For anyone who doesn’t believe in the nearly divine benefits of coffee, we merely challenge them to spend 15-minutes with me before I’ve had a cup on any given day. That rich, delicious elixir is the first thing that touches the lips of billions of people around the world on a daily basis, and just like pizza, even when it’s bad – it’s good. But coffee isn’t just good because it tastes terrific. That hot little cup of happiness that passes through billions of mouths every day comes with some pretty measurable benefits for the body and the mind. The tangible benefits of coffee are so vast that they turn what many consider to be an addiction into a life saving daily activity. So while some may think it’s crazy to put a hot cup of joe to your lips before kissing your partner good-morning, those of us in the know, realize that it’s more than a morning routine, it’s self-preservation.
A Coffee A Day Will Keep The Psychiatrist Away
Multiple studies have shown that coffee, and more particularly caffeine, is an anti-depressant and even makes it easier to love one’s self. In a world where dealing with trauma is becoming an everyday occurrence, it doesn’t seem like a bad idea to start the day with a scientifically proven pick-me-up. The Harvard School of Public Health found that women who drink 4 or more cups of coffee a day are 20% less likely to suffer from depression. Not bad for 24-ounces of hot brown liquid (a standard cup of coffee is 6 ounces, not 8). Taking the time to have a cup of joe in the morning can literally make the world feel like a better place. Now that’s pretty beneficial!
Coffee Is Really Good For Your Heart
Childish rhymes aside, studies in Korea have shown that people who regularly consume three to five cups of coffee a day are vastly less susceptible to heart disease. The researchers did note that the Korean diet was a factor in the results, seeing how different it would be from an American diet. However, a study in Brazil also found that no matter how much coffee you drink it would never harden your arteries. There are also studies that show that consuming coffee regularly can lower your risk of passing away due to cardiac arrest. The Brazillian study pushed some of their subjects so hard they were drinking 25 cups of jitter juice a day! Now that’s a lot of rocket fuel.
Forever Young
Of course, drinking coffee won’t make you younger or start rolling back the years. What it will do is help to stave off two diseases commonly connected to old age, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s. A recent study by the European Journal of Medicine found that coffee can defend against buildups of brain plaque which is currently considered to be the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers found that both the caffeine and the compounds in roasted coffee beans were effective in protecting the brain from the disease.
While it was in Sweden that researchers found that the combination of caffeine and EHT (one of the compounds that make up coffee beans) can team up to protect from Parkinson’s disease, the very ailment that defeated Muhammed Ali. The study found that coffee is such a powerful Parkinson’s deterrent that it even staved off the disease in subjects that were genetically predisposed to the disease. So that means that a couple of cups of java a day is such an effective Parkinson’s deterrent that it will even fend off the disease in subjects more prone to contracting it.
Lechaim, To Life!
Coffee will literally make you live longer. Multiple studies on multiple continents have found that regular coffee drinkers are far less susceptible to a bevy of life-threatening and life-shortening diseases. The ailments coffee assists with range from an assortment of different cancers, to multiple sclerosis, to Type II Diabetes. Drinking a cup of coffee a day will even help to fend off cirrhosis of the liver. There are studies that show coffee promotes oral health in multiple ways, lowers the risk of gout, and will even make you get along better with your co-workers. Avocado and Kale are getting a lot of love for being “superfoods” right now, but it seems to me that it’s coffee that is the real Super Food.
