Bottoms Up! Coffee’s Positive Health Benefits

This is a guest post by Gail Lamberth. Learn more about how you can guest post for Daily Shot Of Coffee.

The aroma wakes me up. It gently tugs at me until I can no longer resist the enticing fragrance. I have been married to this dear man for so long partly because he wakes up before I do and starts the coffee. I cannot remember when I did not drink coffee. Even my parents let me steal tiny sips when I was little. I know I love it because my mother drank so much of it when she was pregnant. Like mother like daughter.

For a long time I have been worried by the negative impact coffee might be having on my body. However, it appears that coffee might not be so bad for you after all or, at least, not all bad. Research and observation are revealing the possible benefits of that delicious cup of java.

There is some evidence that suggests coffee drinkers are less likely to experience heart arrhythmias. This type of heart malfunction can be a precursor to a heart attack or stroke. I think the caffeine energizes those of us who indulge, and we are more active than others are. Granted, my opinion is biased, but that does not mean it is wrong.

While I realize caffeine can raise blood pressure and levels of adrenaline, coffee drinkers do not chug a cup of coffee the way those who drink soft drinks often do. That slow and steady ingestion of caffeine may mean we are getting more of the benefits and fewer of the problems associated with caffeine. All I know is that it gets and keeps me going. It clears my head, and it makes me feel more creative and enthusiastic. I feel it makes me more productive. I only drink four cups a day, and that starts at 7:00 a.m. and ends with dinner. That spreads the caffeine over more than 12 hours. I have no trouble sleeping, so I think caffeine is off the hook there.

There is also some kind of relationship between coffee drinkers and the development of Type 2 Diabetes. It appears that coffee drinkers, especially those who drink several cups a day, have a significantly lower chance of developing this horrible, destructive disease. I am thinking of adding another cup to my day. I have a friend who only likes her coffee in ice cream. She asked if I thought she could get enough of the good stuff coffee has if she ate enough ice cream. I told her I thought she would put on so much weight, it would probably, forgive the pun, outweigh the benefits.

Coffee has been mentioned as possibly having a positive effect with respect to developing Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, and other forms of dementia. If that is true, perhaps science will develop “coffee” pills for those who just cannot develop a taste for the beverage. For myself, I will rely on that good old cup of joe. Cheers.

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Gail Lamberth teaches online at The College City. All she will say is, “Don’t you dare touch my cup of coffee,” and you can quote her.

Photo byJerry Bunkers.