The Health Benefits of Drinking Coffee

Here's a blog post about the health benefits of our favorite addiction. Jake, whose name rhymes with cake we are told, is a professional triathelete, and I'm sure such people are driven not only to excessive exericse, but also to finding out all there is to know about health, fitness, and the effects of the stuff that they shove into their ever-hungy mouths. And Jake has the facts, figures, and diagrams to reassure us what we've always wanted to be reasurred about: coffee is good for us in so many ways, and we'll all live longer, healthier and happier lives for being coffee addicts. As Jake tells us: "habitual coffee drinkers are half as likely to die of heart failure as those who don't fill their mug daily. And while caffeine spikes blood sugar, a java habit may help you dodge diabetes."

Thanks, Jake! I'll drink to that!

Coffee as Medicine

I've finished my bowl of cereal, fruit and yogurt, have taken my vitamins, and now I'm taking my coffee. Yes, that's right, I'm "taking" my coffee. Coffee is medicine after all. It's good for your sense of well-being and in a long line of news stories about how coffee can be good for you, not bad for you, I came across yet another in this morning's LA Times. In a small piece titled "Caffeine, exercise may fight cancer" the piece reports that exercise combined with moderate caffeine consumption could help prevent the occurrence of skin cancer. In a study done by Rutgers University, NJ, the scientists found that rats could reduce the likelihood of pre-cancerous sun-damaged cells from becoming cancerous by 100% if the rats either exercised or drank caffeine. However, when both the exercise and caffeine were combined, the preventative qualities of the combo raised the efficacy to a whopping 400%

Well I should be a good case study for this. Growing up in New Zealand, like all others of my generation, I experienced severe over-exposure to the sun as a kid and carry the evidence on my skin. But I do exercise and I do drink caffeine - perhaps sometimes to excess. So if any scientists are interested in meeting me, here I am... Meantime, once you finish taking your daily dose of caffeine, don't forget to get out of that chair or up off that couch and do some exercise.

Coffee a Lifesaver

The journal Nature reported on April 1st that a technique using enzymes to convert type A, B, and AB to type O will potentially eliminate the constant shortage of blood. Blood types A, B, and AB carry proteins that cause hyperallergic responses typically resulting in death when given to people with a different blood type. Since blood type O is absent these proteins, anyone can safely be given type O blood. The idea of such antigen-stripping goes back to the early 1980s, when it was discovered that an enzyme in coffee beans removes B antigens from red blood cells.

Coffee to the rescue once again! Now I know why my blood is type O; it's all the coffee I drink!