THE BENEFITS

• ANTIOXIDANT

Coffee beans are one of the richest dietary sources of chlorogenic acid and for many consumers this will be their major dietary source. It has been reported that a 200 ml cup of Arabica coffee contains between 70 and 200 mg chlorogenic acid whereas a cup of Robusta coffee contains between 70 and 350 mg. It has been estimated that coffee drinkers might ingest as much as 1 g per day cinnamate esters (mostly chlorogenic acid) and 500 mg per day cinnamates (mostly caffeic acid). Coffee could supply as much as 70% of the total making it far and away the most important dietary source of this group of antioxidants. The roasting of coffee beans dramatically increases their total antioxidant activity. A roasting time of 10 minutes (medium-dark roast) was found to produce coffee with optimal oxygen scavenging and chain breaking activities in vitro.

• ALLERTNESS

There are a large number of studies showing that caffeine increases alertness. Effects of caffeine on alertness are often more easy to demonstrate in subjects in a state of low alertness. Thus caffeine can counteract the effects on alertness of benzodiazepine administration, the early morning, night-time working, a cold or sleep loss.

• ANTIDIABETIC

One study reported that coffee consumption improved glucose tolerance whereas two other studies reported that coffee consumption resulted in a deterioration in glucose tolerance. In addition, a single dose of 200 mg caffeine has been shown to impair glucose tolerance in 30 healthy subjects. The available results on effects of coffee or caffeine intake on glucose tolerance are also contradictory.

• STIMULANT

Coffee contains caffeine, which acts as a stimulant. For this reason, it is often consumed in the morning and during working hours. Students preparing for examinations with late-night "cram sessions" frequently use coffee to keep themselves awake. Many office workers take a "coffee break" when their energy is diminished.

Recent research has uncovered additional stimulating effects of coffee which are not related to its caffeine content. Coffee contains an as yet unknown chemical agent which stimulates the production of cortisone and adrenaline, two stimulating hormones.

• COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE

Many people drink coffee for its ability to increase short term recall and increase IQ. In tests of simple reaction time, choice reaction time, incidental verbal memory, and visuo spatial reasoning, participants who regularly drank coffee were found to perform better on all tests, with a positive relationship between test scores and the amount of coffee regularly drunk. Elderly participants were found to have the largest effect associated with regular coffee drinking. Another study found that women over the age of 80 performed significantly better on cognitive tests if they had regularly drunk coffee over their lifetimes

• REDUCE ALZHEIMER’S DESEASE RISK

Several studies comparing moderate coffee drinkers (about 2 cups a day) with light coffee drinkers (less than one cup a day) found that those who drank more coffee were significantly less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease later in life.

• REDUCE ASTHMA DESEASE RISK

A study of 72,284 Italians showed that there was an inverse association between intake of coffee and prevalence of asthma. Risk of asthma fell by 28% when three or more cups of coffee were drunk every day. The Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II) studied 20,322 Americans and found that risk of current asthma fell significantly by 29% and risk of wheeze fell insignificantly by 13% when regular coffee drinkers were compared with non-coffee drinkers.

• HEADACHE MEDICATION

Coffee contains caffeine, which increases the effectiveness of pain killers, especially migraine and headache medications. For this reason, many over-the-counter headache drugs include caffeine in their formula.

• REDUCE GALLSTONE DESEASE RISK

Drinking caffeinated coffee has been correlated with a lower incidence of gallstones and gallbladder disease in both men and women in two studies performed by the Harvard School of Public Health. A lessened risk was not seen in those who drank decaffeinated coffee.

• REDUCE PARKINSON’S DESEASE RISK

A large prospective study consisting of 29,335 Finnish subjects found a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease among habitual coffee drinkers. A further study consisting of 6710 men and women, also conducted in Finland, reported similar findings and concluded that 'The results support the hypothesis that coffee consumption reduces the risk of Parkinson's disease, but that the protective effect of coffee may vary by exposure to other factors'.

• PROTECT AGAINST LIVER CIRRHOSIS

Two studies, each on the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program cohort in California, originally demonstrated that coffee drinking might protect against liver cirrhosis. In the first study, 59 cases of liver cirrhosis were diagnosed and it was shown that subjects who drank four or more cups of coffee per day had 80% less chance of developing liver cirrhosis than non-coffee drinkers. In the second study, it was reported that coffee drinkers had 23% less chance of dying from liver cirrhosis than non-coffee drinkers. A third cohort study of 51,306 Norwegian adults which diagnosed 53 case of liver cirrhosis showed inverse associations between total and alcoholic liver cirrhosis mortality and coffee consumption.

• PREVENTION OF DENTAL CARIES

The tannins in coffee may reduce the cariogenic potential of foods. In vitro experiments have shown that these polyphenolic compounds may interfere with glucosyltransferase activity of mutans streptococci, which may reduce plaque formation. In rat experiments, tea polyphenols reduced caries.

Caffeine is not recognised as a drug of abuse and there is no evidence for caffeine dependence. Some particularly sensitive people may suffer mild symptoms of withdrawal after sudden abstention from coffee drinking. A 150 ml cup of instant coffee contains about 60mg caffeine and filter coffee contains about 85 mg. For those who like coffee but are sensitive to caffeine, the decaffeinated beverage contains only 3 mg per cup. ( taken from Wikipedia and CoSIC web site )

But, everything has positive and negative side and so has coffee. Beside its benefits, there are also risks. And that, will be discuss next.