Coffee Benefits - What are the Health Benefits of Coffee?

Some 54% of Americans, over the age of 18, drink coffee every day. Many can’t imagine their day without a cup of coffee. With that much of consumed coffee, it would be interesting to know what influence coffee has on human organism. In this text we will focus on benefits.

Experts that conducted studies say that coffee reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease, dementia and Parkinson's disease. Coffee has antioxidants that may prevent some damage to brain cells and boost neurotransmitters which amplify cognitive functions. It also reduces chance of glioma, which is a form of brain cancer. There are also researchers that think that coffee and some of its ingredients can activate a DNA-repairing protein in cells which can possibly prevent damage to DNA that can turn cells into cancer.

There are studies that say that frequent coffee consumption lowers risk of developing diabetes mellitus type 2. Antioxidants in coffee, mainly cholorogenic acid and quinidesy boost cells’ sensitivity to insulin, which in turn regulates blood sugar. Decaffeinated coffee is even better in this because some studies have found that caffeine blunts the insulin-sensitivity boost of antioxidants in coffee.

Moderate coffee drinking also has heart benefits and coffee drinkers have lower chances to suffer a heart stroke than non-coffee-drinkers. Again antioxidants that coffee has may help suppress inflammation’s damaging effects on arteries.

There are also indications that the more coffee people drink, the lower are their chances to suffer cirrhosis and other liver diseases but there is still no enough information for us to be certain.

Coffee lowers risk of prostate cancer by some 20% and risk of endometrial cancer by 25%.

Total and all-cause mortality is one more thing coffee decreases risk of. In some studies men who drank 2 to 3 cups a day had a 10% lower risk of mortality, while those who had 4 to 5 cups per day had a lower risk by 12%. In the same studies, these percent for women were even higher.

Although it was believed that coffee increases blood pressure it is found that it isn’t so and that it lowers blood pressure over the long-term. Coffee also improves the health of the blood vessels. It increases nitric oxide production in the endothelium which results in improved vascular muscle tone.

Antioxidants in coffee can improve total cholesterol and raise “good” HDL cholesterol.

Coffee can also help to people that have slower metabolism and trouble with fat. It can improve fat burning by increasing metabolic rate so the organism burns more calories.

Taking coffee before workout can improve power and strength performance.

There are studies that say that caffeine can speed recovery and reduce post-workout muscle soreness by up to 48%.

Caffeine also acts as an acute antidepressant. In 2004 a review is published that showed a negative correlation between suicide rates and drinking of coffee. One of explanations for this effect of coffee is that caffeine in blocking the inhibitory effects of adenosine on dopamine nerves in the brain reduced feelings of depression.