Caffeine, Cancer, and Reduced Risk of Stroke On Women

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 at 3:10 am  
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Do you drink coffee daily?  If so, there may be benefits with your morning cup of happiness.  It seems that besides the obvious energy related boost, there are other benefits as well.  The effects of caffeine in your coffee can be a healthy boost to your body.  In recent studies, the coffee drinker who has three to five cups of coffee per day was shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, type 2 diabetes, liver disease, gout and even cancer.  Caffeine taken in the morning, either by powder or beverage, can also increase memory retention and help with your attention span.

If you are happy about the health benefits you are getting from your coffee, there is a negative to coffee that should be considered.  There is a risk of cholesterol that comes from two chemicals that are a natural part of the coffee bean called cafestol and kahweol.  They have been shown to increase cholesterol in your blood which can be linked to a higher risk of heart disease. If you use a caffeine powder, this can take out the risk of the increase in cholesterol, because there is not coffee bean. Plus you can add it to any type of beverage or food that you like.

Recently there was another benefit to caffeine that was discovered.  There is a reduction of strokes in middle-aged women and older.  The study was done by Swedish researchers that studied the effects of caffeine on humans and also to prove that there can be health benefits. It was proven that women who consumed one or more cups of coffee per day were less likely to have a stroke when compared to those who did not drink coffee.

The study was done over a 10 year time period, and it looked at 35,000 women from the age of 49 to 83 years old.  What the study found was that the women who did drink coffee daily ended up having a 25 percent lower risk of stroke when compared to those who did not drink coffee daily.

The results of the study are still being investigated; however, most feel that the reduction of strokes may have something to do with the effect of caffeine and coffee on the reduction of inflammation and also the increase of responsiveness to insulin which can both create a lower risk of stroke.

Even though there are definite health benefits, moderation is the key to its success.  The addictive qualities of coffee and the effects of the coffee bean can lead to serious health problems.  If taken moderately however, the benefits are there for you.

Coffee Can Lower Risk in Prostate Cancer

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011 at 6:14 pm  
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A study recently has show that men who drink coffee on a regular basis, seem to have a lower risk of Prostrate cancer.  It has been show that the effects of caffeine and coffee can lower the risk even in the more lethal form of prostate cancer as well.

After tracking more than 47,000 men from 1986 to 2006, researchers found that in all forms of prostate cancer, the highest of the coffee drinkers had an incredible 20% lower risk of getting prostate cancer.  The researcher, Lorelei Mucci, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health concluded that the 20% lower risk was found in those men who drank six or more cups of coffee daily, compared to those who drank none.

Coffe even fought against the more lethal form of prostate cancer.  those who drank one to three cups each day, the risk dropped 29% compared to those who did not drink any at all. Somehow the risk even hwas the same for both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee. For those who drank more than three cups, even up to six cups daily, the rick reduction was 60% compared to the non-drinkers.  It seems that it may not just be the caffeine that fights the risk, but the coffee bean as well. In the study, 5,035 men developed prostate cancer, including the lethal forms of cancer.

There were still risk factors in those who smoked and had a heavy weight, so although there may be some protection from drinking coffee, not smoking and a good diet still are a better way to stay healthy. The findings still need to be validated by other independent studies, but it is promising that drinking your cup of coffee, can have positive effects on your body and health.