Coffee is something that has had tremendous relevance and importance to me for a while now. When I was younger, I despised coffee. I can recall trying a sip of my dad’s black coffee when I was in my early teenage years and never wanting to have that awful, bitter taste in my mouth again; fast forward to now, I can’t imagine going without the stuff.
Granted, trying black coffee off the bat might not be the best way to work up a taste for it, but honestly, I think trying it black was a good choice for me. I only drink black coffee myself now, and seeing as dairy and I don’t get along the greatest, I think I may have saved myself some serious misery by avoiding adding any dairy to my coffee those years back.
Believe it or not, but I don’t drink coffee because of its caffeine content and the energy jolt it can provide some folks with. I’ve never gotten an energy boost from coffee, and I drink it because I enjoy the taste.
It seems like coffee is often getting a bad rap in the news regarding why we should refrain from drinking it and what not, but in case you were unaware, coffee offers quite a number of positive benefits to those who drink and enjoy it. The following information comes from rush.edu.
“1. Improve overall health: An analysis of nearly 220 studies on coffee, published in the BMJ in 2017, found that coffee drinkers may enjoy more overall health benefits than people who don’t drink coffee. The analysis found that during the study period, coffee drinkers were 17% less likely to die early from any cause, 19% less likely to die of heart disease and 18% less likely to develop cancer than those who don’t drink coffee.
“2. Protect against Type 2 diabetes: A 2014 study by Harvard researchers published in the journal Diabetologica tracked nearly 124,000 people for 16 to 20 years. Those who increased their coffee intake by more than a cup a day over a four-year period had an 11% lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes; those who decreased their intake by one cup per day had a 17% higher risk of developing the disease. The reason may be the antioxidants in coffee, which reduce inflammation (inflammation contributes to your Type 2 diabetes risk). If you already have Type 2 diabetes, however, you should avoid caffeinated products, including coffee. Caffeine has been shown to raise both blood sugar and insulin levels in people with the disease,” the web page explains.
Check back tomorrow for more reasons to keep guzzling that java.
Photo by Mike Kenneally on Unsplash
ontheedgeofeverything 