This “Addiction” Can Save Your Life!
Dear Reader,
It’s amazing to me how many seniors have given up coffee “on doctor’s orders.”
I guess those doctors must be reading different medical research than I am.
Because I personally start each day with a steaming mug of coffee.
And it’s not for the morning pick-me-up… it’s because coffee is one of the healthiest drinks on the planet.
Coffee addicts of the world rejoice!
Studies show that coffee can improve brain function, help you burn fat, improve physical performance, and protect your liver. Coffee drinkers have a much lower risk of numerous diseases, including cancer.
And the biggest benefit of all: Coffee can help you live longer.
A study published in the journal Circulation examined the effect of coffee intake on mortality, and it clearly showed that drinking coffee reduces your risk of dying early.
In this large study, which examined 200,000 people from three large clinical trials, those who drank up to 5 cups of coffee reduced morality by 5-9 percent. And when they took smokers out of the equation, that reduction jumped to 15 percent.
A closer look at the numbers revealed that coffee was specifically reducing cardiovascular and neurological disease.
And previous studies have shown that compounds in coffee improve blood sugar and insulin sensitivity, and reduce the risk of diabetes (a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease). They have also shown that coffee reduces the risk of Parkinson’s disease, suicide, and symptoms of depression.
How can coffee be such a life-saver?
For starters, the 3.1 cups per day that the average coffee drinker consumes is the largest source of antioxidants in the American diet. Compounds in coffee also protect DNA, affect cell signaling, protect good bacteria, and are potent free radical scavengers.
Most recently, a study showed that caffeine has anti-inflammatory properties that help counter an inflammatory process that can drive the development of cardiovascular disease.
But caffeine is only one piece of the puzzle. There are more than 1,000 different phytochemicals in coffee, which means we’ve just barely scratched the surface of understanding exactly how coffee achieves these remarkable benefits.
So there you have it, folks. Being healthy doesn’t have to mean doing away with everything you love.
You can live longer, healthier—and happier—by drinking coffee.
As with everything, not all coffee is the same. I drink organic coffee because it reduces my exposure to toxic chemicals. It’s also better for the environment and for the coffee farmer’s health.
One word of caution: People with adrenal fatigue can have a problem with the caffeine in coffee and need to address that first. Decaffeinated coffee has shown similar benefits to regular coffee in many studies. But if you’re drinking decaf coffee, make sure a natural decaffeination method using water was used, and not the chemical methods.
To a brighter day,
Dr. Richard Gerhauser, M.D.
