Coffee coo

Coffee. It is for many of us our morning drug. We cannot function without a cup ? it?s one of the reasons we pry ourselves out of bed each morning.

Think you?re hooked? Not to worry ? in spite of the big myth that coffee is not good for you, research in fact tells us the opposite.

There are many other hidden benefits of the ?black stuff?. According to Scranton University research, coffee protects against everything from cancer to heart disease as it offers a significant source of antioxidants. 

Here?s why consuming coffee is no bad thing:

Mental benefits

?      According to a recent study, researchers discovered that participants who drank three to five cups of coffee per day had about a 65% decreased chance of developing Alzheimer?s disease or dementia later in life.

?      One to two cups of coffee before chores can increase your short-term recall and improve alertness, according to a University of Arizona study.

?      Harvard researchers also found that drinking four cups a day can halve your risk of developing Parkinson?s disease.

Physical benefits 

?      Coffee is fantastic in contributing to the prevention of type 2 diabetes. A study of 43,000 people, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that regular coffee consumption was associated with a notable decreased risk of type 2 diabetes.

?      Out of 457,000 participants published in the journal of the American Medical Association found that each cup of coffee we drink a day can be linked to a 7% reduction in type 2 diabetes risk.

?      US scientists at Brooklyn College found men who drank four cups of caffeinated coffee a day had a 53% lower risk of dying of heart disease.

?      Caffeine?s a proven appetite suppressant. Drinking six cups a day (in conjunction with exercise, of course) and a low-fat diet can boost fat burning by up to an extra fifth!

*Know your limits 

?      A National Institutes of Health ? AARP Diet and Health study of more than 400,000 people revealed that participants drinking even just one daily cup reduced their risk of death by 6%.

?      Drinking either two to three cups or six or more cups reduced the risk by 10% during the timeframe of the study.

These findings confirm that coffee isn?t quite as bad for you as we have in the past been lead to believe. That?s not to say there aren?t negative effects – headaches can be the result of caffeine intake.

So, if you do have a penchant for ?the black stuff?, keep it black in order to keep the good anti-oxidant qualities intact. By adding milk the protein will bind to coffee?s flavonoids.