Benefits of The Holy Brew (#1 :-))

As anyone who’s read here very much knows by now, I am a beer drinker for two very important reasons: good beer–as opposed to the stuff mass market beer manufacturers pour through horses–tastes good, and beer has many very positive health benefits (yeh, I know that’s redundant) when drunk in moderation (between 1 and 3 beers per day, depending on age and body mass).

But before I became a confirmed drinker of the number two “Holy Brew” I was long a confirmed drinker of the number one “Holy Brew”: coffee.

Here are a few noted health benefits of coffee:

At least six studies indicate that people who drink coffee on a regular basis are up to 80% less likely to develop Parkinson’s, with three showing the more they drink, the lower the risk. Other research shows that compared to not drinking coffee, at least two cups daily can translate to a 25% reduced risk of colon cancer, an 80% drop in liver cirrhosis risk, and nearly half the risk of gallstones. ¹

Not bad, eh? How about some more from the same source?

“People who smoke and are heavy drinkers have less heart disease and liver damage when they regularly consume large amounts of coffee compared to those who don’t.”

Now, I haven’t smoked anything (well, apart from five small pipesfull of tobacco I found that had been languishiung in a drawer for almost 20 years), for nearly a quarter of a century, but when I did smoke (pipe, cigar), it was always accompanied by copious amounts of… coffee.

Want more? OK, more from WebMD,

There’s also some evidence that coffee may help manage asthma and even control attacks when medication is unavailable, stop a headache, boost mood, and even prevent cavities.

And,

“There recently was a study from Brazil finding that children who drink coffee with milk each day are less likely to have depression than other children… In fact, no studies show that coffee in reasonable amounts is in any way harmful to children.”

And it’s benencifial for diabetics, too:

“Coffee is loaded with antioxidants, including a group of compounds called quinines that when administered to lab rats, increases their insulin sensitivity… Coffee has large amounts of antioxidants such as chlorogenic acid and tocopherols, and minerals such as magnesium. All these components have been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism.”

Hmmm, and itsn’t there some quinine use for treatment of malaria? Just askin’.

And, just laid your keys down and can’t recall where? Have trouble recalling a 10-digit phone number you’ve just heard? Drink more coffee!

…volunteers were shown a sequence of simple images (the letters A, B, C or D) and then asked if an image was the same as the one shown two images earlier. The volunteers were instructed to respond as quickly as possible using the right index finger for “yes” and the left index finger for “no.” The task was performed after a 12-hour period of no caffeine and a four-hour period of no nicotine exposure. Administration of 100 milligrams (mg) of caffeine (approximately the amount in two cups of coffee) as well as placebo was randomized across volunteers so that each of them underwent a caffeine and placebo scan. In the “caffeine condition,” the volunteers demonstrated a tendency towards improved short-term memory skills and reaction times during the task. The fMRI showed increased activity in brain regions located in the frontal lobe, where a part of the working memory network is located, and the anterior cingulum, the part of the brain that controls attention. In the “placebo condition,” the volunteers showed no change in activation patterns from the earlier test.²

And of course there’s more, but why belabor the issue when my Coffee Shrine is calling…