A Coffee Manifesto

Admit it. You’re one of the 107 million people in the US that drink coffee daily. Does this make you feel like an addict? Do you feel hazy without it? Do you wonder if coffee is actually bad for you? These ideas have been researched for years and I’ve got some good news for you. There are many benefits of drinking coffee you’d never even think of! So grab a cup of jo and read on!

Coffee And Your Mood: Why does coffee make me feel so euphoric?

âÂ?¢ “Work in the mid-1980s suggested that chlorogenic acids may have an effect on the opiate system in the brain,” the Coffee Science Information Center found. “They may have antidepressant effects, which would make some sense because we know that drinking coffee gives people a sense of well-being.”

� Coffee appears to improve your mood and reduce depression.

Why Coffee Is Essential At Work

âÂ?¢ “Caffeine can increase the speed of rapid information processing by 10%, and a cup of regular (caffeine containing)

âÂ?¢ Coffee after lunch helps to counteract the normal ‘post-lunch dip’ in ability to sustain concentration, aiding alertness.”

Coffee And Other Health Benefits

âÂ?¢ It can prevent diabetes by enhancing the liver’s ability to metabolize sugar.

âÂ?¢ There is new evidence that coffee helps prevent kidney stones – possibly by increasing the flow of urine and decreasing its concentration.

âÂ?¢ Derivatives of phenolic acids in coffee can offset the stimulating effects of caffeine. Researchers are attempting to isolate these substances with the goal of creating treatments for tachycardia (abnormally fast heart rate), angina, epilepsy, hyperactivity – and even sleep problems!

� By combating depression and elevating mood, coffee can reduce the risk of suicide and prevent drug and alcohol addiction relapse.

âÂ?¢ Its ability to increase blood flow to the brain has been linked to prevention of degenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

� Coffee drinking reduces the risk of liver diseases caused by over- consumption of alcohol, according to researchers in the US, Europe and Japan.

Coffee And Cancer

� Smokers who drink it regularly have a lower risk of developing bladder cancer than smokers who are not coffee drinkers.

âÂ?¢ It’s an antioxidant, absorbing destructive molecules linked to heart disease and cancer. Did you know that a cup of coffee has up to four times more antioxidant power than the equivalent amount of green tea?

� Coffee contains: polyphenols such as chlorogenic acids and caffeic acid, and melanoidins (free radical scavengers)

� A recent analysis of 17 studies from 1960 to 1990 on coffee consumption and colon cancer found the risk to be 24% lower among those who drink four or more cups of coffee per day, than among those who rarely or never drink coffee.

âÂ?¢ Two compounds – cafestol and kahweol – may neutralise certain enzymes that activate carcinogens, promote the work of other enzymes that serve as detoxifiers, and stop DNA damage before it begins. Then, of course, there are the antioxidants formed when coffee is roasted, and there is caffeine, itself, which has a mild antioxidant effect. Some studies even suggest coffee consumption may prevent cancer at other sites along the gastrointestinal tract, such as the pancreas, if consumed in moderate amounts.

� A new area of research reveals that coffee and caffeinated drinks may significantly reduce tissue damage caused by radiation therapy aimed at controlling tumor growth.

Coffee And Your Diet

� Did you know coffee is a good dietary source of potassium?

âÂ?¢ Watching your weight? Caffeine apparently speeds up your metabolism and improves the body’s ability to break down fats.

Coffee As A Renewable Resource

âÂ?¢ Today, more than 20 NestlÃ?© coffee-making facilities worldwide (including both UK plants) are recovering the spent grounds and using them as a ‘renewable fuel’ to generate energy that would otherwise come from fossil fuels. By using coffee grounds as a supplemental fuel, one NestlÃ?© factory in the Philippines saved more than 4000 tonnes of equivalent oil in a single year!

Coffee And Headaches:

� Coffee helps move blood flow around the brain and prevents blockages around the sinuses. Headaches are caused by increased pressure due to concentrated blood flow. Therefore, the caffeine cures tension headaches!

Why I Need Coffee When I’m Sick…

� A further study suggests that the alertness- enhancing effect of caffeine can remove the malaise (reduced alertness, slower psychomotor performance) associated with having the common cold, and that increased stimulation of the sensory afferent nerves may also be beneficial.

Coffee Trivia

âÂ?¢ Did you know that coffee was once regarded as an “old fashioned” beverage for older people, with just two flavors: “regular and decaf.”

âÂ?¢ “Coffee” comes from the Latin form of the genus Coffea, a member of the Rubiaceae family which includes more than 500 genera and 6,000 species of tropical trees and shrubs. Eighteenth-century Swedish Botanist Carolus Linnaeus first described the genus

� There is evidence to suggest that coffee trees were cultivated in monastery gardens 1,000 years ago, and commercial cultivation followed, although the first reports of this, from the Yemen, were not recorded until the fifteenth century.

� The growth of popular coffee houses, which became favorite meeting places for both social and business purposes, spread from the mid-17th century to other European countries including Austria, France, Germany, Holland and England.

� Fifty-two percent of the adult population of the U.S. over 18 years of age drink coffee every day.

â�¢ Of these, 29 million American adults drink gourmet coffee beverages every day, whether specialty coffee, espresso-based beverages (latte, espresso, caf�© mocha, cappuccino) or frozen and iced coffee beverages.

� Another 28% of the population, or 57 million adults, drink coffee occasionally

� Coffee drinkers consume on average 3.3 cups of coffee per day.

� September 29th is COFFEE DAY!