http://www.care2.com/greenliving/is-coffee-healthy.html
Is Coffee Healthy?
Q: Is coffee healthy? I’ve heard a cup a day is good for you but then I’ve been told to shy away from caffeine. What should I do?
A: I don’t think there’s sufficient evidence to actually make the claim that caffeine is “healthy”. However, there are studies to suggest that caffeine is not necessarily harmful to the body.
The well-respected Framingham Heart Study examined all potential links between caffeine intake and cardiovascular disease and found no harmful effects from drinking coffee.
However, if you are someone who suffers from sleeping problems, anxiety or tachycardia (a fast heart beat), then it might be wise to reduce your consumption.
Dr. Brent Ridge is the health expert for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. You can call and ask him a question live every Tuesday at 2 p.m. Eastern on Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 112 (1.866.675.6675). You can also follow along as he learns to grow his own food and raise goats on his farm in upstate New York by visiting www.beekman1802.com.
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I've heard there are more antioxidants in coffee than in green tea! I'd love to know if that's true. Also I have acid reflux problems sometimes. Coffee has no affect on this problem although if I drink tea I do have problems!
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caffeine indeed is a diuretic. however, with normal renal function, nutrients are not 'washed away'. And some of the effect is due to the water in the cup. caffeine is a theophylline derivative and does have a positive effect on airway function. as a mild stimulant, there is a wild thought it may help people focus on tasks, but that is a wild one. the oils are something else; I have read conflicting reports as to the positive vs negative effects of the oils in coffee that come through presses, as opposed to drip filters. and it is a gastric irritant. in cumulative concentrations, gastritis to ulcer to perforation may occur, but that is relatively easy to protect and prevent. I roast, grind, and press my own single origin beans and want to try the Chemex.
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A minority of people like me are slow metabolizers of coffee. I can't drink even weak tea without heart racing and overstimulation that keeps me up hours past normal bedtime.
I also had an adverse reaction to a quinone prescribed for me and I understand quinones have a chemical similarity to caffeine. We need more research on minority reactions to both caffeine and quinones, or publicize what research has been done. Even if most people can handle some substance, that doesn't mean everybody can.
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Coffee is a diuretic - it may not be harmful to you directly but it is indirectly. Drinking too much can wash away much needed nutrients.
Remember the key to everything in life - moderation is good!
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I believe that any health benefits ascribed to coffee would be contingent not only to caffeine but upon the highly volatile, essential oils found in freshly ground beans. They are lost when coffee is commercially processed.
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