I love coffee. To me it’s a magical elixir that helps me both wake up and not punch somebody in the face in the morning. But despite being many people’s caffeinated beverage of choice, few know just how good it is for you. So next time somebody goes on a rant about you should quit coffee, drop some of these knowledge bombs on them.
1. It helps to burn fat
There’s a reason why caffeine can be found in most fat burning supplements. In fact, it’s one of very few naturally occurring fat burning substances. Studies have shown that caffeine boosts your metabolic rate by 3–11%, and increases fat burning from 10–29%.
2. It increases physical performance
Get your minds out of the gutter, I mean with sport!
The caffeine in coffee can increase your adrenaline levels. Also, it can release fatty acids from your fat tissue by stimulating your nervous system. They then enter your blood stream and thus become available as fuel. It’s therefore hardly surprising that coffee can lead to significant improvements in physical performance. You can utilize it by having a cup roughly half an hour before hitting the gym or engaging in any exercise.
3. It reduces the risk of diabetes
Research has revealed that people who drink coffee are on average 25–50% less likely to get type 2 diabetes. Obviously, you’ll negate this risk if you add sugar to your coffee…so maybe don’t do that.
In addition to this, a 20-year study showed that diabetics who were coffee drinkers were 30% less likely to die from the disease.
4. It can make you smarter
There’s a reason that some of the world’s greatest revolutionaries sat around in coffee houses. We’ll ignore the fact that many of them were also smoking.
When a person consumes coffee, the caffeine within it blocks an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain called adenosine. This has a stimulant effect because more neurons in your brain begin firing, which leads to improved energy levels and brain function. Trials have shown that some of the improvements within the brain include memory, reaction time and general cognitive function.
5. Coffee is good for brain health
Research has shown that drinking coffee can help to prevent numerous neurological diseases, including those that are age related. Some of these include:
Despite the fact that there is no known cure for this disease, there are preventative measures you can take, such as eating healthy. Coffee drinkers can be up to 65% less likely to get Alzheimer’s.
- Parkinson’s Disease
Similar to the above, there still isn’t a cure for Parkinson’s. However, coffee drinkers are between 32% and 60% less likely to develop it. This has been attributed to the caffeine within the beverage itself, as decaf drinkers have not exhibited the same resistance.
6. It fights depression
Sorry all, these statistics may be a bit, well, depressing.
Research from Harvard has shown that women who drink four or more cups of coffee a day are approximately 20% less likely to suffer from depression. In addition to this, anyone who drinks four or more cups a day can be up to 53% less likely to commit suicide.
7. It could aid in the prevention of some cancers
Coffee seems to protect against two particular kinds of cancer—liver and colorectal. This a big deal, because they’re the third and fourth leading causes of cancer death, respectively. Research has shown that coffee drinkers can be up to 40% less likely to develop liver cancer and 15% less likely to develop colorectal cancer.
8. Coffee protects the liver
The liver is an important organ that helps hundreds of functions throughout the body. One of the worst diseases that can affect the liver is cirrhosis, which can be caused by things such as fatty liver disease and hepatitis. Surprisingly, studies have shown that people who drink four or more cups of coffee a day can be up to 80% less likely to develop cirrhosis.
9. Coffee increases energy
As previously mentioned, caffeine can effect your brain positively when you imbibe coffee. One of these effects is increased energy. This is why you feel so delightfully perky after a cup. Just be careful of the subsequent caffeine crash afterwards.
10. Increased Life Span
Considering that we’ve been discussing a bunch of rather bad things that coffee can prevent, it’s hardly surprising that it can subsequently extend your life span. In a particularly large-scale study, men who drank coffee had a 20% lower risk of death, whereas women were sitting at 26%. This study was conducted over time periods between 18 and 24 years.
11. It’s delicious
…no wait, you guys knew that.
Most of us consume it every day, but how much do we really know about caffeine?http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/these-10-facts-about-coffee-will-blow-your-mind.html 11 Surprising Benefits Of Coffee That Make It More IrresistableFeatured photo credit: Glenn Waters ぐれんin Japan. via photopin cc
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