Ron Moore has been vacationing on Kauai the past six days. Not surprisingly, the California man loves to rise early, go for a walk at Kalapaki Beach, listen to the waves and feel the sand under his feet. All of
Ron Moore has been vacationing on Kauai the past six days. Not surprisingly, the California man loves to rise early, go for a walk at Kalapaki Beach, listen to the waves and feel the sand under his feet.
All of that, he said, is wonderful.
But there is one thing, he added, that makes it even better: A cup of coffee.
“I start every day with coffee,” Moore said Tuesday. “That’s been my routine for years. I tried water for awhile because I read that was supposed to be better for you. It just doesn’t taste right like coffee does.”
The combination of morning waves and a cup of coffee, he added, is tough to beat.
“Especially this time of the year,” he said. “It’s getting cold back home.”
Coffee may be doing more than adding pleasure to his mornings on Kauai. It’s good for Moore’s health, according to results of another study on coffee.
This one, recently published in the journal, “Circulation,” found that regular coffee drinkers, considered less than five cups a day, have a lower risk of dying early from different causes.
The researchers studied large groups of about 200,000 men and women. They asked the volunteers about their coffee drinking habits every four years for the three decades. The connection between coffee consumption and a lower death risk was more pronounced among people who never smoked.
Now, before you start guzzling more coffee and stopping at every coffee stand you see, realize that no one is claiming the benefits of coffee are absolute and know that there comes a crash from too much caffeine. Some believe it’s not that good for you, particularly if you pound too much.
But it is also believed by many — and a belief that is gaining ground as more studies come out with results like these — that coffee has many benefits.
That’s good, because it’s estimated that more than 80 percent of American adults are coffee drinkers. And the older we get, the more coffee we drink. One online survey asked people what kind of beverages they consumed in the past day. Of those 60 and older, 65 percent said they drank coffee. Of those 18 to 25 years old, it was 45 percent. Your average American worker spends $15 a week on coffee, not including what they drink at home.
Seems like we should be a nation of fit folks, based on that, but sadly, coffee can’t make up for lack of exercise and a sound diet.
Ayda Ersoy, who writes The Diet Doc column for TGI, recently wrote that “Coffee is actually very healthy. It is high in antioxidants and nutrients which can improve your health. One cup (8 oz) of coffee contains vitamins B2, B3 and B5, manganese, potassium and magnesium.
Most energy drinks also have chemical ingredients, so they’re not giving you the health benefits that coffee or tea do.
So what happens to your body when you drink coffee?
“Caffeine will not actually give you energy, instead it just tricks your brain into thinking that you’re not tired. Caffeine is a very similar compound to the chemical adenosine that’s in our body. Adenosine’s job is to tell our brain when we’re tired and we need to slow dow,” Ersoy wrote. “But when you drink a cup of coffee the caffeine blocks the adenosine, your brain doesn’t get the signal that you’re tired, so instead it boosts your blood pressure and heart rate.
Another TGI health columnist, Jane Riley, also recently wrote about coffee. She noted that, “Recent studies have shown that people who drink moderate amounts of pure high quality coffee on a regular basis tend to live healthier lives because of the unique blend of anti-oxidant phytonutrients and the beneficial amounts of caffeine.”
“Coffee has been shown to boost energy levels, increase memory and concentration, maintain blood sugar levels, and boost mood and blood flow, as well as being a fat burning aid. It is also an appetite suppressant. Coffee is also know to boost athletic performance (ergogenic) as well as keep body weight lower because of its thermogenic effect,” she wrote.
Over consumption leads to poor sleep and the jitters and people vary greatly on their tolerance to caffeine. If you overindulge in coffee, the excess caffeine causes your adrenal glands to release the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol which explain the panic like state you feel.
There’s another benefit to coffee that Moore mentioned.
When he returns home from this vacation, and has his morning coffee at the kitchen table, it reminds him of his time on Kauai and how relaxed and peaceful things were. It’s nice, he said, to just reflect on those beach walks, take a deep breath and remember how good it felt.
“That’s a pretty good way to start the day,” he said.
