Coffee – the hidden health benefits
As well as the taste, the aroma and ever welcome caffeine-hit that coffee provides, let us not forget the health benefits that are obtained whilst you’re enjoying that warm mug of coffee.
That breakfast caffeine boost is not just the only thing you are providing your body with, more and more research is beginning to emerge that highlights the tangible health benefits that coffee provides.
Importantly, it doesn’t even have to be drunk by the gallon. As little as one cup of coffee a day has been shown to significantly contribute towards your wellbeing.
400 billion cups of coffee are drunk around the world every year, and this is a low estimate of the amount of coffee drank, but what makes our favourite drink so special?
Coffee lowers the chance of diabetes
Coffee may protect against type-2 diabetes, with researchers at UCLA finding that coffee increases plasma levels of the protein sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). This hormone controls your body’s sex hormones (testosterone and estrogen) prominent in the development of type-2 diabetes.
The researchers found that the participants who increased their coffee intake by more than one cup a day over a 4-year period had an 11% lower type-2 diabetes risk over the subsequent 4 years, compared with people who did not change their caffeine intake.
Coffee reduces risk of Parkinson’s disease
Researchers in the U.S. carried out a study that assessed the link between coffee consumption and Parkinson’s disease risk. This study revealed that a higher coffee consumption in a person’s diet was associated with a significantly lower incidence rate of Parkinson’s disease.
A further study proved that caffeine my even help control movement in those suffering from Parkinson’s disease. This study was conducted by the McGill University Health Centre, and published in the journal of Neurology.
Coffee can reduce chance of liver cancer
A group of Italian researchers found that coffee consumption lowers the risk of liver cancer by up to 40%, with three cups of coffee a day reducing the risk by a further 10% to 50% less likely to develop liver cancer.
Stroke risk reduced by drinking coffee
Well, recent research has indicated that coffee can, first of all, decrease the risk of strokes by up to 30%, despite it having previously been thought that this could only be achieved by drinking more than just one cup.
It would also appear that it doesn’t matter whether you drink black or white, high-octane or decaf, the same effect will be generated.
Those consuming more than one cup a day may experience further benefits. Drinking three cups a day has been proven to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s. Between two and three cups a day is said to cause a reduction in the overall risk of death by 18% in women and a rather more modest but nevertheless welcome 3% in men.
If all this isn’t enough to convince you that coffee is a superdrink, then maybe the fact that coffee is an exceptional low calorie option. Containing around 2 calories in a typical cup of black coffee, but remember that adding milk and sugar substantially increases the calorie content.
Take a look at our fantastic range of coffee beans which we think should be re-labelled a ‘superfood’!