I recently joined the 53X11 Coffee cycling team. Before I hear a bunch of criticism about coffee, sports, and nutrition, I would like to talk about the health benefits of coffee. Yes, coffee does have several benefits that have been discovered in recent studies when the organic coffee is used.
The following list of benefits was taken from the Positively Coffee web site:
Coffee & Mental Performance
The latest scientific evidence indicates that about 200 mg of caffeine, the amount typically found in two cups of coffee, will not only increase your level of alertness but also help your short-term memory.
Coffee and Antioxidants
Antioxidants may be of great benefit in improving the quality of life by preventing or postponing the onset of degenerative diseases. Protection against free radicals can be enhanced by ample intakes of dietary antioxidants, and this includes drinking coffee.
Coffee and Liver Function
There is increasing scientific evidence to show that coffee may also help provide significant protection in many ways against the development of liver disease.
Coffee and Exercise Performance
Caffeine, at levels found in one cup of coffee, can both reduce the sensation of fatigue as well as enhance exercise performance.
Coffee and Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease is one of the most well known of all neurological disorders. There is a growing evidence from animal and human studies that not only can caffeine help relieve the symptoms associated with this disease, but can also have a protective effect on nerve cells. It would appear from many of these studies that coffee consumption also reduces or delays the development of the disease, with caffeine being the most likely factor
Coffee and Diabetes
The growing body of published research suggests that, alongside other lifestyle measures such as weight control and exercise, regular coffee drinking may also have a protective effect against developing Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of this disease.
Coffee and Cancer
Since 1991, the results of studies have shown data about four main cancer sites that would be of interest to coffee drinkers. They are bowel (colorectal), pancreatic, bladder and liver cancers.
For more information about the benefits of coffee, please visit positivelycoffee.org or coffeescience.org. Both these sites give details about the benefits as well as access to the studies.
