Thursday, August 14, 2008
Ah, sweet java
…Jerry Seinfeld used to have a routine about how everyone always offered him coffee and he didn’t like coffee. Poor baby.
…Anyone can offer HA coffee. She loves it! And she has never believed coffee doesn’t count as fluid for hydration because it’s a diuretic or that it raises BP.
…But is it really a health drink? Jane E. Brody tackles this in the NYT, Aug 5, 2008.
…She agrees it’s a myth that coffee does not count as a fluid to hydrate you. They did a study—people drinking 550 mg of caffeine produced no more urine than when drinking caffeine-free fluids. (A Starbucks Grande is 330 mgs.)
…Coffee also does not produce heart disease, according to another study. “Little or no evidence it causes heart disease or even weird heart rhythms." The big Iowa Women’s Health Study showed three cups a day reduced cardiovascular disease by 24%.
…Caff can cause a small temporary rise in BP, but a nurse study showed those who drank it were no more likely over the long haul to develop high blood pressure.
…Despite a scare about this, other studies have shown coffee probably does not cause pancreatic or kidney cancer.
…There is only a slightly increased chance of bone loss or decreased calcium absorption.
…Alas, however, although coffee speeds up metabolism, it probably does not increase weight loss.
…But it sure does increase alertness and enhance mood!
…And drinking the caffeine kind may even cut the risk of Parkinson’s by almost a third and Type 2 diabetes by 28%.
…So, who's pouring?