So, I haven’t blogged in a while but I’m back and ready to write! I wanted to tackle a topic that the health community goes back and forth on almost as much as ‘margarine or butter?’ COFFEE: TO DRINK OR NOT TO DRINK?
It’s 6 AM and I’m enjoying an amazing cup of Green Mountain ‘Dark Magic’ from my Keurig single-cup brewer (the darling stand out gift of Christmas ’09)….
Keurig Single-Cup Brewer
Green Mountain Coffee
So, I’m telling you right up front that if I preached to stay away from coffee I’d be a HUGE hypocrite. I love coffee. I love the ambiance of coffee–the smell, the steam, the conversation it evokes when you go to Starbucks with a girlfriend or colleague. Oh, and the way its caffeine makes my 7:00 AM run that much easier.
Starbucks
Starbucks
However, I’ve read so many diet and fitness books shunning coffee because of its addictive properties. My view is that life is too damn short; I should tackle other things first (like my love of copious amounts of red wine) and if you like coffee–go for it. Just do it in moderation. I recently read an article in Prevention magazine that backed up my lack (and acceptance) of discipline with scientific fact! Whoo-Hoo! Starbucks sistas read on…
Compared with people who drink the least, here’s how your healthy habit stacks up:
At least 1 cup a day
– Lowers your risk of early death from all causes by 37%
At least 2 cups per day
– Reduces your risk of death from heart disease by 25%
At least 3 cups per day
– Slashes your risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s by 65%
4 or more cups per day
– Makes you 56% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes
I need to caution that if your heart feels like it’s going to jump out of your chest or you can’t sleep, forgo the coffee and pick up another habit. Sleep is the grand healer and anything that interferes with it should be canned. Finally, if you are concerned with your daily caffeine intake (it can sneak up on you with the sodas, teas and coffee we drink daily), use your Count Me Healthy bracelet to track your daily caffeinated beverages. It helps keep you accountable. Enjoy your week and remember to keep counting.
I cannot function in the morning without my coffee. My husband make my coffee in the morning and it is the one time all day that I get waited on and feel like a princess–so that might also be its allure–but I really do not feel ready to conquer the day until I have that cup o joe in the morning.
Caffeine is my drug of choice. I don’t drink or smoke. I LOVE having my two mugs of steaming hot coffee from my Keurig coffee maker, also Dark Magic from Green Mountain Coffee! My coffee in the morning brings me so much joy! My husband also makes me a cup of coffee if I haven’t gotten my own. It’s so nice to be waited on once in a while. I wait on everyone else all the time. 🙂
I love my coffee in the morning so much that there are nights that I look forward to waking up and enjoying it. So happy to read that there are benefits.
Thank you for this, as a fellow coffee enthusiast!
I am not sure if your source mentioned it or not, but 4-5 cups of coffee a day reduces the incidence of Gout by 40% with a 59% decrease with the consumption of greater than 6 cups. May seem random, but for something that is reported as being as painful as childbirth…I say drink up