A couple years ago I’d had it up to here with the constant stream of pseudo-scientific disinformation coming out of the camp of one or another self-proclaimed “nutritionist” who had clearly made it a cause célèbre to give coffee a bad rap. And so I researched and wrote a fairly exhaustive (hey, it exhausted *me* at the time) article — The Facts: Coffee, Caffeine, Nutrition and Health.
Two years on and now The New York Times is taking up the cause — and on the reasonable side of the matter. Good on them.
Several good studies have linked regular coffee consumption to a reduced risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer and, in men and in women who have not taken postmenopausal hormones, Parkinson’s disease.
Most studies have not linked a high intake of either coffee or caffeine to heart disease, even though caffeinated coffee raises blood pressure somewhat and boiled unfiltered coffee (French-pressed and espresso) raises harmful LDL and total cholesterol levels.
Caffeine itself is not thought to be a problem for health or water balance in the body, up to 400 milligrams a day (the amount in about 30 ounces of brewed coffee). But pregnant women should limit their intake because more than 300 milligrams a day might increase the risk of miscarriage and low birth weight, the panel said.
Mice prone to an Alzheimer’s-like disease were protected by drinking water spiked with caffeine equivalent to what people get from five cups of coffee a day. And a study of more than 600 men suggested that drinking three cups of coffee a day protects against age-related memory and thinking deficits.
Now that they’ve cleared that up, I understand there’s a little dust-up over at the Justice Department they might want to have a look at…
Nice post until you couldn’t resist making the moonbat comment at the end.
BDS is a sad thing.
I make most every effort to keep Bloggle apolitical. You’ve no idea how hard that can be some days… harder still on others. In the end, though, it’s my web site and I’ll write what I want to.
If you don’t like the commentary here, just move along… maybe Free Republic is more your speed. I’m to understand they use very small words.
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