Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Short take : Cuppa Hubba-Hubba!


Inside my head, I was leaping for joy when I first got wind of this article from a friend who, like me, shares an unswerving passion for coffee. It does vindicate my long-held beliefs about the wonderful properties of caffeine and in particular, coffee.

And in light of recent developments with respect to my knee, it behooves me to highlight this point :

Bone loss. Though some observational studies have linked caffeinated beverages to bone loss and fractures, human physiological studies have found only a slight reduction in calcium absorption and no effect on calcium excretion, suggesting the observations may reflect a diminished intake of milk-based beverages among coffee and tea drinkers.

As long as you are taking the recommended amount of calcium and drink your coffee with milk (read: less of the black or 'O' version), the possible bone loss can be prevented. I hear you loud and clear here!

It should also be noted that coffee's effects on the risk of developing pancreatic cancer or kidney cancer have thus far been inconclusive. Nor there is a link between consumption of caffeinated drinks and breast cancer.

Holding sugar intake constant, another great news concern diabetes :
Another review found that compared with noncoffee drinkers, people who drank four to six cups of coffee a day, with or without caffeine, had a 28 percent lower risk of Type 2 diabetes. This benefit probably comes from coffee’s antioxidants and chlorogenic acid.

Amidst of these great benefits of coffee, there is however one low point pertaining to weight loss. Contrary to popular belief, there isn't a long-term benefit to losing weight despite caffeine's so-called metabolism-accelerating properties.

If that is the case, it will be back to the drawing board for me. Clearly, there is no short-cuts to maintaining or shedding one's weight. I had always thought coffee would fend off gaining at least some kilos.

While I am more than elated with this piece of news, I would still tread with caution with respect to my daily coffee consumption. As life has shown me, too much of something is never good! (Unless of course you're talking about clothes :P )

Image filched from here.

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