Side Effects Of Coffee On Health Revealed

When it comes to the popular morning beverage... there's more good news than bad news. A German study that included over 40,000 subjects and lasted almost a decade has found that the side effects of coffee produce no more risk of chronic illnesses (heart disease, cancer) plus coffee drinkers are also less likely to be diagnosed with troublesome type 2 diabetes than non coffee drinkers.

These new findings come after many earlier studies have brought conflicting reports - some suggesting coffee drinking brought a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer and more.

To address this challenge, the German study looked at all different chronic diseases during the same time period to see the effect on health of drinking coffee.

The researchers collected data on people's coffee drinking habits, as well as diet, exercise and overall health from over 42,000 adults who were taking part in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study and were free of any chronic health problems at the start of the project.

Over the following nine years, researchers followed up on participants to see if they'd been diagnosed with any health problems. The team was particularly interested in reports of heart disease, occurrences of stroke, heart attacks, diabetes or cancer.

They saw that both coffee drinkers and those who were not had the same risks of getting one of these diseases. For example, just over 10% of both coffee (over than four cups per day) and non-coffee drinkers ended up developing a chronic disease.

Read More..

Tips for Health-Conscious Coffee Lovers

A recent Washington Post article discussing the effects of various foods on heart health identified the greatest health risk of coffee to be weight gain from blended coffee beverages packed with empty calories from sugar and dairy fat. Lately, it seems the creator and biggest purveyor of the beverages has been trying to rise above criticism they're as guilty as McDonalds and other fast food chains for contributing to high rates of obesity and diet-related diseases.

Along with introducing oatmeal to its menu, Starbucks published guides to "20 Drinks Under 200 Calories" as well as "Favorite Foods Under 350 calories" on its website. Unfortunately, Starbucks plays down the healthiest beverages (full-leaf teas, brewed coffee, espresso, caffe Americano, etc.) which all have under 10 calories. For example--if you've grown tired of Pike Place Roast--I bet you didn't know you can order any beans Starbucks carries be prepared with a French-press?

Adding milk or cream and sugar to brewed coffee is so commonplace among Starbucks' U.S. customers, the baristas "leave room" for milk in the cup by default. No wonder hard-core coffee drinkers (those who know the difference between an ibrik and a v60) don't take the chain seriously, especially after it introduced the lightly-roasted Blonde coffee (now its most popular), further blurring the line with pedestrian coffee.
Of course, only Starbucks' pure coffees/teas and those made with soymilk--instead of dairy milk--are of any interest to those on a whole foods plant-based diet (those who haven't given up caffeine, at least).According to Starbucks U.S. website, a tall-size (12 fl oz/355 ml) whole milk contains 240 calories and 13g of fat. Its custom-blended soymilk contains more calories and saturated fat than skim milk (210 calories and 6g fat vs. 140 and 0g) and even slightly more calories than low-fat* milk (200). However, soymilk contains no cholesterol (vs 5g for non-fat milk) and does contain fiber, a beneficial nutrient found only in plant-based foods.

*Nutritional values may vary, as low-fat milk is created by the barista in each store mixing whole milk and non-fat milk.
Ironically, many omnivores substitute soymilk for dairy milk because they believe it's healthier, or for the taste and variation, while still topping their beverage with dairy whip cream. Even if you question whether soymilk is a healthier or safer alternative to cow's milk, I would still choose soymilk for the humane aspects alone.

Starbucks "Delicious Drinks" list contains 3 cold drinks and 5 hot drinks that are vegan-friendly:
Shaken Tazo Iced Passion Tea--0 calories
Shaken Tazo Iced Black Tea Lemonade--100 calories
Iced Coffee (with classic syrup)--60 calories
Brewed Coffee--5 calories
Brewed Tazo Tea--0 calories
Caffe Americano--10 calories
Steamed Apple Juice--170 calories
Soy Chai Tea Latte--170 calories

Read More..