Sunday, August 7, 2011

Does Drinking Coffee Really Have Health Benefits?

By Ray Marsh


Millions of people in the world get up every morning with a cup of coffee. While it is common knowledge that the stimulant characteristic of coffee can help some people to be awake, there are other health risks that could come about from drinking a lot of coffee. Studies have shown some of the results of drinking coffee in moderate amounts may be advantageous to us. But on the other hand, some other effects of drinking a lot of coffee may be more harmful to your health than good. This article will look at a few of the other health effects that drinking coffee might have.

Methylpyridinium, a powerful antioxidant, is one of many ingredients in roasted coffee. Roasted coffee is the only food type where methylpyridinium is found in any significant quantity. In fact, it's not even present within raw coffee beans. It is the roasting process that creates the methylpyridinium. The compound in raw coffee beans is called trigonelline. When coffee beans are roasted, the trigonelline forms the strong antioxidant methylpyridinium. In addition to regularly brewed coffee this can be found in instant and decaf coffee. This type of antioxidant has been shown to protect the body against various forms of cancer.

Coffee is well known around the world for its effects as a stimulant. It is often used by people to help them feel more alert or stay awake. Many people use coffee to help them remain alert, attentive, and awake. This is especially true if you've had a restless night's sleep. The downside is that some people are easily overstimulated by drinking coffee. Symptoms of overstimulation included signs of anxiety and irritability. Overstimulation can inhibit your ability to deal with stress which makes the symptoms of anxiety even worse. Over a lengthy period of time, the constant overstimulation can actually lead to further health problems by exhausting the adrenal glands.

Unfortunately, the same effect can also lead to hypoglycemia, or very low blood sugar levels, in susceptible patients. Symptoms such as sweating, weakness, clammy skin, and heart palpitations are commonly associated with hypoglycemia. It's strongly advised that people already diagnosed with diabetes avoid coffee altogether.

Losing weight can be more difficult with the consumption of caffeine. Caffeine is proven to increase the risk of long term weight gain. At first you may feel as though you can lose weight drinking a couple cups every day. You could feel this as a result of water loss from the diuretic effects of coffee. Your caffeine consumption isn't helping your blood sugar levels either. You will likely feel more hungry sooner than you should as a result of this hormone.

It also won't help if you take cream and sugar in your coffee, as you'll be consuming extra sugar. In conclusion, research has shown that drinking some coffee may actually be good for your health. However, the same research also proves that drinking more than 3 cups of coffee per day may begin to increase the negative health risks that could arise. Be sure to limit the amount of coffee you drink to no more than 2 or 3 cups each day. Doing this lets you get the benefits of drinking the coffee without the potentially harmful side effects of drinking too much coffee.




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