffeine to get through your day? I've experienced every over-the-counter wakefulness supplement produced before 2007 (when I smartened up) and can promise you that it all has the same effect: A brief period of increased alertness is followed by a dramatic increase in lethargy (a crash) or anxiety and fidgeting. Consume enough caffeine combined with whatever jungle juice is in vogue and you'll eventually turn into an over-clocked grouch.
Perhaps you already are? You don't have to be. Here are 7 ways to increase your alertness and subsequent productivity without reaching for that 6th cup of coffee before lunch:
1. Drop Napping
A quick version of the power nap, a drop nap takes only a few minutes and will usually give you enough of a boost to get through the last few hours of work. How to do it? Sit in a comfortable chair and hold something in one hand that, when dropped on the floor, will make enough noise to wake you from a shallow sleep. Hold the object you've chosen so that it will drop to the floor when you relax your hand and let yourself fall asleep. As soon as you fall asleep the object will drop and you'll wake up with a boost of alertness. If you've ever fallen asleep for a few seconds while driving you already know what it feels like to wake from a drop nap!
2. Micro projects
A micro project is any small project that can be completed in a very little time. Taking a few minutes away from your sleep-inducing labor to work on a small project of your own can provide the excitement and immediate fulfillment needed to get your brain back in gear for the less interesting work you face.
3. Stretching
Get your hind parts out of that seat and release some of that lethargy and tension with a few minutes of stretching! You can start with some basic stretches and move to more complex ones as you feel comfortable.
4. Competitive games
Play a game that makes your mind work as you push for a win over another, preferably somebody you know. The combination of competition, strategy, and social interaction will give you the boost in brainpower you need to keep going. WeeWar is a recent favorite of mine. The combination of strategy, simplicity, and a bit of luck make for a fun way to take an "alertness break" from my work while connecting with a friend.
5. Hydrate!
Your brain is mostly water so it makes sense that you'd need to keep yourself hydrated for maximum alertness and productivity! They Mayo Clinic recommends three hydration styles to make sure you keep your body stocked with fluids:
    * Replacement – The idea is to replace all the fluid you lose throughout your day. The average adult loses about a liter of water each day due to evaporation through the skin, breathing, etc. If you sweat a lot or live in a very warm climate you'll want to up that amount appropriately. Combine that amount with the amount of water you lose as urine and you'll have a good idea of how much fluid you should be consuming on a daily basis to stay healthy.
    * 8 by 8 - 8 ounces of water 8 times per day (about 2 liters total) is an easy way to remember how much you need to keep from getting dehydrated and losing precious brainpower because your body is struggling to operate.
    * Prescribed quantity – Check with your doctor or registered dietitian for a more exact idea of how much water you should be consuming based on your body weight and gender.
Trading that 4pm cup of coffee for a glass of water may have the extended benefit of guarding you from the hours-long affects of caffeine that might otherwise keep you up late.
6. Phone-a-friend
Fight away the drowsiness by connecting with a friend for a short conversation. Making plans for the weekend or just chatting about something that's on your mind can give you a big mental boost and get you back into the game quickly. Keep your conversation short so you don't end up spending any of your new-found wakefulness on chatting while you still have work to do!
7. Exercise
Depending on your fitness level, you should be able to engage in an activity that raises your heart rate for a few minutes without breaking a sweat. Feel stupid doing crunches or jumping jacks in your cubicle? You'd feel much worse if you were caught sleeping on the job! If you have more time and don't mind getting sweaty, take an hour to make use of that gym pass you bought in January or go for a run. You'll come back mentally refreshed and enjoy increased alertness for a few hours as your heart continues the increased blood flow to your brain.
What about you? Have you got into the habit of gulping caffeinated beverages whenever you feel a bit drowsy? Perhaps you've broken free of caffeine and have a tip or two of your own to share?

Coffee: Is it healthier than you think?

Elaine Murszewski is a self-proclaimed coffee addict.
"I have been a coffee drinker for more years than I can remember," she says. "My coffeemaker must have an auto-start feature so that when I wake up, it's ready."
The 53-year-old former software company representative from Aurora, Colorado, never uses cream or milk because they just "spoil the taste." She prefers coffee over alcohol -- even at a bar.
Murszewski has a lot of company. More than half of adults in the U.S., or 54 percent, are habitual coffee drinkers, according to the National Coffee Association. In fact, 146 billion cups are consumed in the U.S. each year, nearly three times more than tea.
But for years, coffee had a bad reputation. Linked in many people's minds with smoking, coffee is associated with over-caffeination and insomnia.
The caffeine found in coffee can stay in your system for up to 12 hours, making it more difficult to fall asleep, and it affects your quality of sleep as well. Caffeine is also a diuretic, meaning that it increases urine output, which can lead to dehydration.
The general consensus used to be that tea was the better bet in terms of health benefits. But recent research suggests that despite the downsides of coffee, the "devil's brew" does have an upside: Coffee drinkers may be at lower risk of liver and colon cancer, type 2 diabetes, and Parkinson's disease.
And in 2009, two coffee studies suggested additional benefits: Coffee-drinking men seemed to have a lower risk of advanced or lethal prostate cancer than other men, and middle-aged people who drank moderate amounts of coffee -- three to five cups a day -- had the lowest risk for dementia and Alzheimer's disease later in life compared to less (or more) frequent drinkers.
Can drinking coffee even help you live longer? Maybe. A 2008 study found that women who drank coffee regularly -- up to six cups a day -- were less likely to die of various causes during the study than their non-coffee-drinking counterparts. Because consumption of decaf coffee showed similar results, researchers don't think caffeine is at work.
Coffee contains antioxidants
While coffee drinkers may have other lifestyle habits that could explain the potential health benefits, researchers are also looking for compounds in coffee that explain the results.
One possibility? Antioxidants, those healthy compounds most often associated with fruits and vegetables. While the amount of antioxidants per serving is indeed much higher in things like berries, beans, and pecans, these foods are consumed less frequently than coffee.
In fact, a 2005 study found that Americans get more antioxidants from coffee than anywhere else. More than half of adults drink coffee daily, and the average coffee drinker downs about three cups each day.
"Most people drink it for the caffeine," says Joe A. Vinson, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton who led the 2005 study and has studied coffee extensively. "[But] it's the Number 1 source of antioxidants in the U.S. diet."
Polyphenols or flavonoids, the type of antioxidants found in coffee, are also found in other foods and drinks, like tea, red wine, and chocolate. All three have been proven to moderately help brain function, a benefit that can't be chalked up to caffeine, says Vinson, who has received speaking fees from the National Coffee Association. Caffeine, the most commonly used drug in the U.S., says Vinson, does affect alertness, but hasn't been found to offer much in the way of health benefits.
Polyphenols are the "the good guys in coffee," says Vinson. "If you're not interested in keeping alert, then it seems decaf coffee would be your best bet."
Researchers have investigated other compounds in coffee, such as chlorogenic acid, which also gives eggplant its bitter flavor. In fact, there are potentially hundreds of biologically active compounds in coffee. "One of the detriments of working with foods and beverages is they're mixtures," says Vinson. "There's no magic bullet compound; it's the mix."
The beneficial effects could be due to natural agents that discourage the growth of harmful bacteria, or those that encourage the growth of helpful bacteria, called probiotics. Coffee may also alter levels of gut peptides, the hormones naturally released to control things like hunger or fullness.
Coffee may even have a hormone-like effect in the body, says Clinton Allred, an assistant professor in the department of nutrition and food science at Texas A&M University. A compound known as trigonelline "can act like estrogen," he says. "People didn't know coffee would carry such activity."
Because it acts as a hormone, trigonelline may be dangerous in women who have breast cancer, but it may also protect against colon cancer. "Estrogen is preventative of tumor formation for colon cancer, we believe," says Allred. "But it's just way too early for us to know [all] this particular compound could do."
Coffee drinkers may have healthier lifestyles
Another obstacle in pinpointing the benefits of coffee is that it's difficult to isolate the effects of coffee from other healthy habits or lifestyles associated with coffee drinking. A 1999 study of coffee and tea consumption in Scotland, for instance, found that coffee drinkers were younger, had higher incomes, and were healthier in general than tea drinkers.
Coffee drinkers in the U.S. seem to fit a similar profile. Seventy percent of Americans with an annual household income of $150,000 or more drink coffee, compared with 54 percent of Americans in a household making less than $25,000 a year, according to consumer market research firm Experian Simmons.
Research has shown for decades that poorer people are more likely to die from virtually any cause than people with a higher socioeconomic status. Wealthier people are more likely to be physically active and eat healthier, and less likely to smoke -- behaviors that could prevent some of the conditions assumed to be affected by coffee.
"That's the problem [with most of the studies done on coffee]," says Vinson. "There's no perfect study out there because they can't control all the variables. The problem with a human study is everybody's different."
To isolate the benefits of the coffee in particular, newer studies have focused on filtering out the effects of less-than-healthy behaviors, like smoking, that coffee drinkers are likely to engage in.
In a 2008 study, Esther Lopez-Garcia, a researcher in the department of preventive medicine and public health at the Autonomous University of Madrid, in Spain, found that coffee drinkers had a slightly lower risk of death from all causes than people who didn't drink coffee.
Although the participants in her study were all nurses and health professionals, she says the results are probably applicable to people with similar education and socioeconomic status. "However," she warns, "[generalizing the results] has to be made with precaution, because it's clear that socioeconomic status influences mortality."
Of course, coffee isn't a quick fix, and may even cause problems in some people. It can worsen existing heart conditions, and caffeine could cause sleeping problems, as well as a racing heartbeat and anxiety. Plus, many coffee drinkers are only adding calories and fat to their diet by mixing in heavy cream and too much sugar.
More research needs to be completed before doctors can recommend coffee to their patients, experts say.
"It is always difficult to give dietary recommendations based on studies that lasted only several months, because they cannot investigate long-term effects," says Christian Herder, a diabetes researcher at Heinrich Heine University, in Dusseldorf, Germany. In a 2010 study, for instance, Herder found that changes in coffee-drinking habits had no adverse effects on diabetes risk factors.
But because the study lasted only three months, he says, it didn't provide enough evidence to directly recommend -- or prohibit -- drinking coffee. "There seems to be no reason to discourage middle-aged men and women from drinking coffee," Herder adds.
However, says Lopez-Garcia, "anyone with health problems that can be worsened by coffee -- insomnia, anxiety, hypertension, or heart problems -- should ask the doctor about his specific risk."
A better understanding of the risks and benefits of coffee might not come anytime soon. "Studies are few and far between," says Vinson. Plus, he says, many of the studies that have been done entailed "super-high consumptions" (12 cups a day, for example) and may not apply to the normal amount Americans typically drink.
So far, evidence of coffee's health benefits is limited. "I want to be convinced, but I haven't been. It's not cause and effect; it's just a hint," says Vinson. "[But] there are a lot of wonderful hints."
In the meantime, coffee drinkers can still dare to hope their precious brew is also good for them. Murszewski says she has noticed benefits from her java habit. "I have not asked my doctor about the benefits of coffee, although I have noticed that when suffering from a migraine, coffee helps," she says. "It's not full-blown with drinking coffee."

Coffee 'does not make the brain more alert'

The belief that a cup of coffee stimulates the brain and makes drinkers feel more awake is a myth, a new study shows.
Scientists found the so-called "caffeine high" is just a reaction to the body craving the drug.
The research found that coffee lovers were no more awake than those who did not drink caffeine in the morning.
In fact, the study of 379 people showed, regular coffee drinkers needed a hit of caffeine to bring them up to the same level of alertness as non-coffee drinkers.
Prof Peter Rogers, from the University of Bristol's Department of Experimental Psychology, which led the study, said: "Our study shows that we don't gain an advantage from consuming caffeine.
"Although we feel alerted by it, this is caffeine just bringing us back to normal."
Researchers deprived each person of coffee for 16 hours before giving the participants either caffeine or a placebo.
Each person then underwent a series of tasks to measure their attentiveness, memory and vigilance.
The study, published online in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, found there was "little difference" in the results between the coffee users and those who were given placebos.
Prof Rogers added: "On the other hand, while caffeine can increase anxiety, tolerance means that for most caffeine consumers this effect is negligible."
The research was supported by a grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Caffeine Addiction: Kick the Coffee Habit

You need to give up coffee. Whether it's because of the numbers creeping up on the scale because of all those Frappuccinos, your wallet getting thinner thanks to Starbucks, or your new teeth-whitening regimen – you. must. stop. This is going to be really hard. And no one understands! But before you barricade yourself in your bedroom and start blasting Harry Nilsson, there is hope.
Le Whif Coffee is a small inhaler that yields an espresso shot worth of caffeine in every dose – each puff even smells like coffee. There are eight doses in every inhaler, and they retail for about $7.20 for a pack of three. That's 24 caffeine fixes for about the price of two grande mochas. And as an added eco-friendly bonus, the inhaler's tube is biodegradable.
Getting your Le Whif Coffee fix during the morning board meeting may turn a few heads, but it could be an effective way to curb your habit. Find it at Dylan's Candy Bar in NYC, Cardullo's Gourmet Shoppe in Cambridge, or online here. And if anyone looks at you funny for puffing away, just glare at them, and take another hit. When you get into a public scuffle, you're going to need all the caffeine you can get.

Nervous About Alzheimer's? Coffee May Help

It's an appealing notion that our daily pick-me-up may also confer a range of health benefits. And for coffee drinkers there's a lot of research percolating. Several studies suggest that a daily caffeine habit may help protect against Alzheimer's disease. But there's a catch. The cup or two a day that most Americans drink doesn't seem to be enough. Researchers say 500 mg of caffeine, or about five cups of regular coffee, is the dose that seems to protect the brain.
Five Cups A Day
This may sound like an excessive amount of caffeine. After five cups, lots of us would end up with the jitters and be making extra trips to the bathroom. But some coffee lovers are hard core:
"I drink five to six cups a day religiously," says Gary Arendash, a researcher at the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, part of Florida State University. Arendash says he's convinced that caffeine is protecting his brain.
Arendash and his colleagues at the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center have been studying the effects of caffeine on the brains of mice with Alzheimer's disease. They've found that adding caffeinated water to rodents' diet results in big improvements. The mice perform better on short-term memory and thinking tests. But only if they get enough caffeine.
"The human equivalent of two to three cups of coffee does not have benefits in our Alzheimer's mice," says Arendash.
Arendash's team also documented that these super-caffeinated mice end up with about a 50-percent reduction in abnormal amyloid proteins, which are thought to play an important role in the development of Alzheimer's.
The typical American drinks about a cup and a half of coffee a day. "So you can see that many of us are below that threshold level that we believe confers protective benefits," says Arendash.
Evidence Not Conclusive
The Alzheimer's mice studies on caffeine are intriguing to researchers who are trying to translate the findings into advice for humans. But interpreting an animal study can be tricky.
"It's always a good starting point," says Joan Lindsay of the University of Ottawa. "But we never know how well it's going to hold up with humans." After all, people are a lot more complicated. And researchers have learned that mice can respond really differently than humans do to a drug, an environmental toxin or a change in nutrition.
Another challenge is to find a reliable test of the memory of mice. Arendash uses a mouse maze to assess the spatial memory of his Alzheimer's mice. He puts the mice in little swimming pools with lots of alleys and dead-ends to see how quickly they can find and remember hidden escape platforms. Similar computer-based maze tests are used in human studies.
"The first thing that is lost in Alzheimer's is short term memory — the memory for what happened a few seconds or a minute ago," says Arendash. "That's what (the water maze) is focusing on."
Observations Of Coffee-Loving Middle-Aged Folks
There wouldn't be as much interest in Arendash's mice studies if scientists hadn't also begun to gather some evidence that a steady caffeine habit is beneficial to people, too.
One recent study comes from Finland where researchers followed about 1,400 coffee drinkers for more than two decades. Researchers found one group seemed to benefit the most: the people who'd been drinking three to five cups of coffee a day in their 40s and 50s.
"They had about a 65-to-70-percent reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in their 70s," says Huntington Potter, a neurobiologist at the University of South Florida. Potters says effects held up even when researchers controlled for things such as cardiovascular disease, which can influence the risk of dementia.
A few other smaller studies in Europe have led to similar findings, but experts say the research only establishes a correlation between coffee drinking and brain protection.
"I'd hesitate to say that there's epidemiologic evidence that coffee prevents Alzheimer's disease," says Reisa Sperling, an Alzheimer's researcher at the Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard University.
It's possible that these regular coffee drinkers might have other habits in common that could explain the protective effect. "People who are very active in mid-life are more likely to be drinking coffee than couch potatoes," says Sperling. Maybe the coffee drinkers aren't benefiting from the coffee as much as they are from keeping their minds and bodies active. The studies make it difficult to suss out.
Coffee Drinking Can't Offset Genetic Risks
Sperling says Alzheimer's is an incredibly complicated disease. Exercise and good nutrition do seem to be protective, but a person's risk is largely determined by genes. No one behavior or diet change — like coffee drinking — can erase that risk.
If future research brings stronger evidence that caffeine may modify the risk by some small percentage that means coffee lovers will have one more reason to drink away.
Just make sure those five cups don't keep you up all night — sleep is important to health, too.

What Caffeine Actually Does to Your Brain

For all of its wild popularity, caffeine is one seriously misunderstood substance. It's not a simple upper, and it works differently on different people with different tolerances—even in different menstrual cycles. But you can make it work better for you.
We've covered all kinds of caffeine "hacks" here at Lifehacker, from taking "caffeine naps" to getting "optimally wired." And, of course, we're obsessed with the perfect cup of coffee. But when it comes to why so many of us love our coffee, tea, soda, or energy drink fixes, and what they actually do to our busy brains, we've never really dug in.
While there's a whole lot one can read on caffeine, most of it falls in the realm of highly specific medical research, or often conflicting anecdotal evidence. Luckily, one intrepid reader and writer has actually done that reading, and weighed that evidence, and put together a highly readable treatise on the subject. Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine, by Stephen R. Braun, is well worth the short 224-page read. It was released in 1997, but remains the most accessible treatise on what is and isn't understood about what caffeine and alcohol do to the brain. It's not a social history of coffee, or a lecture on the evils of mass-market soda—it's condensed but clean science.
What follows is a brief explainer on how caffeine affects productivity, drawn from Buzz and other sources noted at bottom. We also sent Braun a few of the questions that arose while reading, and he graciously agreed to answer them.
Caffeine Doesn't Actually Get You Wired
Right off the bat, it's worth stating again: the human brain, and caffeine, are nowhere near totally understood and easily explained by modern science. That said, there is a consensus on how a compound found all over nature, caffeine, affects the mind.
What Caffeine Actually Does to Your BrainEvery moment that you're awake, the neurons in your brain are firing away. As those neurons fire, they produce adenosine as a byproduct, but adenosine is far from excrement. Your nervous system is actively monitoring adenosine levels through receptors. Normally, when adenosine levels reach a certain point in your brain and spinal cord, your body will start nudging you toward sleep, or at least taking it easy. There are actually a few different adenosine receptors throughout the body, but the one caffeine seems to interact with most directly is the A1 receptor. More on that later.
What Caffeine Actually Does to Your BrainEnter caffeine. It occurs in all kinds of plants, and chemical relatives of caffeine are found in your own body. But taken in substantial amounts—the semi-standard 100mg that comes from a strong eight-ounce coffee, for instance—it functions as a supremely talented adenosine impersonator. It heads right for the adenosine receptors in your system and, because of its similarities to adenosine, it's accepted by your body as the real thing and gets into the receptors.

Why Our Heart Loves Coffee and Tea

If drinking coffee or tea has become part of your daily routine, you might wonder what it's doing to your long-term heart health. New research from Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, a journal of the American Heart Association, found that high tea consumption and moderate coffee consumption may be associated with decreased rates of death from coronary heart disease (CHD).
The study followed more than 37,000 tea and coffee drinkers over the span of 13 years. Participants completed food recalls to document their typical intake of tea and coffee, and were divided into groups that ranged from light to heavy consumption. Researchers accounted for variables such as health histories, height, weight, and waist circumference and recorded the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease and stroke during the study period.
Overall results showed that consuming more than six cups of tea per day was associated with a 36% lower risk of death from heart disease compared to consuming less than one cup of tea per day.  There appeared to be no such protective effect of tea-drinking at any amount for risk of death from stroke.  Among coffee drinkers, more moderate consumption levels (2-3 cups per day) were associated with the greatest risk reduction for death from heart disease (21%) compared to drinking less than one cup of coffee per day.
Researchers acknowledged certain inconclusive variables within their findings. For example, the difference between decaffeinated and regular coffee could not be accurately accounted for, nor could specific recommendations be made for type of tea, though due to its popularity in the Netherlands where the study took place, researchers assumed most tea consumption to be black tea.
Furthermore, researchers found that tea and coffee drinkers had opposite lifestyles, with tea drinkers tending to engage in healthy lifestyle habits and coffee drinkers being more likely to eat less healthy and smoke. It was difficult to say with certainty what impact these other lifestyle variables may have contributed to the overall results.
Advice on how to decrease one's risk for heart disease has traditionally revolved around diet and physical activity. The American Heart Association recommends thirty minutes of physical activity most days along with a diet low in saturated fat in order to decrease cholesterol and risks for heart disease and stroke.  This study suggests that what you drink may contribute to your overall health as well.

Naturally High: Tips to Cut Back on Caffeine

A lot of us need coffee to get through the day. We need coffee like cars need gasoline or like crack addicts need their crack. The idea of a world without coffee is too blasphemous to consider—because all chaos would break loose. We would crash our cars into our neighbors' mailboxes from sleep deprivation. We would accidentally forward lolcats to our bosses and send important Excel documents to our friends. We would fall dead asleep in the middle of an important presentation. Because life without black coffee, frothy cappuccinos, soy lattes, and espresso shots is simply not possible.
But lo and behold! Word on the street is that too much caffeine is not good for you, and it will do your mind and body a whole lot of good if we make the effort to cut back on our caffeine intake. What gives?
Yes, a strong cup of coffee wakes you up. But it is a jittery kind of energy that can make your thoughts go at warp speed, decrease your concentration, make you anxious, give you heartburn, make you dehydrated, and crash your energy level when you are coming down fast from your caffeine high, making you more tired than before. Coffee later in the day also disrupts our sleep cycles, which continues the vicious cycle of waking up feeling unrested and needing that cup of joe to wake yourself up.
Let's not also forget the processed sugar and fatty cream that many of us add to our coffee. Not good.
You don't have to go all Spartan and give up coffee forever for the rest of your life. Having coffee as an occasional treat in moderation, though, is much healthier for you than having it every day like you do your daily vitamins and water. Here are seven tips to loosen the death grip of caffeine addiction to feel energized au naturale.
1. Read up on the health benefits of decreasing your caffeine addiction. It's easier to decrease your dependence on an enjoyable activity when you know why you are doing it and how it will benefit you. Check out this article on the dangers of caffeine addiction and excess caffeine consumption.
2. Consume only freshly squeezed fruit juice, freshly cut fruit, and glasses of water in the morning. Want to really give your body a shot of energy the natural way that won't crash your energy level hours later? Drink freshly squeezed oranges or grapefruits and eat freshly cut fruit. The natural enzymes from fresh foods will really jolt you to alertness, and you won't be weighed down by heavier foods like bagels with cream cheese or omelets.
3. You can still have coffee—just don't have it every single day of the week. Or if you must, order decaf.
4. Get your caffeine fix with green tea instead. Freshly brewed green tea will still give you some caffeine and a more gradual energy build-up, but it won't be as extreme as a strong cup of black coffee that completely jolts your nerves into a jittery mess.
5. Drink lots of water when you are feeling a little bit tired or mentally fuzzy. If you feel fatigued or your mind feels foggy, it is highly likely that you are dehydrated. Drink up some tall glasses of H2O with freshly squeezed lemon juice instead.
6. Cut processed food out of your diet as much as possible. Junky, artificial foods loaded with toxic chemicals and processed sugars mess up your body. Eat whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables as much as possible to keep your mind and body sharp.
7. Exercise regularly and get your eight to nine hours of sleep. You will probably get work done more efficiently if you really get your full night's rest, exercise regularly, and eat healthy than if you are working on five hours of sleep with three cups of coffee.

Can Caffeine Really Cause Insanity?

From babies to body builders, we all have muscles. They grow, they bulge, they stretch and sometimes they even painfully pull. But for all the work they do for us, we are still unable to crown one as "the strongest muscle."
Instead, a few muscles could claim the title, depending on how strength is measured.
If the title goes to the muscle that can exert the most force, the victor would be the soleus, or the calf muscle, according to Gray's Anatomy, the anatomy textbook. Without this muscle, we wouldn't be able to stand, walk, run or shake our bodies on the dance floor. If the soleus was not continuously pulling, we would always be falling over ourselves (although some of us tend to do that from time to time anyway).
But perhaps the title should go to the muscle that exerts the most pressure. Pressure is different from force — pressure takes into account the area over which a force is exerted. The muscle that takes the prize for delivering the greatest amount of pressure is the masseter, or the jaw muscle, according to the book "Clinical Oral Science" (Reed Educational and Professional Publishing, 1998).
In 1986, Richard Hofmann of Lake City, Fla., achieved a bite strength of 975 pounds (442 kilograms) for two seconds, setting a Guinness Record. Talk about jaw dropping! The jaw is able to clench and chew because of the masseter muscle.
Others may argue the muscles used in childbirth are the most powerful. To be specific, the ability of the myometrium, or the uterine muscle, to contract and relax makes human birth possible. But because these muscles are not often used and highly depend on an interaction of hormonal and biochemical factors, some discount the myometrium as the strongest muscle.
When it comes to versatility, perhaps the tongue is the strongest muscle. Its combination of elasticity and forcefulness gives us the ability to speak, eat and kiss – all things very desirable on a first date. However dexterous it may be though, its power does not match that of muscles such as the soleus.
If slow and steady wins the race, the heart is certainly a contender for the title. Electrical impulses in the myocardium, the heart's muscular wall, keep your heart beating. When it contracts, the muscle pumps about 2 ounces (59 milliliters) of blood, and is constantly working over a lifetime. Beating about 40 million times a year, a person's heart will beat approximately 2.5 billion times by the time of their 70th birthday.
The single biggest muscle in the human body is the gluteus maximus, or the buttocks. This muscle helps keep the torso erect, and stronger glutes allow a person to jump higher and sprint faster.

Man Died After Caffeine Overdose

A 23-year-old British man reportedly died from a caffeine overdose after consuming caffeine powder and energy drinks at a party in Mansfield, England last April, CNews reported last week.
Michael Lee Bedford purchased the caffeine powder online and likely used it to delay drowsiness caused by excessive alcohol consumption. An inquest on the incident was held Friday.
Before his death, friends saw Bedford downing "spoonfuls" of caffeine powder and the inquest ruled that he had taken what would have been the equivalent of 70 energy drinks.
Dr. Tony Massey, senior medical director for CIGNA's behavorial health division, told AOL Health that research studies have consistently shown that consuming a moderate amount of caffeine each day (around 200 milligrams) is perfectly safe. That's the amount found in about two to three cups of coffee.
Caffeine may cause adverse health effects if consumed in amounts greater than 500 milligrams, particularly in people who are caffeine sensitive, and Massey says anyone who consumes more than 1,000 milligrams is likely to have short-term problems, including:
-- Jittery feelings
-- Anxiety
-- Muscle twitching
-- Heart palpitations
-- Gastrointestinal disturbances
-- Insomnia
-- Heart palpitations
-- Irritability
-- Breast tenderness
Even though caffeine in moderate doses is safe, Dr. Eric Braverman, clinical assistant professor of integrative medicine in neurological surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weil Cornell Medical Center and founder of PATH Medical, says "it is not intended to replace sleep."
He told AOL Health caffeine's use as "an alertness aid" should only be occasional. If used chronically to stave off sleepiness, the user may experience caffeine-induced insomnia.
Massey says a lethal dose of caffeine would be about 10,000 milligrams, the equivalent of 100 cups of coffee. "That's an amount that's hard to consume through food and drink alone," he says, "but it would be possible with pills" or, in Bedford's case, with caffeine powder.
Braverman says caffeine poisoning rarely results in death. However, people already suffering from anxiety, seizures, heart disease, high blood pressure or liver disease are at increased risk of death from an overdose of caffeine.
"No one should take more than 1,600 milligrams of caffeine powder in a 24-hour period, and children under 12 should not take it at all," he said.

Coffee Consumption Makes You Fat or Help You Burn Fat?

Coffee's a controversial subject in health and fitness. Mostly because some people think you should never drink a drop and others think you should drop water for coffee. I'm in the middle. I like drinking coffee. I don't drink 5 cups a day, but I do take a strong cup or two in the morning. But let's assess the situation a little more to help you make an informed decision.
The Sides:
One side says Italians (among other populations) drink plenty of espresso and consume more fat, but are leaner than many other countries' population. Many on this side also say coffee contains 0 or near 0 calories, and according to the law of thermodynamics, gaining weight is a matter of calories. Additionally, a few studies do show that caffeine (especially prior to exercise) can accelerate fat loss.
Another side says that coffee indirectly causes weight gain through the hormonal changes it causes. The rise in cortisol/adrenaline stresses the adrenal glands to the point where high cortisol levels damage metabolism. The adrenals have a relationship with organs and glands, including the Thyroid. And since the Thyroid contributes to the control over your metabolism, the excessive rise in adrenal hormones may not be a good thing. There's a lot more to this side by the way.
Then there's the other people who just drink coffee, espresso and whatever else floats their boat because that's what people do.
The Studies:
The studies I've gone over all highlight the benefits of coffee consumption such as increased insulin sensitivity, decreased risk for cancers and death, decreased risk for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, increased fat mobilization and so on.
But, most of the studies were done with moderate amounts of coffee. What does that mean?
That means if you're drinking 5-6 cups a day, I don't have any studies telling me whether that's bad or good. But from my own intuition, if you need coffee to stay awake or even just feel good, it might be time to take a break and focus on improving health. By improving health, you will increase energy and get a more restful sleep. That alone could fix your need for coffee.
I've gotten a little side-tract, so let's get to the point, does coffee help you burn fat or does it make you fat:
Ways Coffee Increases Fat loss:a
Decreases appetite
Increases focus and stimulation, taking mind off food
Increases Adrenaline/Noradrenaline, which play a role in "Fat Burning" (really hate using that phrase sometimes)
Increases energy, possibly improving likelihood for consumer to exercise
Ways Coffee Makes You Fat:
Some people feel the need to eat sweets with coffee
If you drink coffee with virtually anything besides coffee in it, you're probably heading in the wrong direction, many of the holiday editions contain close to a hundred grams of sugar and 50 grams of fat.
If coffee is just one of many stressors in your life, then yes, your adrenals will suffer, and consequently so might your Thyroid, metabolism, and other organs. But coffee isn't the main cause here.
If your expensive coffee consumption is taking up money you could be putting towards purchasing healthy food
Focus in on that third point in ways coffee makes you fat: If you're getting little to no sleep, consuming a diet filled with sugar and chemicals, doing chronic cardio instead of exercising intelligently, and excessively stressing emotionally/mentally, then you should probably drop coffee.
Or keep coffee, and use that energy to solve the other 4 MAJOR problems I just listed.
Summary: Moderate consumption of coffee has been shown to have many health benefits, including accelerated weight loss. Key word: moderate. If I was someone who had some of the stressors listed above, I would be making some major changes, including decreasing or eliminating coffee consumption.
Just a little disclosure, I drank coffee before writing this post!