Many of us were drilled to believe that coffee (and tea) and caffeine were health no-no's and should be avoided.
For quite some time now, I have re-evaluated coffee and tea and I feel that it may well be interesting to you to consider some research, data and viewpoints.
It has been observed that many of the longest lived people on planet Earth drink coffee or tea at intervals through the day. That type of data generally makes me consider that the item being considered may, at the least, be unlikely to be a life-shortener.
For many years it has been known that coffee will stimulate the production of adrenal hormones and for this reason any conclusion I submit here would be to use moderate amounts of coffee or tea (as for example 3-4 times/day). Not massive intake. To overdose on too much of these seems to court adrenal and other hormonal ill effects. And if you know of my successful health strategies with my patients, adrenal "wake-up" and rebuilding are a corner post of many health programs. Adrenal burn-out is epidemic and the underlying key factor in many pain, blood sugar, headache, migraine, inflammatory, allergic, asthmatic, autoimmune errors which go by myriads of names and diagnoses. (For more on this topic go to Dr Arlo Gordin on YouTube and watch my presentations of 1) Glandular Understanding and 2) Energy Blood Sugar and the Zone (adrenals covered in worthwhile detail there).
I am a board certified Anti-Aging physician through the Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. Our brain division is involved in many fascinating areas of brain understanding and preventing/reversing the unwanted effects of aging on our brains; certainly one area of anti-aging that all of us would hope to benefit from.
Loss of memory, slowing thought, brain "aging", Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s: Some of our top researchers observe that in our brains (electrical organs as they are) as we age they drop in both electrical voltage and speed. The consideration that these electrical slowdowns eventually make the firing of brain synapses slower, and when electrically challenged to exceedingly low power and speed, impede the brain's most basic activity: to fire and to work.
Strategies to speed up and up-power the brain are one area of current anti-aging activity.
Simply speaking, coffee is found to speed up brain activity. Studies state that coffee reduces risk of memory loss and Alzheimer’s. It is considered that coffee causes the quite valuable blood-brain barrier to remain more impervious to degrading and it’s use is linked to better mood and less depression. Coffee appears to reduce the creation of plaques in the brain, considered the diagnostic mark of Alzheimer’s Disease.¹ Coffee has been studied and seems to prevent or diminish risk of death — it has been studied to provide a 15% reduction in cardiovascular disease. Studies have demonstrated that coffee use reduces incidence of high blood sugar and diabetes (a devastating disease and the most expensive disease to pay for in America; also an epidemic worldwide). This as well as, some studies show, reducing the incidence of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.²
Although you can read health and scientific opinions that coffee can either kill you or help you stay young alert and healthy, I've long made my own and current evaluation of the data and opinion.
My espresso maker gets hot several times daily and has for years.
References
1. “Coffee Combats Alzheimer’s Risk.” WorldHealth, 2015, www.worldhealth.net/news/coffee-combats-
alzheimers-risk/.
2. “New Health Benefits from Daily Coffee - Life Extension.” Life Extension The Science of a Healthier Life,
2014, www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2014/7/new-health-benefits-from-daily-coffee/page-01.