FCI Staff Writer Sacramento 
fciwoenswrestling.com article, spoonuniversity.com photo
We love our coffee but keep wondering if our coffee loves us? Does it?
It depends upon who you ask or what survey that you listen to.
For example on November 15, 2015, nationalpost.com reported, “When an expert federal panel concluded earlier this year that drinking five cups of coffee a day can be part of a “healthy lifestyle,” even hinting that coffee is good for you, the announcement prompted a glut of headlines extolling the national habit.”
So far so good but in the same article they added, “In research not cited by the advisory committee, scientists have identified at least one specific location in the genome – a single nucleotide out of roughly three billion – that determines whether a person processes caffeine quickly or slowly. And in those with the gene variant for handling caffeine slowly – roughly 50 percent of people – more coffee has been linked in separate studies to a higher risk of hypertension and heart attacks. Unfortunately, because genetic testing is expensive and rarely done, most people have little idea which gene variant they carry.”
We would like to invite you to read the opinion of a guest speaker and then share a summary with you.
Does Coffee Have Any Antioxidant Benefits?
By: Aaron Matthews Morgan
Before we get all excited over the recent news about coffee being our new antioxidant, we need to take a look at the entire picture. Is there truly a coffee antioxidant? If there is, how exactly is coffee an antioxidant? Does it become the antioxidant when it’s heated? Does the coffee antioxidant benefit everyone? Are there still dangers to drinking coffee? How much coffee is good for us and when does it become bad for us?
Brewed coffee contains many antioxidants and consumption of antioxidant-rich brewed coffee may inhibit diseases caused by oxidative damages. Antioxidants are said to be an inhibitor of certain types of diseases. However, coffee beans are not all alike. Not all coffee beans are of the same quality or even the same make up. Sort of like comparing tennis shoes to sandals. Both go on your feet, but they are not made up of the same components.
You can actually break coffee down into several different water-soluble components.
The dietary fiber derived from roasted coffee silver skin. This is one component of the coffee bean that has high antioxidant content. This is how the scientists find out about the antioxidant benefits of coffee in their studies. What they do in fact is the break down the coffee beans into different components. They filter out the components that the coffee antioxidant is found in, and then they test lab rats in a variety of experiments to determine how well they survive with or without the various additives in their diet. When they discover something really swell, like a coffee antioxidant, our culture of coffee drinking addicts suddenly becomes a feverish mob.
For years and years we’ve heard bad things about coffee. For example: it’s bad for your heart, increases blood pressure, may cause breast cancer, probably keeps you awake at night, and my personal favorite, has a poisonous gas when brewed. When the world of coffee addicts even gets a tiny hint that coffee could have something beneficial, believe me they don’t just drink more coffee, they try to get everyone to join them. So, here we now have scientific studies proving to us that coffee has antioxidants.
Researchers have identified several compounds in coffee that create a coffee antioxidant. Why would this be of interest to us? Because scientific studies are showing that antioxidants may help prevent cancer. You see the connection here. However, until human studies are done, science cannot state exactly how much coffee must be consumed in order gain this protection against colon cancer or any other type of cancer. Before the coffee is roasted the antioxidant benefits are varied. However, once the coffee is roasted and served as a drink things get evened out. They all seem to have the same degrees of antioxidants.
Some studies suggest coffee having other benefits such as added fertility in men and some benefits for those suffering from diabetes. You’ll have to read those studies on your own. The fact that a coffee antioxidant exists may be true, but the reality is that coffee can be just as harmful if your body doesn’t like it, if you consume too much, if you have high blood pressure, and if it keeps you awake at night. Is there truly a coffee antioxidant? Yes, but the actual amount needed to be consumed in order to receive the anti-cancer benefits by humans is unknown. How exactly is coffee an antioxidant?[adToAppearHere]
Coffee alone isn’t the antioxidant, its several different components that are part of the coffee bean. Roasting and heating the coffee changes the total antioxidant output. Does it become the antioxidant when it’s heated? It seems that although some coffee beans like green coffee beans may be higher in antioxidants that other more common beans, once they are roasted and heated for consumption, the results are the same regarding the antioxidant benefits. Does the coffee antioxidant benefit everyone? Honestly, this is NOT a question easily answered.
In fact, the truth is it is still unknown just how beneficial coffee antioxidants are for humans. Are there still dangers to drinking coffee? Yes, of course there is. If you have high blood pressure and you have seen how coffee enhances this problem, you know it’s bad for YOU personally. If you can’t get proper sleep or you drive everyone around you nuts because you can’t sit still or shut-up, you know coffee is bad for you.[adToAppearHere]
Use common sense and listen to your body. Coffee is not good for everyone and unknown just how good for anyone. How much coffee is good for us and when does it become bad for us? Again drink coffee in moderation, pay attention to your own body. Exercise and good eating habits are a far better way to get healthy than drinking 10 cups of cappuccino a day. All things in moderation. After reading everything about this new thing called a coffee antioxidant I have decided that there are better ways of getting antioxidants into my blood.
Coffee may have many benefits, but so does water and it is possible to drown from drinking too much water. Yes, I know, you have to really drink a lot to accomplish this, but it’s the principle of the matter. Too much of anything is not a good thing.”
Good to know. Thanks Aaron.
Here is a summary found at mayoclinic.org, a group that always seems to bring common sense and balance to a subject. “Coffee has a long history of being blamed for many ills — from stunting your growth to claims that it causes heart disease and cancer. But recent research indicates that coffee may not be so bad after all. So which is it — good or bad? The best answer may be that for most people the health benefits outweigh the risks.”
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Sources: brainyquote.com, Wikipedia, fciwomenswrestling2.com, FCI Elite Competitor, photos thank you Wikimedia Commons.
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/food_and_drink/article_1828.shtml
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